Vizio switches marketing gears from discount to high-quality

by Darren Murph, posted Sep 14th 2008 at 8:55PM

When Vizio let loose a stable of new HDTVs at CES this year, it was apparent the outfit was beginning to head in another direction. For years it had pushed itself as a discount brand, grabbing market share the only way it knew how: by selling cheap. With a decent foothold in the US, Vizio has finally decided to switch gears and begin to market the more sophisticated aspects of its HDTVs. It won't stop throwing the word "value" around, but rather than honing in on how much cheaper its wares are compared to top-label competitors, it has now hired an ad agency to showcase the high-quality aspects. According to said agency, it wants "consumers to associate premiere audio quality, along with images, when they think about Vizio," and beyond all that, we're also hearing confirmation that the outfit will indeed be pushing out a low-cost soundbar in the near future. Go get 'em, Vizio.

Filed under: Industry, Displays, Speakers, Advertising

Tags: ad, ads, advertising, marketing, promotional, sound bar, SoundBar, surround bar, SurroundBar, vizio

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Lowest Ranked

Joseph @ Sep 15th 2008 12:42AM

120Hz, multiple HDMI inputs, decent bezel = polished turd. I wouldn't even buy a Visio for my garage.

Lowest Ranked

Byrdman @ Sep 15th 2008 1:02AM

yeah unless they start to use new panels and completely revamp their entire lineup, there is no way they can match what samsung, sharp, LG, and sony do with their lcd tvs.

Highest Ranked

AMFS @ Sep 15th 2008 10:05AM

Find me a 32" TV for $500 that has the quality and longevity of a Vizio. Nothing in that price range comes anywhere near what Vizio offers. Sure it's not Samsung or Sony, but it's also half the price.

Highest Ranked

John @ Sep 15th 2008 10:57AM

So true. For the money, you rarely can beat a Vizio.

Neutral

Ken @ Sep 15th 2008 1:32PM

Or you could buy a Sony or Samsung for under $700, or a Toshiba for under $600 (where did you get $1000 unless you are talking about something that is 1080p?)

Neutral

AMFS @ Sep 15th 2008 6:05PM

I worked retail selling TVs for a looong time before I graduated college, and if you are saying Toshiba is better than a Vizio, you aren't actually looking at the TV. And yes, I am comparing 720p to 720p, and even the cheapest closeout last years model Sony/Samsung are still nearly $200 more. I know 699.99 is "under" $700, but not enough to make a valid point.

Neutral

EJNelly @ Sep 16th 2008 7:59PM

you mean to tell me the Sony, Samsung, Sharp, or Toshiba's offerings, while being a $100-$200 more won't last me 13 or 14 months?

I've been working retail selling TV's for the past 2.5 years, I can't tell you how many unhappy Vizio owners I've met. Really pisses them off when their TV craps out on them just after the warranty expires. Not to mention they have the most consistantly poor picture quality of any brand I've seen.

Is it HD or SD, I can't tell on a Vizio. And not in a good way.

Highest Ranked

AMFS @ Sep 16th 2008 11:17PM

Never had a problem with mine, and working retail I saw very few people ever come back with defective ones. My parents works fine, my old roommates works fine.

Although I can't argue with the "I personally have had a bad experience so this brand is crap to me" logic, I feel the same way about Dell. But if I can't argue that, you can't argue against my "It works great for me with no problems, I love it" attitude.

Feel free to try though, FLAME WAR!!!!!!!!111111 SHIFT + 111111 ONE ONE TWO

=)

Highly Ranked

Josh @ Sep 15th 2008 5:06PM

funny how people who have no idea what they are talking about are bashing Vizio. I know several people who have Vizio LCD HDTV's and they all love them. I think this is exactly why Vizio is changing gears in their advertising because uneducated, mis-informed people assume low price = crap.

Highest Ranked

brian @ Sep 15th 2008 6:10PM

I've had a Vizio 52" LCD for almost 2 years. Bought it at Costco for 2000.00.

RF (F Connector for internal tuner): 1
HDMI with HDCP: 4
Analog Stereo Audio for HDMI Inputs: 1
Component YPbPr plus Stereo Audio: 2
Composite Video: 2
S-Video plus Stereo Audio: 1
Computer RGB plus Stereo Audio: 1

I am very happy with it. I know I get what I pay for and for the money I put down for it I think i got a whole lot. At the time Pans, Pioneers, Sony and Samsung were 2x -3x as much for the same size with less features/inputs. And for the same price of 2000.00 i would have had to settle for a smaller TV w/ less inputs. I was on a strict budget.

I spent months researching and pulled the trigger on the Vizio. I figured it would hold me over until I can afford a better TV. Also at the time 120Hz, LED back light, and better plasma technologies were just being talked about for release.

I wasn't about to drop hard earn money on a fancy new Sony and then my tv drops 500.00 dollars in the next 6 months because of the newer models. I already did that once and i got pissed as hell.

Was the first to buy an HDTV in my group of friends... bought a RPTV 1080i. 6 months later DLP drastically drops in price and 1080p is released.. im still stuck with a 32" samsung HDTV that weighs a freaken ton and takes up mad space.

