Zenith to Launch Premium Digital Brand

April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- In a move to better meet the diverse needs of its retail partners and achieve significant marketing synergies with its parent company, Zenith Electronics Corporation today announced plans to expand its product portfolio with a premium brand - LG.

In the second half of this year, Zenith will introduce select high-end products -- including plasma displays, LCD TVs and digital set-top boxes -- under the premium LG brand, "giving us even more flexibility to meet the varied feature and pricing needs of our customers," said T.J. Lee, Zenith Electronics Corporation president and CEO.

Zenith, which has been a wholly owned subsidiary of LG Electronics Inc. (LGE) since 1999, has been successfully repositioned as a digital company, said Lee, who added that digital products comprise more than 90 percent of Zenith's 2003 product line.

"With success comes new challenges, like how to grow and bring new products to market more quickly. While most 2003 digital products will continue to be marketed under the Zenith name, the premium LG brand will help us meet these goals and address increasingly diverse customer needs. And LG is the natural choice, especially considering the marketing synergies with LG mobile phones and digital appliances."

Ongoing marketing programs will support the Zenith brand's momentum in the marketplace. In parallel, strategic advertising will introduce the higher-end LG brand. Lee said LG is already positioned as a high-tech brand in wireless communications and digital appliances, allowing Zenith to leverage the advertising programs and global marketing muscle of sister companies to support LG-branded video products.

"We will maximize the value of both brands," Lee said. LG invested heavily to acquire and rebuild the Zenith brand, which continues to achieve success in the U.S. market. "We plan to continue to leverage Zenith's special pedigree in the industry as the primary developer of the HDTV broadcast standard while capitalizing on LG's worldwide leadership position in digital displays and other digital products," he said.

Zenith will be seeking to broaden distribution of Zenith digital products while offering LG-brand products to selected retail partners. Zenith also plans to market LG-branded products to its commercial customers, such as the lodging, education, health care, industrial and custom-installation channels. "As with consumer sales channels, Zenith-brand products will continue to be marketed in parallel, providing expanded business opportunities for Zenith distribution channels," Lee said.

"Based on our successful digital transformation, Zenith believes that this is the right time to introduce a premium brand to further enhance our role as a digital leader. At the same time, this fits perfectly with LG's global strategy," said Lee, who also serves as CEO of LGE-US, LG's North American operations.

Seeking to capture a larger share of the digital marketplace, LG has an aggressive goal of becoming No. 1 in the world in its core, strategic business areas of digital TV, displays and mobile phones, Lee explained. "The U.S. represents the world's largest market for digital products. Introducing LG- brand video products in the U.S. builds on the progress that Zenith has made with its digital strategy and allows us to capitalize on marketing synergies with other high-tech LG products," Lee said.

For more information visit www.zenith.com.

Source: Zenith Electronics Corporation