Vizio Marketing Strategy
VIZIO, Inc. is a company that specializes in flat panel televisions. The company, initially known as V. Inc., was founded in 2002 and it has its headquarters in Irvine, California. The company produces a wide variety of products that includes LCD and plasma Televisions, LED and LCD high definition (HD) TVs.
When VIZIO first entered the highly competitive LCD TV market in 2003 the price point for 40 inch plasma TVs averaged around $2000 - $2500, while the average price for a CRT TV was only $500. The price difference limited the consumers to the ones that had a college education, were prosperous, and obviously had a significant disposable income. As such, the products only targeted the market segment that included customers that were 35+ years, which was not VIZIO’s intended target customer base.
Given the fact that the electronic market segment for televisions had been mainly dominated by monster brand names such as Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and many others, and also taking in consideration the fact that VIZIO was a relatively new brand , the Company had to use a good marketing plan to gain entry on the already crowded market. To get an advantage in the market, VIZIO decided that an approach based on price would be the best approach. Based on this marketing strategy, they knew that in order to have access to a wider range of customers, they needed first to established partnerships with well-known retailer channels that offered products at lower prices, such as warehouses, retail clubs, or Big-Box Retailers. They also needed to target a self-informed segment, with knowledge about the technology, because this segment will not require the costs of promoting the products as it would,if introduced to the unknowledgeable segment.
North American retail channels are dominated by four major categories of retailers with great economic influence: * Big-Box Retailers: K Mart, Sears, Wal-Mart, etc * Specialty Electronics Retailer: RadioShack, Best Buy,
When VIZIO first entered the highly competitive LCD TV market in 2003 the price point for 40 inch plasma TVs averaged around $2000 - $2500, while the average price for a CRT TV was only $500. The price difference limited the consumers to the ones that had a college education, were prosperous, and obviously had a significant disposable income. As such, the products only targeted the market segment that included customers that were 35+ years, which was not VIZIO’s intended target customer base.
Given the fact that the electronic market segment for televisions had been mainly dominated by monster brand names such as Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and many others, and also taking in consideration the fact that VIZIO was a relatively new brand , the Company had to use a good marketing plan to gain entry on the already crowded market. To get an advantage in the market, VIZIO decided that an approach based on price would be the best approach. Based on this marketing strategy, they knew that in order to have access to a wider range of customers, they needed first to established partnerships with well-known retailer channels that offered products at lower prices, such as warehouses, retail clubs, or Big-Box Retailers. They also needed to target a self-informed segment, with knowledge about the technology, because this segment will not require the costs of promoting the products as it would,if introduced to the unknowledgeable segment.
North American retail channels are dominated by four major categories of retailers with great economic influence: * Big-Box Retailers: K Mart, Sears, Wal-Mart, etc * Specialty Electronics Retailer: RadioShack, Best Buy,