By PETER GRIFFIN
It seemed highly ironic. A middle-aged executive in a dark suit talking about tapping into the youth market and embracing extreme sports - two popular forces that appear to reject the corporate ethos completely.
But that was the new line from the boardroom of consumer electronics giant Philips this month at the company's annual Asia-Pacific media conference in tropical Bali.
Aaron Boey, Philips' Southeast Asia and Pacific marketing vice-president outlined a shift in marketing focus for the company away from costly sports sponsorship deals and blanket media advertising towards targeted marketing - youths and opinion leaders.
"It's arguable that today we are not top of the line, we are not the first brand that comes to mind. We want to be the first brand that comes to mind," the executive stressed.
And being top of the line obviously means being first in the mind of youths. The company that started off selling "incandescent lamps and other electrical products" back in 1891 is today pouring millions into events, advertising and marketing campaigns centred on generations X and Y - people in their middle teens through to 34-year-olds.
Philips has never had a "cool" image. Granted, the company was the driving force behind the compact disc, a shiny piece of plastic bought in truckloads by teenagers.
But, for a long time, the company which has a hand in making everything from lightbulbs to earphones has had a jaded image outside Europe.
In recent years, Philips has been involved in expensive sponsorship deals aimed at generating interest in a vast product range of televisions, audio systems, digital video disc (DVD) players and mobile devices.
"Philips spends hundreds of millions of dollars around the world each year buying sponsorship of activities like the World Cup or Euro 2000," Mr Boey.
"But we believe these activities help us only so far in associating our brand name with these properties. What we'd like to do is build some properties of our own so that the consumer can have a rich experience of the Philips brand." The result of this shift in direction is a series of youth-themed events coming to cool venues across the region.
Philips' youth strategy picked up momentum last year with a series of extreme sports and music orientated events across Asia, all part of an exciting programme dubbed "X-rage."
So we have skateboarding and in-line skating instead of baseball, BMX racing and pop stars instead of cricket. In Asian capitals, Philips events will dominate the social calender of the region's youths over the coming year as the company seeks to associate its products with them.
But New Zealand is not mentioned.
"Coverage is still small at the moment and that's something we have to improve," admits Mr Boey.
Philips has 24.3 per cent of the New Zealand market for consumer electronics and leads the way in areas such as wide screen televisions.
Philips bosses seem comfortable with the figure, and there are no signs that the company plans to end its long-standing support of the All Blacks. For Philips the association has worked too well for that.
The youth pitch manifests itself best in the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The $US100 million venture between Philips and Turner Broadcasting combines an interactive space with a 20,000 seat sports stadium and a 929 sq m technology showcase.
Young Americans can fill in time before the game by playing with the latest Philips products.
But has Philips missed the boat in making its extreme move? Certainly, the company is not the first to latch onto a market segment emerging from the underground, baggy trousers and battered skateboard in hand to dominate boardroom marketing decisions.
Corporate big-names ranging from Sony to Subaru have all set their sights on the youth and extreme markets as it becomes apparent that the 20-somethings have a huge amount of disposable income.
Sony was instrumental in the push to make music go mobile when it unleashed the Walkman. The company successfully drew the PlayStation out of the darkened bedroom into the mainstream.
Perhaps Philips wants to emulate venue-marketing success stories such as the Warped Tour, a mix of alternative music and gravity sports sponsored by the shoe brand Vans.
Extreme sports have allowed generation X to think of themselves as rebellious, just by association. And now it is generation Y, the mid-teens, being watched as companies try to predict what products will be in demand in the future.
But has "extreme" and youth marketing become a cliche? If the youth of today has made anything crystal clear it is their refusal to be patronised. The consumer heavyweights walk a fine line in pitching to this market.
Consumer giant Philips zeros in on new generation
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