In an attempt to diversify the appeal of its Aquos brand to TV owners, the agency has created a campaign which looks beyond the typical colour benefits associated with HDTV advertising.
In affluent and technology-obsessed Hong Kong, Sharp is up against budget TV brands from the mainland, as well as more premium competitors from Japan, Korea and Europe, such as Sony, Samsung and Philips.
“In the television space in Hong Kong, Sony ‘owns’ colour,” said Sandy Chan, executive creative director at M&C Saatchi. “Sharp knows that it needs to find something else to compete with”.
Sharp’s strategists are gunning for the brand to be associated with high-definition liquid crystal display technology. The company has invested heavily in the area of research and development, under its Aquos range. For example, Sharp claims to make the world’s largest LCD screen. Sharp’s technological prowess has led to an increasing proportion of its panels being bought by competitors to be sold under rival brands.
It currently sells about 20 per cent of its screens to competitors, though this could rise to 30 per cent in the next year on the back of a deal in February with Sony. However, the Sharp brand itself has struggled to build an exciting image.
With the introduction of the Aquos brand in Hong Kong, Sharp has attempted to change the brand positioning, while launching a new product into an important Asian market.
“Sharp’s brand image has been pretty ‘safe’ and ‘reliable’,” said Chan.
“What we are doing with this campaign is to look at the idea of high definition and make it fun - after all, we’re selling a TV brand, which is all about entertainment.”
The campaign sports the tagline: ‘A whole new world of detail with Sharp Aquos’. It centres on the personalities of things too small to be noticed in regular definition television.
In one execution, a neurotic peppercorn has his insecurities confirmed by Sharp Aquos viewers, while the second execution focuses on the secret lives of water droplets. The campaign runs across TV, digital and print, with media handled by MindShare.
Sharp drive thinks small
HONG KONG - Sharp has launched its first Hong Kong advertising campaign since shifting the business to M&C Saatchi.
