LONDON – Hitachi is hooking up with Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise in a global promotional campaign promote its flatscreen TVs in the remake of the of the HG Wells Classic ‘War of the Worlds’.

The deal with Paramount Pictures marks a departure for Hitachi, which has not before ventured into product placement or branded entertainment and movie cross promotion.

Hitachi said it expected a significant influence on its sales and brand image from tie-ins and suggested that ‘War of the Worlds’ was only the first of what could be a string of movies it ties up with as it attempts to tap into global appeal.

Kazuhiro Tachibana, a spokesman for Hitachi, said: “Our ‘The Ultimate Visual Experience’ campaign is a perfect match between Spielberg and Cruise’s pursuit of the world’s best in film entertainment and Hitachi’s commitment to the highest picture quality through its digital consumer electronic products.”

The movie, which is due out this summer, is a remake of the 1953 film based on the 1898 HG Wells book. ‘War of the World’ caused a storm when first broadcast as a Orson Welles radio play in 1938 after Americans thought Martians had actually landed.

Japanese electronics giant Hitachi hopes the tie-up will give a major shot in the arm to its flatscreen TVs sales, as the market suffers from falling profits and oversupply.

Hitachi has signed a deal with Paramount, the producer of the movie to provide, plasma TVs, DVD camcorders and other products for product placement roles in the film.

Lisa DiMarzio, senior vice-president worldwide marketing partnerships at Paramount Pictures, said: “Hitachi’s global promotion with ‘War of the Worlds’ is a multi-tiered campaign that spans television, print, and online, and also includes several innovative consumer activation tactics that will be unveiled throughout the campaign.”

Hitachi will use footage of the film, due to released on June 29, in promoting its plasma screen televisions, of which it aims to sell almost 500,000 this year almost double that of last year.

Prices have fallen sharply in the flatscreen TV market as fierce competition has driven prices down leading to problems for electronics firms.

Earlier this week, Pioneer cut 2000 factory jobs worldwide after profits were hit. Pioneer said the disappointing figures were due to falling prices in plasma TVs and growing competition from low-cost rivals.

European electronics giant Philips was in similar difficulty as it also blamed losses on at its flatscreen television unit for contributing to a slump in first-quarter profits as net income plummeted to €117m (£80m) from €550m last time.

Source: brandrepublic.com