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TFCinfo: Major European Projector Brand Study Reveals that Sony, Epson, and NEC are the strongest European brands (21/6/2004)

TFCinfo Corp, the worldwide leader in AV Market Research, in cooperation with HiddenWires.co.uk and Reflex Limited, reveals its European brand findings from their new report entitled "TFCinfo International Projector Brand Strength Study-Projectors in North America and Europe 2004." This report is an exciting projector brand strength study of experienced projector users and purchasers.

TFCinfo announced today that Sony is a leader on overall brand awareness among experienced European projector users in the 5 key market segments surveyed:

áLarge Corporation
áSmall and Medium Business (SMB)
áSmall Offices and Home
áGovernment
áEducation

Sony
Sony ranked #1 for all segments surveyed on unaided brand awareness and ranked #1 on an aided basis for all segments surveyed, with the exception of the Government segment, where Epson took the top spot. "It is no surprise that Sony is a strong consumer brand, yet it is a tribute to Sony that its brand strength extends to European business products such as projectors. Nevertheless, within the various key segments of the business projector market, NEC and Epson are nipping at Sony's heels - and in some individual cases have surpassed Sony's lead," stated Paul Martin, president of TFCinfo Corp. "Research has shown that if your brand is not in the top three of a buyer's initial consideration set, it becomes difficult for your product to be considered during the remainder of the buying process. That is why aided and unaided awareness is such an important measure to track in this competitive product category."

Epson and NEC
Epson and NEC did well across the board in Europe. These brands consistently came in among the top spots for all segments surveyed on unaided recall and overall brand recognition (aided). Epson stood out on aided recognition taking the #2 spot among those in Large Corporations, SMB, and Small Offices, and tying the #1 spot with Sony among those in Education and taking the #1 spot among those in Government. NEC took the #3 spot on overall brand recognition (aided) across all segments surveyed.

InFocus, Sanyo, HP, Toshiba, Panasonic, Hitachi, Canon, and Barco
InFocus came in among the top four brands being considered for purchase among all segments with the exception of Government. On various other levels several brands performed well among certain user segments. Sanyo did particularly well throughout this research in the Education and Government segments, while Toshiba performed better among the business segments surveyed.

Also of note, several companies that recently entered the projector market with strong computer, and printer brand associations did well in their own rights on awareness. Hewlett Packard-HP made great improvements over last years results among second-level projector brands. HP also fared well on various important affinity attributes. Along with recent entries, we also saw some specialized projector companies show a strong performance throughout this European research--particularly Barco.

The following brands also fared well on brand awareness among certain user segments: Toshiba, Panasonic, Hitachi, and Canon. It is obvious that many projector brands can benefit from a strong brand name.

This is the 3rd year that TFCinfo has conducted this important international projector brand strength tracking research to aid companies in managing their regional and global brand strength and perceptions. This study not only focuses on the top brands in North America and Europe, but on brand performance, brand affinity and brand associations-- and analyzes these across the 5 most important user segments in our industry. With this comprehensive study, projector companies can track and compare their performance among market segments and between Europe and US simultaneously.

The whole Projector Brand Strength Study 2004 is comprised of two parts: a US brand study and a European brand study. Each part may be purchased separately. The Projector Brand Strength Study 2004 provides significant insight into the projector industry in the US and EU through the eyes of experienced users and purchasers in areas such as:

áBrand Awareness (Unaided, Aided)
áBrands Used
áBrand Consideration Set (Is your brand among a select group of brands considered?)
áSuperior Brands (Is your brand always considered?)
áInferior Brands (Is your brand a brand that is never considered?)
áBrand Affinity (How strong is your brand strength on key purchasing attributes?) áBrand Associations (What type of projector use is your brand most associated with?)
áProjector Purchasing (Where are consumers buying most, who are the gatekeepers of purchase, does your brand measure up on theÊmost important purchasing factors?)
áAnd Much More!

With a complete brand analysis - through research such as the International Projector Brand Strength Study - industry participants can measure their brand strengths and weaknesses for all facets of projector brand management. Participants can see the success or shortcomings of their current branding strategy, as well as the weaknesses in their competitors' strategies. Projector companies then can implement new marketing plans to bring their brands to the forefront of the minds of the purchasers that they target.

www.tfcinfo.com