Clarity Alliance focuses on poor TV sound quality with first advertising campaign
Clarity, the hi-fi and home cinema industry's new trade alliance, has launched its first advertising campaign to focus consumers on getting better performance from their sound and vision products.
The first campaign focuses on the poor quality of sound from flatscreen TVs, something which we can certainly relate to.
The campaign, called 'It's Time To Upgrade', uses a two-minute video, which will be pushed on YouTube, Facebook, Google+ and the new 'It's Time To Upgrade' website.
The video gives consumers a number of options for getting better sound from their TV, and will guide them to their local specialist retailer where they can investigate further.
Launching the campaign Alan Sircom, chairman of Clarity, said, “One of the primary reasons for setting up Clarity was to help raise awareness of the hi-fi and home cinema industry with consumers who are blissfully unaware of how good home entertainment can be.
"We need to introduce new customers to what we do, visiting the shops and buying the products that our manufacturers spend months and years developing.
"By focusing the first campaign on an issue that is really simple to understand, namely how bad TVs sound these days compared to the amazing pictures they give, we hope to attract the attention of people who have never given this any thought but will appreciate it when it is pointed out."
Clarity launched at the start of the year with six key aims and objectives, and this is the first advertising campaign.
Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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Comments
"...just for the sake of clarity". Bada bing, bada boom.
astracouple, just for the sake of clarity, What Hi-Fi?SV was not involved in the production of the ad at all.
I agree the advert is dire. I've watched it several times and it doesn't get better. I heard said that What Hi-Fi magazine was involved in the production?
I agree with Hatted; the advert wastes too much time on the pre amble and doesn't spend enough time on the benefits of better sound. It also misses the point that most consumers want a very simple solution and will happily buy an add on system from Panasonic, Samsung etc or a soundbar for £200.
The other issue is that most Clarity members don't sell screens. If they did they'd get the TV buyer in the shop to start with and then would stand a chance of selling a better system.
So the question is will this campaign reach the target audience of consumers who want better sound by just being a viral campaign? I think that's unlikely. Unless the consumers subscribes to social media it will not and they will not see the in store POS as they will not go into the stores.
Sorry Clarity but this campaign is even less likely to succeed than your predecessor organisations Real Hi-Fi campaign.
The way to sell better sound is at the time the consumer buys the TV, a much better chance of conversion. Alternatively make sure that your store has a TV on and a big sign that says something like “TV sound is bad isn’t it – no listen here” and give a convincing demonstration.
It might be a good start if they transmitted decent quality sound in the first place. The other night Emily Maitland sounded like she had her microphone stuffed down her woolly vest. Switch to an outside broadcast and the sound was ok. That is not unusual. Some programmes are virtually unwatchable because the sound is so poor. American programmes are particularly bad.
A little while ago the local news had an item about a local footballer. It included a clip from the 30s, with a commentary by Mr Cholmondley-Walker. The sound was superb.
The more high tech they play with, the bigger mess they make.
Craig M.,
It is no the detail of how to take the back off a tv, but the message that it is ok. As I understand it, even if turned off and not plugged into a mains socket, a tv has the potential to deliver a significant enough shock to kill.
Unfortunately, my experience of life points to there being very many - "monumentally stupid" - people.
+ as someone else noted, the guy is a complete richardhead.
I'm not convinced the safety angle is so relevant, you'd have to be monumentally stupid to need someone to show you how to undo the screws on the back of your TV, and even dumber to do it so you could look at its internal speakers. But the advert is dire. Who is it even aimed at? Is it possible to go into a TV store and not notice the surround sound packages they also sell? Anyone who has sat there wondering what they can do about improving the sound from their TV already knows they can buy stuff to improve it - it was there in the shop when they bought their TV, the salesman probably tried to sell them some of it!
The video made me cringe.
Doesn't even make it clear that if you add speakers you will need an amplifier!
This is a shocking advert. I completely agree with relocated on the safety aspect. What is more, the whole thing looks unprofessional and lacks the quality it is trying to promote.
Rubbish.
Dear me, who was it sponsored by Halfords and Durex?
Brilliant!!
...now, where's my hammer?
Directed by Stephen Cheeseburger....says it all really!
What an awful advert ! The bloke looks like knob, the solution looks like a mess and the advert looks like something Alan Sugar's Apprentices would make in a task.
Why?
I understand what they are trying to do, but they wasted too much time on the preamble. The solutions they presented looked confusing and expensive.All you need to show is what a typical tv speaker looks like, and how you can improve the sound of a tv from a basic level up to the 5.1 they showed. The people they are trying to reach will be confused and dismissive, and the ones who would want to buy expensive Kef equipment will already know about it.
Well what a responsible advert to put before the general public.
Lets pull apart a piece of electrical equipment with lethal potential, even when turned off, and even show people how this can be done!
Sheer brilliance. Did anyone with even an ounce of common sense approve this stupidity?