National loses race to Panasonic in revamp

Parent company Matsushita Electric Industrial has blamed intense competition and price slashing for the consolidation, which will not affect its home base in Japan.

Matsushita expects to complete the shift from National to Panasonic-branded home appliance products in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and China by March 2004. Panasonic has been in sole use in Europe and the US, where the National name has been registered by other users.

The multi-billion yen rebranding exercise will be accompanied by a new in-house-created slogan 'Panasonic ideas for life', and a line-up of new products.

The new slogan will be incorporated in all its corporate communications and advertising worldwide. Singapore has been one of the early markets to launch a campaign, communicating the brand's new positioning. Airing on the city's terrestrial channels, the McCann-Erickson-created campaign shows an executive juggling work and having to look after his baby. With Panasonic, he is able to do both, according to the brand's local spokesperson Yvonne Neo.

The planned launch of new products is in niche categories in which Matsushita has a strong global presence. These include digital camcorders, projection and LCD television sets.

Junji Kanegawa, a spokesperson for Matsushita Electric Asia, said the shift would allow the company to concentrate its global marketing resources on "Panasonic, which has an advanced image for promoting business in growing markets".

China and India are key markets that Panasonic is targeting in its shift in branding strategy.

Of the two, India offers greater untapped potential, selling seven million units of television sets each year against 30 million in China.

However, Matsushita will rename the National name in Japan, where the brand was born in 1927. The two brands have equal sales shares in Japan.

Products sold under the National label generate 20 per cent of sales in the Middle East, 35 per cent in Asia and Oceania, 22 per cent each in China and Korea, 42 per cent in Hong Kong and 47 per cent in Taiwan, according to Kanegawa.

Kanegawa said the company was counting on the rebranding to enhance its global market value and increase sales.

Newly-announced data show that Matshushita's fiscal 2004 first quarter sales had slipped by two per cent to about US$14.7 billion.

At the same time, Interbrand's ranking of 100 of the world's most valuable brands placed Panasonic in the 81st position, well behind its more aggressive Korean rival Samsung. According to the ranking, Panasonic's 2002 brand value slipped by 10 per cent from the previous year.