Those of us old enough to remember Zenith’s famous advertising slogan will notice that I’ve changed the order of things this time around. How fitting, as today’s Display Daily will focus on a new, multi-million-dollar ad campaign from none other than Sony (no baloney, remember?)

This print, TV, radio, and Web campaign, which kicks off in September, focuses on the company’s strengths in HDTV production and playback gear, both professional and consumer. In fact, Sony has chosen the theme "HDNA" (high definition is in their DNA) for all of the ads, which will feature Bravia HDTVs, Blu-ray players, camcorders, and VAIO laptops.

To quote from Sony’s press release, "An ‘HDNA’ logo appears at the center of all of the communications surrounded by graphic molecules that symbolize DNA strands and the concept of HD knowledge transfer. The copy in every ad includes the line "High Definition. It’s in our DNA." Peyton Manning and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will serve as spokesmen for the campaign.

Sony plans to draw clear links between its broadcast HDTV equipment and consumer HD products, comparing their camcorders to HDCAM rigs used at NFL football games. No word on whether they’ll also attempt to tie the Blu-ray DVD format to XDCAM HD, a professional camcorder system based on the Blu-ray standard that is currently being installed at CBS owned-and-operated TV stations for news gathering.

Given the dog-eat-dog world of consumer HDTV, DVD, and media player products, Sony is clearly banking on its brand name to carry the day, even as screen sizes get bigger and retail prices plummet.

To further quote from the release, "HDNA is the core, the essence of all Sony HD products," said Sony Electronics’ Chief Marketing Officer Mike Fasulo. "HDNA ensures an HD experience that you cannot have with any other brand. If a consumer is considering the purchase of an HD product, we believe that given our lineage and expertise in the category, Sony should be the only consideration."

Note that last line, which should raise some hackles at Panasonic, JVC, Toshiba, and Philips. All three companies manufacture (or once manufactured) professional HD cameras and recording systems, in addition to a wide range of consumer HDTV and DVD products.

In fact, Panasonic’s tapeless P2 professional format has become so popular compared to XDCAM HD that Sony was forced to introduce a solid-state camcorder at NAB 2007 to capture some of that tapeless acquisition business. (What’s that they say - if you can’t beat ‘em, join em?)

I opened this piece by stating that the name goes on before the quality goes in. While the Sony brand is still a powerful market force, the company sells a variety of products with varying levels of build quality and retail price. One good example is the DMP-S300 Blu-ray player, which retails for about $500 less than Sony’s first BD offering (BDP-S1) did.

At Sony’s NYC press event back in June, a company executive acknowledged that the build quality on the S300 wasn’t quite as good as its predecessor. Indeed, Stan Glasgow, the president and CEO of Sony Electronics Inc. was quoted earlier this year as saying Sony would have a $299 Blu-ray player to market by December, which sure sounds like a "price point at any cost" manufacturing decision to me.

To be fair, there are only a handful of companies that can sell truckloads of CE products merely by attaching their nameplates. Sony is one; Apple is another. So what’s the motivation for this latest campaign? Is Sony worried about another bloodbath during the 2007 holiday selling season? Do they hear Samsung and Sharp nipping at their heels?

Or, is this an up-selling campaign, an attempt to get consumers to look past the higher sticker price and focus instead on the brand? Sony’s Bravia HDTVs sell at a premium to other models of comparable image quality, something that so far hasn’t impeded their ability to grab significant market share (22% of 1080p LCD HDTV unit sales in May 2007, according to Pacific Media Associates).

We won’t know until the holiday selling season is over and the final results have been tallied. In the meantime, look for similar creative efforts from Panasonic and others as they respond to Sony’s claim that "…Sony should be the only consideration."

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