Sony has opted to target the Aiwa brand specifically at the youth market and young adults, while the Sony brand continues to cater for all audiences.
It is keen for the Aiwa brand to achieve cut-through and wants to develop edgier youth-oriented advertising to stand out from rivals such as Sanyo, Hitachi and Toshiba.
A decision on the advertising pitch is expected within weeks. Either Amsterdam-based Strawberry Frog or Brussels-based BLD Europe will developed a trade-focused marketing campaign, to be followed by a full consumer launch some time in April. Since the consumer electronics markets in Europe are close to saturation point, Aiwa's focus will be on cutting-edge products that can be connected to PCs.
A new product line-up will be launched in the UK on April 1, encompassing MiniDisc PC recorders, DVD Hi-Fi products, portable audio products and audio/video combinations. The Aiwa brand is drawing on the same research and development, engineering and manufacturing base as Sony products.
Sony has also unveiled a fresh logo for Aiwa, created in-house. Domingo Jaumandreu, managing director of Aiwa Marketing for Europe, said: "Aiwa already has great brand heritage; the new logo offers a point of focus for our intensive marketing and brand-building programmes across Europe.
A clear and simple message of 'enjoy AIWA' will also appear on all new models, both on the carton box and on stickers on the products."
UK marketing and product development is being led by Patrick Butler, general manager of the Aiwa business division at Sony UK.
Sony agreed to bail out Aiwa last year as the company was losing out to aggressive cost-cutting by Asian rivals. It predicted the Aiwa subsidiary would deliver an operating profit by the end of the next financial year.
Sony awarded its 拢70m pan-European advertising account to Fallon last November in a drawn-out contest that deposed Saatchi & Saatchi. The account covered its entire consumer electronics portfolio but excluded its music entertainment business and PlayStation.
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