• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, March 4, 2008

Building a new image for a brand isn't easy. Hitachi America hit the road Monday with the "Thin Is In Motion" marketing campaign, featuring the hands-on experience program and the mobile truck tour to showoff its ultra-thin plasma display panel (PDP) high-definition televisions (HDTVs).

Branded "1.5" to highlight the ultra-thin design, Hitachi says the displays began to create buzz at launch in January. Since then, several high-end hotels and department stores that typically cater to affluent consumers who purchase luxury items have agreed to place the HDTV displays at numerous locations across the United States.

Hitachi hopes product placement in hotels and retail stores will build brand awareness. It not only gives visitors a chance to see the waiflike design in a natural setting, but they can experience first-hand Hitachi's latest technology that creates the visual and "sound-sational" experience.

But brand expert Laura Ries questions whether truck tours and experiential campaigns can change Hitachi's image of being "just another consumer brand from Japan." The president of Atlanta-based marketing strategy firm Ries & Ries says Hitachi has a branding problem that's not solved with product placements and trucks that let consumers come inside, touch, feel and view HD movies.

"When you go into Best Buy for a HDTV, you choose between Sharp, Sony or Samsung, not Hitachi," she says. "I'm not even sure if they carry it in the store. I can't remember seeing it. And that's the problem."

Product placements and touring trucks are overdone, says Ries. They only work when "innovative and recognizable brands" are taken out of their element to surprise consumers. Take Pfizer, for example. The pharmaceutical company branded a truck and circled the Nascar circuit years ago, calling attention to the brand.

"Free Viagra creates a brand and gets people excited," she says. "If you don't have a brand, you're selling a commodity."

Introduced in January, Hitachi's 1.5 ultra-thin 32-, 37- and 42-inch displays will begin shipping this spring, followed by the 47-inch in the fall. The 1.5 series offers consumers a range of options to place in a variety of rooms throughout the home.

Aside from allowing consumers to experience the displays in hotel and retail stores, Hitachi kicked off a mobile truck tour. Four Hitachi-branded 17-foot trucks travel the country to showcase the 1.5 displays. The trucks each contain one 32" black display, one 32" white display and one 37" black display showing high-definition movies.

The two 32" models sit on pedestals that rotate to give consumers a view of the thin displays. The truck tour and product placements will run through the month of March and will travel to 120 cities. Four trucks will stop in 120 cities throughout the U.S., including Dallas, Houston, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle and St. Louis.

Marketing and digital agency Initiative, part of the Interpublic group of companies, planned the two campaigns in partnership with Hitachi.