Thomson Targets 1999 Holiday Season For Record DVD Marketing Drive Thomson Teams With Hollywood Studios For Fall DVD Promotion
A record number of Hollywood studios, in association with Thomson Consumer Electronics, have recently announced fourth quarter marketing program designed to accelerate DVD sales in the all-important holiday season. ""The combined efforts of the major studios - teamed with the consumer appeal of Thomson's RCA and ProScan brands should assure unparalleled success for the fall promotions,"" said Larry McKinney, Vice President - Worldwide DVD Product Management. Artisan, Buena Vista, Columbia TriStar, New Line and Warner Home Video, along with Thomson, will launch the largest DVD promotion ever. The proposed holiday campaign expands on this year's first-ever multi-studio, DVD marketing program, which ran from April 30 to -June 30. ""Our first DVD promotion received an excellent response - enough to commit to a new campaign for the important holiday selling season, extending our efforts even further across the software and hardware industries,"" said Mark Horak, Vice President, Worldwide Marketing, Warner Home Video. ""August 22 will be the kick-off for the biggest, most comprehensive DVD promotion ever created."" The holiday program will feature five free DVD movies with the purchase of one of any RCA or ProScan model DVD player. The offer will be valid on player purchases made between August 22, 1999 and January 2, 2000. The campaign will be supported by a multi-million dollar television and print advertising program and will include point-of-purchase materials for retail display. The five free DVD movie titles are Stargate from Artisan, Six Days, Seven Nights from Buena Vista, Stepmom from Columbia TriStar, the sci-fi hit Platinum Series: Lost In Space from New Line, and the blockbuster action/comedy Lethal Weapon 4 from Warner Home Video. ""Not withstanding the unprecedented growth of DVD to date, this fourth quarter, high visibility promotion promises to ignite growth even more. This is the season. This is the time. The exposure to the consumer will be incredible,"" said Paul Culberg, Executive Vice President Worldwide, Columbia TriStar Home Video and President, DVD Video Group. ""The opportunity to buy a new DVD player and start a title library with five free movies is an undeniable incentive for consumers,"" said Joe Pagano, Vice President - Music and Movies, Best Buy. ""It's an exciting promotion that will continue to create awareness for the format and make it easy for customers to participate in the DVD experiences."" In its first two years, DVD has outsold the VCR by 13 to one and the CD by four to one, compared to opening two-year sales results of those products. Approximately 30 million discs have been sold and nearly 2 million DVD players have been installed in consumer homes to date. More than 3,000 DVD titles are currently available from every major studio for sale or rent, at traditional retail outlets and through on-line services. For more information, contact Dave Arland, ArlandD@tce.com or visit the Web site www.rca.com, or James Harper, HarperJ@tce.com.