Panasonic Offers New Definition of Plasma TV

Portraying The Piture Quality of high definition plasma television on a regular ol' TV set is pretty tough. That's why Panasonic's new plasma TV campaign, breaking this week, will be less about the image on the TV and more about what consumers can do with their HD displays.

Panasonic has a good deal riding on this work, its first from lead agency Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners, New York, as it fights to protect its top spot among U.S. plasma TV makers.

Samsung and others are aggressively attacking Panasonic in the plasma market. Samsung, in conjunction with Sony, is also successfully luring consumers to other HDTV technologies like LCD (liquid crystal display), according to Ross Rubin, director of analysis at The NPD Group, Port Washington, N.Y.

"LCD technology is becoming more and affordable at larger sizes," said Rubin. The average prices of 42-inch plasma and LCD TVs are now $2,100 and $2,700, respectively The latter is down from $4,200. "LCD offers a few advantages," said Rubin. "It's lighter, thinner and there are no burn-in issues which has been a problem with plasma, although it's getting better."

Panasonic will increase its $80 mil-lion-plus 2005 domestic media budget to support its brand-building efforts, per the company. Once known for an array of products, Panasonic is now concentrating on a few key growth items. Plasma is perhaps its biggest focus. Digital still cameras, where Panasonic ninth in the category, also get a new campaign during the spring "moms, dads and grads" window. Panasonic unveils its Blu-ray DVD players June 22, with marketing support to follow,

The plasma effort, "Flip," shows people viewing a 58-inch TV from different angles. A couple looks at piece of art from the side of the screen, snowboarders watch stunts upside down and so forth.

A voiceover by Christian Slater offers: "Your favorite artwork. Your videos. Your photos. And your favorite high definition TV shows. Your life now showing on our best picture ever. Panasonic is changing your perspective on television." The tag continues: "Panasonic. Ideas for life."

"How do I convince you our picture is better? It's the ultimate conundrum, like do I truly understand how a BMW drives if I haven't driven one?" said Rob Feakins, executive creative director/vice chairman at KB+P. "We're using an analogy versus saying look how great this picture is on your crappy TV."

Fifteen-second teaser ads begin this week, leading up to the full execution. "People are very interested in flat pangel HDTV," said Gene Kelsey, vp-brand strategy group at Panasonic Consumer Electronics, Secaucus, N.J. "More content is available. More sets are getting out there. People are experiencing it. Once they do they realize it's something they want to have."

Panasonic's digital still cameras with optical image stabilization will also share the spotlight. The digital camera market presents greater challenges for Panasonic, said NPD's Rubin: "It's a very tough category to compete in with Sony, Kodak and Canon at the top of the marketshare standing for some time."

Sony, Canon and others are working to develop image stabilization technology similar to Panasonic's. Also, demand for point-and-shoot digital cameras is leveling off. According to Rubin, "In the next year or two, we'll see a decline in [sales] for the first time."

TV spots breaking this week tell consumers they don't have to be immobile to take great shots: "Who says you have to stand still to take a still-life?" and "Capture spontaneity, not blurriness." About 35% of digital pictures are deleted because they're blurry, per KB+P.