Hitachi launches global brand bid for revenue relief

<p>TOKYO: Troubled Japanese electronics maker Hitachi will launch a </p><p>global brand campaign - dubbed "Inspire the Next" - this month to </p><p>bolster overseas revenues and reduce the sting of its expected US$1 billion loss this year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Blaming the global downturn for it cutting 14,700 jobs, Hitachi is </p><p>banking on the global brand drive to achieve a 50 per cent rise in </p><p>overseas earnings. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It expects to double corporate advertising expenditure outside Japan for </p><p>the brand exercise, which has been assigned to McCann-Erickson. The </p><p>appointment of a single agency was made "to ensure uniformity and </p><p>effectiveness" and marked a departure from Hitachi's previous practice </p><p>of using a different agency for each region. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Hitachi's corporate advertising outside of Japan has focused on the </p><p>principal business areas of each region, with the format and message </p><p>changing from region-to-region. However, the new campaign uses "Inspire </p><p>the Next" as the basis for a series of advertisements, which will have a </p><p>uniform format and messages. Hitachi will use print, TV and the web, </p><p>with the main focus given to its information systems, and telecom and </p><p>electronics businesses. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>A campaign website has been launched at </p><p>hepp://global.Hitachi.com/inspire/ (see media-i, p12), while the TV </p><p>campaign will kick off later this month. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>