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Player Deals Need More Oomph

July 2, 2009 In this recession, I get that retailers and manufacturers are hurting. But really, someone needs to come up with more compelling promotions to sell these Blu-ray players.
You hear time and time again, that Blu-ray set-top momentum is the key to mainstream high-def format adoption. PS3 owners rarely buy Blu-ray movies/TV discs, but the set-top owner can be counted on to pick up Blu-ray titles in bulk.
So...Panasonic and Best Buy, you guys need to figure out something better than your current 'Get a free Blu-ray title, when you purchase this $599 Blu-ray home theater system.' This deal is advertised in Best Buy's current circular encompassing the July 4 holiday. At least offer up a handful of Blu-ray titles, because to me, just the one freebie seems really stingy. If people are considering going to a higher-end $599 player, then give them their money's worth with a batch of titles.
A better bundle promotion in this week's Best Buy is a PS3 and 46" 1080P Sony TV for $1299....You can look at it like you're nearly a getting a free PS3 out of the deal, or getting pretty sweet high-def TV for under $1,000. Sony-branded sets by themselves often retail for well over $1,000.
Hopefully, people will use their long weekends to check out consumer electronics in general. But I'm worried that the marketing message is too muted for people to browse for very long.

Posted by Susanne Ault on July 2, 2009 | Comments (0)