Panasonic Styles Itself as 'Friendly' Purveyor of HDTVs, Microwaves

Brandweek, Sept 11, 2000 by Todd Wasserman

Changing its tone slightly to reflect its strength as a "friendly" brand, Panasonic will launch a TV and print campaign this fall for its camcorders, HDTVs and microwaves.

The effort, via Grey, New York, plays down the "0,1" digital imagery of previous campaigns in favor of a gently humorous, sentimental approach.

"We used to say, 'We're digital and great:" said Bob Greenberg, vp and general manager of Panasonic's communications division. "But everyone says they're digital and great. What distinguishes us is people see us as a warm, friendly company."

A camcorder ad which aired in some markets last week, demonstrates this approach. It shows an older man bungee jumping and then recording it with his Panasonic digital Palm-corder. His stunned family is later shown viewing the video on a PC as a Jimmy Durante impersonator sings "Just a Bit of Magic," a ditty composed at Grey Spending for the effort was not disclosed, but Panasonic spent $33 million on ads in 1999, per CMR.

The spot also briefly shows an unnamed Panasonic PC that is currently sold in Japan under the Will brand. Greenberg said limited quantities of that PC will hit the U.S. this fall for less than $3,000. He declined to say whether Panasonic planned to make further inroads into the U.S. PC market.

A microwave oven spot shows a soon-to-be-cooked fish singing the Durante-esque tune. An execution for the HDTV plays on the picture quality: an onscreen watermelon attracts offscreen ants, a dog stares longingly at a fire hydrant and a child feeds fish in an onscreen fish tank.

Panasonic will run 30- and 15-second executions of the spots on cable while a print campaign for Panasonic's HDTVs employing the same imagery as the TV spot will hit later this month.

Panasonic also plans a print campaign for its multi-colored line of cordless phones during the same period and a long-awaited campaign for SD (Secure Digital) Card, a stamp-size memory card, in early 2001. Greenberg said the latter effort, originally slated for this year, was held up by the SD Card's delayed introduction.