Is LG Electronics looking to use celebrities again to boost their TV brand in OZ?Yesterday the Korean company used the Oscars to promote their new Cinema 3D LCD TVs while the week prior they were cuddling up to some of the big names in the fashion industry.
In the past LG Australia has failed “dismally” trying to link their products with celebrities. First there was the Scarlet TV and actress Natassia Malthe, who is best known for her appearances in B grade movie flicks such as Sex & Death, Blood Suckers, and Alone in The Dark.
The TV which was backed by a multimillion dollar marketing campaign lasted less than 6 months, before companies like Harvey Norman had the Scarlet model removed from their stores.
In another failed exercise involving celebrities LG Australia tried to stimulate interest in their Secret Smartphone using a celebrity marketing approach.
Under the direction of David Brand the now dumped Marketing Director of LG Australia invested hundreds of thousands in bringing Chris Noth, of Sex and the City Fame, to Australia, with celebrity events and media functions. The exercise was a total failure with the Smartphone failing to sell and carriers dumping it after only a few months on sale.
During the past two weeks, LG has moved to promote their new flat panel TV range to both the fashion industry and Hollywood as it prepares to deliver the first of their new TVs to retail shelves around the world including Australia.
Its passive-glasses single-lens 3D LCoS projector was used to present fashion designer Marc Bouwer’s 2011 Autumn collection in New York two weeks ago, and then the manufacturer sponsored the Film Independent Spirit Awards after-party on Saturday night in a pre-Oscars event.
The bash drew a gaggle of movie stars, including Jason Ritter, Gerard Butler and Hillary Swank, who were joined by industry producers, writers and even a handful of CE retailers (guests of LG), all of whom had an opportunity to hear about LG’s forthcoming Cinema 3D passive-glasses 3DTVs.
Tim Alessi, LG’s home electronics product development director, attempted to give the chatty crowd a brief education on the benefits of passive-glasses technology, including the absence of image cross-talk that sometimes appears in active-shutter technologies, and greater comfort to the glasses wearer.
During the event, Wayne Park, LG Electronics U.S. president, said that the company is expecting a “very tough year” ahead for the CE industry, and Cinema 3D presents a big opportunity for LG to better its competitors.
