Full HD means shiny new Korean TV ads

Korea’s top two electronics firms are starting global marketing campaigns to get an early hold on the high-definition (HD) TV market.
Regular HD TV has a resolution of 1280 x 768, but full HD TV has a much higher resolution of 1920 x 1080. Samsung and LG only applied full HD technology to their LCD TVs last year, but this year, both companies are releasing plasma display panel (PDP) TVs that support full high-definition.
LG Electronics will launch its “Red Couch” campaign in 70 countries, starting in the United States.
The $25 million campaign’s main image is a person sitting on a red sofa, watching an LG high-definition TV screen. The ads’ slogan is, “Don’t Just Watch it, Live it.”
Samsung Electronics is conducting a global marketing campaign for its top flat panel liquid crystal display (LCD) TV brand, Bordeaux. Starting last month, Samsung began marketing its HD LCD TV in cooperation with the famous furniture designer Karim Rashid and the film director Tim Burton.
In print advertisements for airline, fashion and interior decor magazines, Samsung features the 2007 Bordeaux TV with an emphasis on the fine quality of the screen and its design.
For instance, the TV is photographed alongside Rashid’s acclaimed furniture, along with the slogan, “Imagine turning on your living room.”
Rashid mentions that the TV is a part of the furniture, which has its own presence, even if it is turned off.
In the Tim Burton ad, the copy reads, “Imagine making fantasy reality,” showing how the high-definition screen brings out the details and colors in Burton’s films.
The companies are thinking of customers at the upper end of the market.
LG said that prices of full HD LCD TVs will be about 10 to 20 percent more expensive than its regular HD TVs and that the company is reviewing plans to conduct joint marketing with next-generation DVD audio-visual equipment.
Shin Sang-heung, a senior executive in Samsung’s visual display department, said that the company is aiming at “premium” customers.

By Wohn Dong-hee Staff Writer [wohn@joongang.co.kr]