VIZIO: "South Powered by Vizio"

BUSINESS CHALLENGE:
VIZIO, a well-respected television brand, wanted to enter the 3D television market. At the time, 3D TV had not received wide acceptance by consumers, so gaining distribution and subsequent purchases was a struggle.

CUSTOMER SITUATION: Consumers loved the concept of 3D TV; 3D was being rediscovered at movie theaters, and viewers enjoyed the enhanced experience. The challenge with 3D television, however, was that the experience was not as seamless as going to the movies.

While movies distributed lightweight glasses, the technology for most 3D TVs required cumbersome, heavy, and expensive glasses. This was not the case for VIZIO, as their technology used the equivalent of sunglasses for viewing.

INSIGHT: Customers were not convinced by videos, print, or digital ads that 3D TV viewing could be as seamless as movies. They needed a hands-on experience to overcome their hesitation.

IDEA: Let’s give customers a place where they can enjoy the 3D television experience. That place was the first 3D bar in the U.S. and South, Powered by VIZO was born!

EXECUTION: We needed to pull something together fast because VIZIO has their co-op meets coming up with Best Buy, Costco, and Sam’s Club, and wanted to ensure they could add their 3D TVs to the distribution list.

As a Southern California-based company, it was quickest to focus on the Los Angeles/Santa Monica area. Myself and my team quickly honed in on three bars, but one, South aligned perfectly with our goals. Already a popular sports bar in a central Santa Monica location, we were able to negotiate a partnership that consisted only of VIZIO donating technology.

Thirty-three 3D TVs, VIZIO sound bars, VIZIO tablets, and laptops. We set the place up as a gamer’s heaven, with the plan of having consumers engage in some great 3D gaming.
While the bar was being set up, we worked on the event.

Hosted by Josh Dumal, Kevin Love and Blake Griffith, invited a list of a wide range of celebrities from TV, movies, esports, and sports. These individuals walked the red carpet, posed for photos with our custom-designed 3D glasses and gave interviews before gaming the night away.

We also had top executives from all key retail outlets on-site to experience the amazing bar, enjoy the celebrities, game themselves to see how incredible the TVs and glasses were and enjoy the amazing catered night.

Media coverage ranged from Extra, to ESPN, to BuzzFeed, driving over 60 million earned impressions.

For the price of product, we were able to garner huge reach, and cement VIZIO’s relationship with all three key retailers.