Sony pushes Blu-ray in DVD ads

Heavy marketing blitz to encourage early adoption

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 6/9/2006

JUNE 9 | HD DVD made it to retail shelves first, but Sony’s Blu-ray Disc format looks to be launching with more fanfare.

With HD DVD players in short supply and software distribution spotty, Warner Home Video and other HD DVD supporters will delay most major promotional efforts until the fourth quarter. The Blu-ray camp might be in the same position with hardware at launch—Sony’s own set-top player won’t launch until August and Pioneer’s has been delayed until September—but Sony’s hardware, software and retail divisions nevertheless are teaming up for advertising and retail product demonstrations now.

This month, Sony kicked off TV, print and online ads for all of its Blu-ray products, including laptop computers, video cameras, Blu-ray Disc players and software titles.

June TV ads for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s Underworld: Evolution and Ultraviolet expressly note the films’ availability on DVD and Blu-ray. To further push Blu-ray, the marketing budgets for these titles will be bigger than usual for films of their size, according to the studio.

Print ads for Sony’s initial Blu-ray titles feature its nine movies hitting shelves over the next several weeks. The company also is delivering cardboard displays to retail to present Sony and, eventually, other studios’ Blu-ray titles in a standardized fashion.

“It’s not easy launching a format,” said Ben Feingold, worldwide president of Sony’s DVD unit. “The displays will help up-sell the concept. We want to hold the brand in people’s minds during the summer, get through any hiccups and be in good shape for the fourth quarter.”

Feingold detailed some of his promotion strategies during a Sony Blu-ray event on June 2 (VB, 6-5).

Sony executives hope that a comprehensive Blu-ray merchandising strategy now will competitively respond to retailers’ criticisms of a disorganized HD DVD rollout.

Since HD DVD launched, “we feel that in some ways, excitement for Blu-ray is growing,” said Randy Waynick, senior VP of marketing for Sony’s home products division. “Over the last six to eight weeks, [retailers] are upping their orders and [sales] forecasts. The fact is that there have been a lot of issues with HD DVD.”

During the first week of June, the SonyStyle chain debuted demos of Blu-ray products in 10 of its stores. By late summer, Sony product demos will have spread to 2,000 storefronts, covering other small and large retailers such as Best Buy, Circuit City, Sears, Fry’s, Tweeter and Ultimate Electronics. By the fourth quarter, the demos should expand to 12,000 retail spots, according to the company.

“Based on floor traffic at these retailers, we expect to have exposure to over 100 million people in the marketplace,” said Waynick. “You will see different variations. There might be a living room set display where our Bravia [high-definition] TV is connected to the [Sony BD-S1] Blu-ray player, which is connected to a high-def Sony audio receiver. There might be a home office configuration, where the VAIO [Blu-ray-equipped] laptop is hooked into a Sony high-def camera, which shows you how you can edit your own high-def film.”

There will be split-screen video demonstrations, in which a standard-def DVD version of a film is running alongside its Blu-ray counterpart.

But despite its neatly coordinated marketing blitz, Blu-ray products will be available on a staggered basis through fall.

Sony’s VAIO laptops and the first software titles are bowing June 14 and June 20, respectively. Its Blu-ray set-top player is not expected until August.

Pioneer delayed its first Blu-ray players to September from earlier June arrival estimates (VB, 6-6).

Samsung did confirm its first Blu-ray players, expected to be priced around $1,000, will street on June 25.

“They’ve started shipping to stores, including Circuit City, Best Buy, Sears and some of the specialty shops, like J&R Music and Huppins HiFi,” said Jose Cardona, Samsung spokesman. “We’re on schedule.”

Cardona and Sony officials declined to specify initial supply amounts for their respective hardware and software products.

The HD DVD camp will still boast the cheapest player on the market—Toshiba’s $499 model—for months before Sony debuts its $499 Blu-ray equipped PlayStation 3 at year’s end. Sony’s first Blu-ray hardware product, the VAIO notebook, is priced at a relatively steep $3,499.

However, Sony’s hopes its marketing blitz will encourage Blu-ray adoption now.

“In our national advertising [for Sony Blu-ray hardware], you’ll see the tagline, ‘Create, edit, enjoy, share,’” Waynick said. “That links everything together. Consumers are just coming into full awareness of high-def. There are so many variations of it, and rather than consumers feeling they should retreat before making a decision, we want to provide a full story of how all Sony products work together for a better experience.”