China consumer electronics firm hires Publicis shops

Starcom has been awarded the media planning assignment -- without a pitch. Burnett has been tasked with developing both strategic and creative solutions for a series of brand communication campaigns, as well as the long-term brand development and overall management of the TCL TV brand. The agency will mainly use through-the-line media, encompassing a wide range of strategies to promote TCL's televisions in the country. The business was previously handled by J.Walter Thompson. TCL decided to hold a pitch to find a new agency to review the brand's positioning and advertising after JWT's contract expired. Burnett Guangzhou management supervisor Michael Tsang attributed the new win to the agency's strategy, proposed new positioning and the outstanding creative. He said that with TCL's focus more on product quality, the company was unlikely to involve itself too heavily in the price war, which has been raging for the past two years. He added that the TV category was extremely competitive, with foreign brands occupying the high-end of the market and local players fighting for share at the lower end. TCL previously marketed itself as one of the world's largest maker of televisions. According to Tsang, TCL will now sell itself as a forward-looking TV manufacturer that has support from its new joint-venture partners to produce much higher-quality sets. The slogan is 'Enjoy tomorrow -- today'. TCL recently teamed up with Thomson to form one of the world's largest television production joint-ventures, TCL-Thompson. The JV plans to promote products under the TCL name in Asia, and aims to produce 18 million television sets annually, replacing Sony as the leading global television maker.