LG's Omnibus of goodies

For consumer durables giant LG Electronics, mundane advertisements and hoardings vying for consumer eyeballs are just not enough. In an attempt to ignite brand-recall and accelerate sales, LG has armed itself with five luxury buses.

Starting with Bangalore, the five buses will visit 50 cities in India, targeting resident welfare associations and clubs. The red-and-white Lifestyle-and-Service-on-Wheels aims at acquainting consumers with LG’s products. The buses will be used for product demonstrations, interactive sessions to address consumer queries and redress complaints, and much more.

From a distance, the buses resemble luxury inter-state services. But inside, instead of passenger seats, there are convection microwave, cinema 3D television, wonder door refrigerator, six-motion washing machine and split AC. That is not all. A cute little dining area, a living room and a study vie to woo the consumer in style.

Soon Kwon, managing director, LG, believes that there is a need to move beyond traditional promotional tools. “A channel like a bus is aimed at delivering door-step service which can help engage with consumers in a close manner.” A consulting firm analyst attributes the bus-campaign to stiff competition from Korean rival Samsung in the Indian consumer durables industry, estimated to be worth `350 billion and growing at 15% per year.

Amitabh Mall, partner and director at Boston Consulting Group, welcomes LG’s consumer outreach.  “This will keep the growth momentum in consumer products going as the disposable incomes and aspirations of consumers are rising.”

Since the idea is to promote products and redress grievances, each LG bus has a city manager, a service engineer (to address consumer queries) and a lifestyle consultant to educate consumers on product features. Although it has invested Rs10 crore on the campaign, LG would not use the buses to accept bookings.

“With labels such as Sony, Philips, Hitachi, Mirc and Videocon in the market, a continuous chain of innovation and consumer engagement methods are needed to remain in the top slot,” says an analyst.