NBC Stars Shine Light on High-Def TV in Stores

Kelsey Grammer, John Larroquette and Christine Baranski are among the NBC celebrities appearing in an in-store TV campaign to educate consumers about the benefits of high-definition television (HDTV).The campaign is running exclusively on the in-store broadcasting systems installed in Best Buy, Circuit City and Sears stores nationwide.While no vendor branding appears in the NBC segments, a series of related HDTV "A to Z" segments, which further define concepts such as digital signals and plasma screens, were sponsored by manufacturers including Hitachi, Samsung, Sony, DirecTV, Misubishi, Philips, Sharp and Zenith. (See attached files to view sample segments.)Although awareness of HDTV is growing, many consumers are still confused about the technologies involved and are often reluctant to approach sales associates in stores to ask questions. The campaign was designed to answer common questions and point out the benefits of switching to HDTV.Both the NBC spots and the A to Z segments were filmed and finished in high-definition. They are part of hour-long programming loops that also include sports, movie trailers and other vendor-supplied commercials.The campaign evolved out of a partnership between The NBC Agency, which handles advertising and promotions for all NBC-owned entities, and Premier Retail Networks (PRN), which produced the segments and operates the networks.Appearing on the home electronics retail network gives NBC a chance to connect directly with a demographic showing declining TV viewership, 18- to 34-year-old males, says Peter Cullen, general manager for PRN's home electronics network."I don't know what they're watching on TV, but I know they're at Best Buy," Cullen says. "For a programming partner that wants to reach that demo, and wants to message an invitation to watch something or to buy something ... there they are."PRN initially considered narrating the spots using less well-known "techies," but research had shown that consumers connect more when they see their favorite shows and stars in HD. "We thought, 'What better spokespeople to tell people about HD than to use the stars of the show?' Much to my surprise, NBC was actually into it," he says.The themes of the new NBC segments build on an initial campaign that premiered in August 2003. In June, new segments narrated by sports broadcaster Jim Lampley will promote NBC's Olympics coverage.The NBC segments run across the entire home electronics network, but some of the vendor-specific A to Z segments appear only with retailers carrying the product.No vendors had signed on to participate in the A to Z segments when the campaign launched last year, Cullen says, but they quickly came on board. Their roles in developing the messaging for the segments has varied from being extremely "hands-on" to essentially allowing PRN to do all the heavy lifting.Research from the first campaign showed that 94% of shoppers who saw the custom programming considered the in-store network the most important information source when deciding to purchase an HDTV. That ranked the spots ahead of friends and family (cited by 75%). Of the shoppers who saw the HD set, 59% said they were more likely to buy one in the next year.PRN currently supplies customized programming in both analog and HD formats in all Best Buy, Circuit City and Sears stores. The PRN home electronics network is in more than 2,000 stores nationwide."We tested viewership in our stores last August to find out how the spots were working and our Nielsen numbers were up 40 percent," says Cullen. "The recall for the HDTV custom spots was at 46%, which is nearly double that of in-home recall."

NBC Stars Shine Light on High-Def TV in Stores

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