Philips Global Brand Effort Debuts on Web

Royal Philips Electronics this week kicked off the second wave of its global branding effort. Creative in all media, including online and search ads, point to a microsite tailored for audiences in 11 different countries.

The media plan includes spending $100 million worldwide and $25 million in the U.S. on this phase of the campaign, but the company wouldn’t specify what percentage of the budget was going to interactive. This phase will run through the end of June. In addition to interactive, media employed will include network and cable television, magazine and newspaper print ads, and airport ads in certain cities.

The centerpiece microsite, at simplicity.philips.com, aims to get the “Sense and Simplicity” brand message across to Philips’ target audience: affluent business decision makers ages 35 to 54 years old. To do so, the site highlights both business-to-business (B2B) products, such as medical devices, and business-to-consumer (B2C) products, such as flat screen TVs and DVD recorders.

“The feeling is that the same business decision maker is also the person who, as a consumer, will be buying a Cool Skin razor or a Sonicare toothbrush,” said Andrew Nathan, management supervisor on the Philips business in North America for DDB Worldwide.

Site copy on the U.S. site reads, “At Philips, we believe that technology should be as simple as the box it comes in.”

“It outlines the overall brand positioning of sense and simplicity,” said Nathan. “It goes into a little more detail on the various products. Then it has a feedback section that asks users how important simplicity is to them. We think that’s important.”

Various-sized U.S. interactive ads, many of which use Flash, echo the messaging on the site. One features a picture of a baby playing with a white box. Copy reads, “Things start uncomplicated. Why change them?” Another ad promotes Philips’ Sonicare toothbrush with the message, “If your mouth isn’t healthy, how does the rest of you feel?”

Ads will run on both business- and consumer-oriented Web sites in the U.S., including Salon.com, NYTimes.com, Real Simple, Economist.com, National Geographic Online, Forbes.com, bizjournals, Yahoo, Undertone Networks, and the Wall Street Journal Online. Similar ads and media plans will be employed in the 10 other markets.

In the U.S., search efforts on Google and Yahoo Search Marketing will employ keywords such as “3d ultrasound,” “dvd recorder,” “electronics,” “Philips product,” and “flat screen TV.”