Massive retail campaign to reinforce Philips' product superiority

Hard-hitting fully integrated campaign sees 4,000 employees delivering Philips’ superiority message in 36 countries on In-Store Excellence Day, 23 April, with consumers invited to Philips Test Zones in seven cities for product blind-testing and comparison against competition; Philips employees to visit more than 1800 retail outlets across 18 cities in India

Philips Consumer Lifestyle today announces an unprecedented global consumer campaign to demonstrate its product superiority over competition.  Addressing consumers’ needs for better performance and longevity in challenging economic times, this bold global media campaign is designed to dramatically and directly engage with consumers through an intensely orchestrated media burst, integrating TV, online, PR and print media.  In a unifying campaign bringing together Philips Consumer Lifestyle products and businesses under a single-minded message, the goal is to show, through attention grabbing adverts and competitive comparisons, that the Philips brand remains the best choice for consumers. 

Running in parallel, for what will be one of the largest ever in-store employee retail events ever undertaken by a company, over 4,000 Philips employees in thirty six countries all round the world will visit more than 10,000 retail stores to promote the ‘Philips, of course’ message on Philips In-Store Excellence Day, 23 April 2009. Employees from Philips India will visit more than 1800 retail outlets spread across 18 cities. Teams will deliver creative and eye-catching point of sale materials carrying the campaign slogan being stickered on Philips products and in-store materials.  Direct in-store promotions and other activities will also feature throughout the day across markets including China, India, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, UK, USA and Sweden.

Announcing the campaign launch in India, Mr. Mahesh Krishnan, VP and Sales Organization Leader (India), Consumer Lifestyle, Philips Electronics India Ltd said, “At Philips we are very proud of our brand’s rich heritage in delivering high quality and meaningful innovations to consumers. Now, with the current economic climate bringing value back to the consumer mindset, this campaign will reassert our leadership position in delivering superior performance, as confirmed by the independent consumer GfK blind-testing, and moreover by consumers themselves.”

“At a time when consumers are concerned with making the best investments, this campaign reaffirms our commitment to offering the best solutions through products which consistently outperform the competition.” He added.

As well as the in-store events and intense integrated media campaign, consumers in seven European cities shall be invited to blind-test Philips products against the closest competitor offerings in purpose built Philips Test Zones, starting in Stockholm in April and working its way through Sweden, The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Poland, finishing in Paris in mid-June.  Products from the full range of Philips lifestyle products shall be available for consumer testing, including televisions, digital photoframes, GoGear digital audio and MP3 players through to wireless headphones, home cinema and vacuum cleaners and other products. User-generated and other films from the testing shall be loaded to a specially created online Philips Test Zone too for easy sharing and viewing.

To learn more about the Philips In-Store Excellence Day and the Philips Testing Teams please visit www.Philips.com/ofcourse.

About the independent testing:
The consumer testing, wholly managed by GfK, took place from 13-21 March 2009, in a single independent studio in Frankfurt Germany.  A total of 5 key product categories were tested, each respondent viewing 2 or 3 categories. A total of 550 consumer respondents took part in the tests.