Philips Electronics said its new $100
million-plus U.S. advertising campaign, including an Internet component,
starts this week, “representing the most dramatic and visible demonstration of
the company’s commitment to building its brand in the United States.”
The campaign is an evolution of its three-year old “Let’s Make Things Better”
campaign. It was created by Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer/EURO
RSCG, the advertising arm of the Paris-based HAVAS Group.
Using its brand promise, “Let’s Make Things Better,” Philips’ new brand
advertising campaign features wry, humorous ads that portray young, clever,
motivated consumers finding ways to improve their everyday lives with the help
of Philips’ products.
The campaign uses a cover version of the “Getting Better” song written by John
Lennon and Paul McCartney for the seminal Sgt. Pepper album.
The advertising campaign combines television, print and online media and will
be seen on network, cable, and spot TV, in a wide variety of mainstream
consumer publications, and at key, high volume Web sites. Philips said it will
reach 95% of its consumer targets an average of 55 times for the first
12-months of the campaign.
Television buys include major entertainment and sporting events such as the
World Series, prime time network programming including NBC’s Thursday night
lineup, syndicated programs including “Seinfeld,” and cable programs on MTV,
E!, and the USA Network among others.
Philips’ print buy includes a doubling of the number of magazine pages over
last year’s campaign. The ads will appear in 11 different categories of
magazines, including: business, sports, men’s and women’s lifestyle, science,
entertainment, thought leader, shelter, epicurean, travel, and audio/video
trade publications.
The online component (no spending breakdown was available) of the campaign
leverages the Web sites of the scheduled publications and high volume,
independent sites through cross promotions and hot links to appropriate
Philips Web sites.
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands, with 1997 sales of $39 billion,
markets 22 product categories from six different divisions of the company,
including light bulbs, television sets, audio and video equipment, personal
care, and portable phones and pagers, among things.
