[Anonymous]

‘Epsonality’ Debuts
NOV
, 2007NEW YORK Like most marketers, Epson is looking for new ways to
reach its consumers. To that end, it is changing its approach to its
holiday marketing to takean experiential tack over a hard-sales
approach emphasizing price and product attributes.The “Epsonality”
campaign, launched this weekend and slated to run until January, is
centered on Epsonality.com, a Web site that combines broadband video
with a personality quiz to match users with the right Epson printer for
their needs.”We wanted a much more experiential way than our more
traditional way of advertising printers based on feeds, speeds and
specs,” said Jeffrey Marks, director of marketing and communications at
Epson.The campaign is the first work for Epson from Sausalito, Calif.,
independent Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, which in June won the
Epson creative and media account. Omnicom Group’s DDB in Venice,
Calif., was the incumbent.

Spending on the campaign was not
disclosed. Last year, Epson spent $35 million in domestic measured
media, per TNS Media Intelligence.Epson is running three TV spots
showing a lab setting where a researcher tests subjects with Epson
printer products. The spots direct viewers to “discover your
Epsonality” online. The Web site features a welcome video of a couple
on a couch discussing their “Epsonalities.” The test uses video of a
host asking roundabout questions that determine a user’s printer needs.
After the three-question quiz, the site recommends one of nine printers
and includes a link to buy it from Epson.com or find a retailer.”What
we’ve done is found a unique, engaging and fun way to have customers
determine what printer is right for them,” Marks said.The campaign is
geared to early adopters in creative professions, who appreciate the
reliability and power of Epson printers compared to its competitors,
said John Sheehan, group business director at Butler, Shine. The goal
is to make Epson the Apple of printers.”People look at printers as
boxes on their desk,” he said. “We’re trying to move it to
accessories.”One influential voice of the target group not impressed is
popular Web 2.0 blog Techcrunch editor Michael Arrington, who called it
the “lamest Web site of the week” and urged Epson to “stop trying to be
a conversational marketer and just get back to the basics.”With its
shift in messaging, Espon is also changing its media mix, Marks said.
In past years, it has focused on a drive-to-retail strategy, which has
meant a heavy newspaper component. Instead, online has become the focus
(accounting for 40 percent of the budget), complemented by cable TV,
magazine and out-of-home buys. The company has dropped newspaper and
radio, he said.”The difference this time around is we’re providing a
useful and engaging tool to find out what is the best product for
them,” Marks said. 

[Author]

November 1, 2007 at 3:48 PM