DVD Industry Targets 1999 Holiday Season For Record Marketing Drive
A record number of Hollywood studios in association with leading hardware companies today announced a fourth quarter marketing program designed to catapult DVD sales in the all-important holiday season. It is projected that the industry-installed base at the retail level will approach four million DVD-Video players by yearís end. Artisan, Buena Vista, Columbia TriStar, New Line and Warner Home Video in association with Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, RCA, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba will launch the largest DVD promotion ever. The proposed holiday campaign expands on this yearís first-ever multi-studio and multi-brand DVD marketing program, which runs from April 30 to June 30. ""Our first DVD promotion received an excellent response ñ 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 model DVD player made by Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, RCA, Samsung, Sony or Toshiba. 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. ""Notwithstanding the unprecedented growth of DVD to date, this fourth quarter, high visibility promotion promises to accelerate growth ever 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 Jo Pagano, Vice President Music and Movies, Best Buy. ""Itís an exciting promotion that will continue to create awareness for the format and make it easy for customers to participate in the DVD experience."" In its first two years, DVD has outsold the VCR by 13 to one and the CD by four to one in the same time period. 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 and distributors for sale or rent, at traditional retail outlets and through on-line services.