For sure if you can afford to by a Sony Bravia or the new plasmas coming out right off the bat.. more power to you. But if your on a budget and not a videophile... Vizio is the way to go. Especially if you buy through Costco because they add 2 years to the standard 1 year warranty!

Neutral

Falcom @ Sep 15th 2008 7:39PM

I went through 4 Vizio 42" plasmas before finally figuring out that they just dont work. They would randomly shut off while watching them, then randomly turn back on in the middle of the night. Another one the color was screwed up. Basically they make worthless junk. I now have a 52" JVC lcd projection instead and its worked flawlessly from day one.

Neutral

Luke @ Sep 15th 2008 9:10PM

Byrdman, FYI..VIZIO uses panels from Samsung, LG, Panasonic, & AUO. So how can you say that Vizio uses crappy panels?

Neutral

Harmin @ Sep 16th 2008 2:13AM

No insults to users with Vizio televisions... but there is a reason they are cheaper than the other companies such as Sony and Samsung. Just because a lot of people have no problems with their Vizio and think the picture/build quality is amazing doesn't mean everyone agrees.

Saying that Vizio can stand up to a Sony or Samsung in terms of picture quality would be like saying a fully loaded Hyundai is as good as a fully loaded Mercedes. If Vizio wants to market itself as high quality it should stop churning out low-end televisions. And even then, it will have to revamp its entire television department to match Sony, Samsung, Sharp quality.

But lets say it does make high quality televisions. Would any of you recommend buying a comparably priced Vizio over a Sony? Im pretty sure that someone spending 2000+ on a television would rather buy a Sony than a Vizio. Im no "elitist" but thats just the way it is. That being said, for nearly 10 years I watched television on a Prima (look it up) television.

Neutral

mrguru @ Sep 16th 2008 12:53PM

"Find me a 32" TV for $500 that has the quality and longevity of a Vizio. Nothing in that price range comes anywhere near what Vizio offers. Sure it's not Samsung or Sony, but it's also half the price. "

for 100 bucks more you can get a sony or a samsung or a sharp, why bother with a vizio. where remotes stop working, shoddy buttons on the panel itself, and terrible tuners.

vizio's price advantage has deteriorated to the point where you can get a name brand tv, for a bit more than than the vizio. ill stick with brands i trust thank you.

Neutral

Jumbotron @ Sep 18th 2008 12:48PM

Call me when Vizio's engineering department switches from low cost to high quality.

If just the marketing weasels changes their focus to "quality", the product probably won't get any better.

Highly Ranked

Jim @ Nov 18th 2008 12:07AM

Yeah...damn those Vizios! I had one once, and I always thought something wasn't quite right about it. It wasn't the PQ exactly, or the audio for that matter...it looked great in the store and everyone I chatted with about it said nice things. Nope, it was its attitude. I know, sounds funny...a TV with an attitude, but I swear mine had one! It went like this...I bought mine at a place that rhymes with Dostco...don't want to name drop the retailer. Anyway, there I was, nice new Vizio in the box strapped to the side of my freshly rented U-Haul van ($29.00 + mileage cause people told me if I transported it laying down it would cause a black hole, destroy the space-time continuum or something to that degree). I was happy, it was happy, and we rolled home together...virtually hand-in-hand. At home I hauled it in, unboxed it, set it up and turned it on...and that's when it started. The constant attitude...you know the type...sort of like that cheer leader chick you met in high school that won't give you the time of day but you still followed her around, wrote about her on your badly vandalized O-Pechee folder and dreamt of the day you'd score a kiss. Man, my O-Pechee folder was so…vandalized. Anyway, I digress...the attitude was hard core. I'd ask to turn to channel "whatever" and it'd be all like, no way...I'm chillin on some HD channel that plays endless loops of scenery, pretty flowers, babbling brooks, rocks, bugs, clouds, etc. I think it really got down with nature programming. Could be a result of the rental U-Haul van ride home I guess, nevertheless, we had begun a relationship that would most be certainly plagued by a degree of....mechanical flexibility. So, our time together marched on...the seasons changed, good times w/the bad. Still, attitude remained until one fateful day. I remember it as if it is happening right now...so clear in my mind I'd swear it was in 1080p even though the Vizio set itself was only 720p. Something clicked between us...I knew it, felt it, tasted it....love or acceptance was blooming. I let the Vizio's 720p radiance wash over me like a silk sheet, totally surrendering myself to its whim. I was frozen, excited, and ready to accept it's mastery of my body and soul. I finally realized...I didn't own it like I originally thought...merely paid it's evil masters to release it from bondage. I finally understood...here it was, a thing of beauty, forcefully built to exact specifications, packaged and imprisoned into a small box, thrown onto a truck with others piled on top of it until it arrived at its purgatory, sitting on a shelf...waiting. Although I thought I had chosen it, in reality, it chose me. Once I learned to accept that, we never had problems again until...I sold it to my realtor friend. I couldn't stand the irony any longer. I was living in a 1080p world, yet had surrendered myself to a 720p set that did not respect me. Now I have a new raison d’etra, but that's a story for another day...

Highest Ranked

pekosROB @ Nov 15th 2008 1:14PM

Wow dude, you have a lot of time.

Neutral

Brian from Texas @ Dec 4th 2008 10:55PM

That's a great little story. Still won't buy a Vizio. ; -')

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