Zenith Serves Custom Installation Home Theatre Market As Complete Digital Video Display Solution Source

Digital Product Line, Aggressive Pricing, $30 Million Fall Advertising Blitz To Benefit Home Theatre Dealers And Custom Installers

9-Oct-01

In its most significant presence ever at a CEDIA event, Zenith Electronics Corporation rolled out a broad array of digital television products aimed at establishing Zenith as the complete digital video display solutions source for the custom installation home theatre market.Backed by its parent company, LG Electronics Inc. (LGE) and a $30 million national advertising campaign, Zenith's 2001 product line offers one of the industry's broadest assortments of digital display products, from plasma display panels (PDPs) and LCD TVs to front- and rear-projection high definition models. ""The custom installation market represents significant growth opportunities for Zenith and our home theatre dealers, especially this year with our broadened digital line and comprehensive marketing program,"" said Ron Snaidauf, Vice President, Commercial Products, whose division targets the custom installation market. ""As HDTV continues to pick up momentum, Zenith and LGE are devoting significant resources to capturing a healthy share of the growing market for large-screen HDTV displays.""At CEDIA EXPO 2001, Zenith underscored its commitment to serving as the custom home theatre installers' complete source for digital video display solutions. Unlike competitors that focus on one segment of the market, Zenith offers custom installers a full range of products to offer their customers. ""For example,"" Snaidauf said, ""the same custom installer who provides Zenith's top-of-the-line PRO1200X 8-inch gun CRT projector for a client's home theatre can install our new 61-inch integrated HDTV in the den, our LCD front-projection HDTV monitor in the family room, our 60-inch PDP in the master bedroom, our ultra-thin 20-inch LCD TV in the kitchen, our 15-inch LCD TV in the master bath, and so on,"" Snaudauf said. Under the ""Digitize The Experience"" banner, Zenith showcased the first 60-inch plasma display available in the U.S. One of the world's largest hang-on-the-wall monitors, the DPDP60W allows custom installers to offer clients a fresh new option by bringing the drama and scale of big-screen home theatre to rooms or locations unsuitable for deeper conventional TVs or front projectors.In addition to the flagship 60-inch plasma display, Zenith demonstrated new rear-projection CRT HDTVs, LCD TVs, digital HDTV set-top boxes, progressive scan DVD players and more. Its family of high performance, value-packed CRT, LCD and DLPô front-projectors was also featured prominently in the Zenith booth. Supporting its goal of being the complete digital video display solutions source for the custom installation home theatre market, Zenith has launched its first major national advertising campaign in 15 years. The dramatically different $30 million advertising campaign spotlights Zenith's state-of-the-art digital technology, appealing to a young, affluent audience of trend initiators, according to Snaidauf.""This edgy campaign and our new 'Digitize The Experience' tagline are perfectly suited to the target market for custom home theatre installations,"" Snaidauf said. ""Combined with our aggressive new digital product and sales channel strategies, the new TV and print ads capture the essence of a different, digital Zenith.""Leading the charge are two 30-second television ads, which highlight the awe-inspiring aspect of Zenith's new generation of digital television technologies with cheeky storylines and extreme situations. Both commercials are running now through the end of the year on cable networks including Comedy Central, E!, FX, ESPN, MSNBC, SciFi, Tech TV and VH1.Print ads, also part of Zenith's comprehensive advertising campaign, feature minimalist visuals that hype the sleek, attractive aspects of Zenith's state-of-the-art digital TV technology, including plasma screens, LCD monitors and HDTVs. New print ads are appearing now in national publications including Entertainment Weekly, GQ, In Style, Premiere, Rolling Stone, Wired, Robb Report and Vanity Fair.The ads, according to USA Today, ""have the feel and high impact simplicity of recent ads by Apple and Volkswagen's New Beetle."" Home theatre-specific ads, touting front-projectors with the ""Digitize The Experience"" theme are scheduled to appear this fall in leading national videophile publications such as Home Theater, The Perfect Vision, Widescreen Review, Stereophile Guide To Home Theater and Audio-Video Interiors.The advertising campaign is part of an integrated marketing communications program initiated by Zenith more than a year ago. Additional initiatives include Zenith's role as a Presenting Sponsor of the Sundance Film Festival and as Exclusive Sponsor of the ""Media Z Lounge"" at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City's only exhibition space devoted exclusively to the presentation of digital and new media artworks.Wayne Park, Zenith Senior Vice President, Consumer Products, said the campaign is supported by Zenith's parent company, LG Electronics Inc., which is investing $30 million to promote the LG-produced Zenith brand digital products, which are being launched in the United States in 2001. ""Our goal is to introduce the young, hip generation that's in sync with video and audio technology to a company that's always been on the edge with its know-how,"" Park said. ""Once these two meet, we think it will be a perfect match.""Reflecting its aggressive approach to the custom installation home theatre market, Zenith has announced new breakthrough prices for two of its popular projectors: the PRO895X Digital Front-Projection Monitor and the DSV-100 DLP Projector. The PRO895X is now priced at $8,995, reduced from its previous price of $9,995. The DSV-100 DLP Projector now retails for $3,995, a 33 percent reduction from its previous price of $5,995. The new prices, implemented prior to CEDIA EXPO 2001, follow significant recent price reductions for other Zenith home theatre display products. Combined, the changes demonstrate Zenith's commitment to providing value-packed performance, as well as its competitive, comprehensive approach to serving the custom installation market.The earlier reductions include three key products. The lightweight, ultra-thin DPDP60W 60-inch plasma display panel, the first 60-inch plasma display available in the U.S., was reduced to $24,999, from its initial price of $27,999. The PRO900X HDTV Monitor, which uses 7-inch, liquid-coupled CRTs to deliver the ultimate in digital HDTV resolution, was reduced to $11,995, from its earlier price of $12,600. And the ultra-portable LXG-120 LCD HDTV projector was lowered to $5,995, from its previous price of $6,495.For more information about Zenith Electronics Corporation, visit www.zenith.com.

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