World Cup 2006 will be the platform for a great number of marketing campaigns, among them drives to push sales of flat-panel television sets, both liquid-crystal-display (LCD) and plasma models.

All the industry heavyweights are using the month-long competition to showcase high-end technologies - such as Pixel Plus 2 High Definition and Ambilight 2 from Philips, and the Digital Natural Image engine, "featuring 549 billion colours", from Samsung. These TV sets are being pitched as an essential to maximise viewing pleasure during the tournament.

Arnut Changtrakul, deputy managing director for consumer electronics and IT business at Thai Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, says he thinks the tournament will drive the LCD market to 200-per-cent growth during this soccer season.

At least 14 LCD models and eight new plasma models with prices ranging from Bt30,000 to Bt400,000 were launched two months before the competition kicked off.

Philips

Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics is one of the eight official sponsors of the tournament and expects to profit handsomely from the connection. "The FIFA World Cup has been, and will be, extremely important to the global exposure and marketing of our brand," said Jan Eggebeen, chairman and CEO of Philips Electronics (Thailand) Co Ltd.

The company has installed "vidiwalls" (large LED screens) at stadiums in Cologne, Frankfurt and Gelsenkorchen. Giant public viewing screens will be put up in all 12 cities that play host to the matches. In addition, 10,000 flat-screen TVs will cover all media centres, and Philips Heartstart defibrillators are installed inside the stadiums. The company will also be responsible for broadcasting operations and official hospitality in each of the host cities.

Philips estimates that the competition will draw 30 billion viewers globally, which explains why the company thinks it's worth an investment of millions of euros.

In Thailand, Philips Consumer Electronics started a number of marketing activities earlier this month to attract potential customers. The "World Class World Cup" campaign was launched to build awareness of LCD TV and the company's new DVD recorder. It will continue until the end of the competition. Tied-in TV programmes and advertisements are also a major part of the campaign.

Samsung

While Philips enjoys the advantage of being an official sponsor of the tournament, Samsung - one of its fierce competitors - has come up with a strategy to tackle the cut-throat competition.

Samsung (Thailand) will invest part of its marketing budget - Bt500 million - to launch "Football Mania", with activities such as road shows and advertising in all major media channels. It also will have a trade-in promotion aimed at getting people to bring in their current TV set for a discount on a new set, an arrangement with Visa credit cards providing special prices for Samsung's customers and even freebies like DVD recorders for some customers under special conditions.

Samsung hopes to see a three-fold jump in the sale of flat panels TV during the tournament.

Panasonic

Panasonic (Thailand) will inject Bt256 million into its "Super Goal Super Game" campaign, which includes a competition to find goal-shooters who will have a chance to win a Panasonic Viera plasma TV and six other main prizes. The company debuted the campaign - which includes another Bt50 million for advertising - on May 6 in Bangkok and will shortly go nationwide.

It expects the campaign to boost sales as high as Bt2 billion in the audio-visual market, mainly through plasma-TV and digital-camera sales during the World Cup. The boost will help the company reach its goal of over 10-per-cent growth this year, according to Yuvanan Tangjaiyoo, senior marketing manager for Panasonic Siew Sales (Thailand) Co Ltd.

Sony

Sony Thai Co Ltd has doubled its marketing budget for this World Cup to Bt250 million compared to the last World Cup in 2002, with much of the spending go to a "Sony Fair".

The company has also allocated Bt20 million to add a new production line for Bravia LCD TV sets at its plant in Ayutthaya. According to Sony Thai's managing director, Kazuo Suyama, the effort is expected to boost monthly sales by 40 per cent, which will contribute to 10-per-cent sales growth for the year over last year's Bt1.45 billion.

LG

LG Mitr Electronics Co Ltd is spending Bt100 million on a "Love the Game, Love LG" campaign with lots of prizes. The decor in showrooms and dealer stores will reflect soccer mania. The company hopes to see a 30-per-cent sales jump during the games.

These five companies and other computer electronics firms believe that flat-panel TVs will eventually replace virtually all standard sets.

The five are aiming to speed that process with next month's Cup.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation