VIZIO is coming this summer! What is their marketing strategy?

In 2007, VIZIO was one of the largest LCD TV sellers in United States. Their low-priced products powered their sales. For example, they are selling 37” high definition TV for $850. Their business model is called “Fabless.” They don’t have their own factory. They procure TV panels from Korean or Taiwanese makers and designate Chinese factories to assemble the sources into TVs. We interviewed Ms. Laynie Allen Newsome, Vice President of Sales at VIZIO, about their marketing strategy.

This summer, VIZIO will enter the Japanese market with 42” and 47” LCD TVs.

―What do you think about the sales plan for 2008?

In the US, we will launch new products of 20” to 52” LCD TVs and 50” to 60” HD plasma TVs with “good” prices. We will also enter the Japanese market and ship 42” and 47” LCD TVs this summer. We are now discussing this issue with some major Japanese retailers.

―Will you sell your TVs by OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturing) in Japan?

We don’t think so. We are going to enter the market under the name of VIZIO. The strong points of our TVs are Design, Picture and Price. These three points will surely become the strengths in the Japanese market. We have confidence that Japanese people will prefer our flat-styled TVs. Especially since we plan on selling our TVs at much lower prices than in the US.

―Japanese people think that VIZIO’s products are just cheap and have no quality. What do you think about that point?

If our products were cheap with poor quality, we couldn’t become the top selling company in the US. We tend to associate flat-styled TVs that have high picture quality with high costs, and low quality models with low cost. However, we tried to make high picture quality models with low price and made it. That’s the reason we make big sales. As a result, we shipped 2.8 million flat-styled TVs. We plan to ship 5.6 million TVs in 2008.

VIZIO not only has good prices but also gives personal customer service.

―Why was VIZIO able to expand sales share in the US?

Our flat-styled TVs are sold at about 30,000 stores throughout the US. Initially, we sold our TVs at COSTCO. The high picture quality and affordable prices made it a big seller. Then Wal-Mart stores and Circuit City started to sell our products and that is why our sales share expanded. Recently, Kmart and Sears also started selling VIZIO TVs, and now we are negotiating with Best Buy to get our TVs on their shelves.

It is said that to capture the smile is difficult. It is not easy for us to make a natural smile and to take the very moment of that smile. We often make forced smiles when faced with a camera and kids cannot stay in the same place even if it is just for a short period. We are confident that this camera can be a hit product because there is potential demand.

―Since VIZIO grew very quickly, some people said that you couldn’t provide enough after sales service to customers.

It is unreasonable to say our customer service is bad or behind the other makers. We have confidence in our service. For example, we can come up with a solution in two and a half minutes during a customer’s call. We have 100 employees and 60 of them are dedicated to customer service. Of course we will provide the same support services in Japan.

―What does VIZIO want to become?

We want to become a home electronics company that has worldwide brand power. Our goal is becoming the next “Great Sony.” We trust that we will reach this goal if we remain a favorite among customers.