Irvine-based Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. is doing its first branding campaign since 2000.
The seller of portable computers is running TV commercials and ads in lifestyle magazines and online as part of its Set You Free campaign.
Many of the spots are set to run on Viacom Inc. cable channels and Web sites.
The Irvine office of Young & Rubicam Brands, part of Britain’s WPP PLC, is handling the campaign.
The move is a shift for Toshiba, part of Tokyo-based Toshiba Corp.
The company long has marketed by piggybacking on retailers that put out ads in Sunday newspapers or by marketing inside stores such as those of Best Buy Co. Toshiba also has done Internet marketing.
“We’re seeing a lot of momentum,” said Ron Smith, vice president of marketing at Toshiba’s digital products division. “We decided it was time to get a bigger brand message out.”
Toshiba declined to say what it’s spending on the campaign.
Last year, Toshiba’s Irvine unit was estimated to have spent $4.4 million on advertising, down from $8 million in 2007, according to Neilson Co.
The company recently came out with two low-cost netbook computers that compete with offerings from Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. Netbooks are small, portable computers that are inexpensive cousins to higher-performance laptops.
Toshiba’s TV commercials are its first since 2000, according to Smith. They include 15-, 30- and 60-second spots that started airing last week on network and cable stations including Comedy Central and MTV.
The company is going after young people.
“We have targeted shows that hit our audience,” Smith said.
Lower rates for commercials, which have been driven down by the recession, brought Toshiba back to TV, according to Smith.
“TV is definitely at the price that makes sense to now run a TV component to any marketing push,” he said.
The commercials also are set to run in 3,000 theaters before movies.
“A lot of people are going to the movies right now and it seemed like the appropriate place to get a big message across and remind people that Toshiba is a company they should consider,” Smith said.
The ads stress ease of use and mobility, rather than technical specifics.
Toshiba is the No. 4 seller of portable computers with 12% of the global market, according to market tracker Interactive Data Corp.
With print ads, the company is branching out from industry publications and buying space in lifestyle magazines.
“Our print reach is going to be far more reaching with ads in GQ, Self, Rolling Stone and Outside,” Smith said.
Boost Pushes Hispanic
Irvine-based Boost Mobile LLC is looking to a second phase of its Hispanic marketing push to drive people to mobile phone stores.
The prepaid mobile phone division of Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint Nextel Corp. started its first Hispanic campaign in February, on the heels of the largest marketing push in Boost’s history.
“We have never had any dedicated Hispanic initiatives before and we looked at how we could reach these neglected and often overlooked consumers,” said Peiti Feng, manager of media and advertising at Boost.
The company hired Dallas-based Inspire for its Hispanic advertising.
Despite doing little marketing to Latinos, Boost always has had a pretty healthy Hispanic business, thanks to the recognition of parent Sprint Nextel.
The campaign is dubbed Sin Abuso, which translates to “without abuse” and plays off phone contracts that take advantage of customers, according to Boost. The theme is a variation of Boost’s larger UnWronged campaign.
The Hispanic campaign features TV, radio and billboard ads.
Bits and Pieces
The Orange County Register, part of Irvine-based Freedom Communications Inc., has expanded its self-service advertising program to three more sections of the paper. Advertisers now can build and buy space in the newspaper’s business, sports and home and garden sections in addition to its local section, which joined the service last month. The newspaper is looking to add self-serve advertising to its Web site by the end of the year Irvine-based Kia Motors America Inc., part of South Korea-based Hyundai Motor Co., started an online video game to promote its Soul midsize sport utility vehicle. In “Escape From Hamsterdam,” created by El Segundo-based David & Goliath, players catapult hamsters out of their confining cages to bounce around the tops of Souls until the hamsters hit the ground and a score is calculated on distance Irvine-based FreeCreditReport.com, a unit of Experian Group Ltd., has got the band back together, albeit without their instruments. In a 30-second TV spot, created by Virginia’s Martin Agency, FreeCreditReport.com’s down-on-their-luck band sings about how debt and credit scores are like roller coasters while riding one.
