TFCinfo announces the release of its “Projector Brand Customer Perception and Preference Study 2016.” This report marks the 14th year that this annual projector brand benchmarking study has been conducted. TFCinfo's report not only measures the strength of multimedia projector brands in the five most important market segments in the AV industry (large corporations, SMB-small and medium business, SOHU-small office/home user, education, and government), but also analyzes important trends in customer perceptions which can have significant influence in their purchase decisions.
In this year's installment, Epson is a clear winner in the eyes of experienced projector end users and purchasers. Not only has Epson remained solid in brand awareness and image, but even continues to improve upon many dominating scores. Other brands such as BenQ, Dell, Hitachi, InFocus, NEC, Optoma, and Sony are noted for strength and improvements in other key areas and market segments.
Awareness, Image and Intent are three main elements of brand strength that continuously need to be monitored. In this research, TFCinfo shows how individual brands perform on each of these important measures and in comparison to other brands. This allows readers to form a complete picture of where the brand is, and where the brand needs to go to stay competitive.
Awareness
Epson, NEC, Sony, Panasonic, and InFocus are the top five most recognized projector brands in the industry. Epson has solidified the position and has a solid lead of at least 10% above the next highest ranked brand in every segment surveyed (aided awareness). NEC and InFocus both come in among the top three most recognized brands in four of the five segments surveyed. While other brands may not have ranked among the top, they post some of the strongest improvements and definitely cannot be overlooked. BenQ and Optoma are important to note on this measure as these brands have each increased their overall free recall (unaided) by 17% in the past three years alone. Unaided free recall is extremely important to ensure that a brand comes to mind to be included in the important pre-purchase research.
Awareness for some brands, while still considered low in comparison to the position in total projector sales and current market share, have continued to show great improvement, most notably Dell and Optoma.
Image
A clear picture is forming with regard to some of the most important projector purchasing factors and the brands that are being associated with them. Some of the most important factors to look at when purchasing a projector are overall image quality, reliability/build quality, and price. Experienced projector users and purchasers name Epson, Panasonic, Sony, NEC, and Hitachi as the top brands they associate most with having an excellent image quality.
These same brands are also named as brands that represent projectors that offer superior reliability and build quality. Respondents name InFocus, Epson, Dell, BenQ, and Optoma as the brands that offer the best price (value), while on the polar end Epson, Panasonic, Sony, NEC, and Hitachi are named as offering a better investment (higher price/higher quality). This leaves Epson in a phenomenal position as end users are viewing the brand as both a great value and a high quality investment.
“Measuring brand strength and tracking your position in relation to your competitors is crucial in today's projector market. Understanding customer perceptions, preferences and the factors that are driving their purchase decisions is critical to the brand management process, and therefore to the growth and profitability of your brand,” states Tanya Lippke, TFCinfo director of survey market research. “These customer perceptions can have significant influence in their purchase decisions.”
"Measuring brand strength and tracking your position in relation to your competitors is crucial in today’s projector market."
Tanya Lippke
Director of Survey Market Research, TFCinfo.
Intent
Epson, Panasonic, NEC, Sony, and InFocus are the top five brands being considered for purchase most overall, although some of these brands are being pushed by a dominance in particular market segments. BenQ, Optoma, and even Hitachi hold their own on this measure posting some important consideration gains in certain market segments this year.
While Hitachi may not be one of the most considered brands for purchase, Hitachi has posted an increase in purchase consideration each year for the past four years now, and is high relative to overall brand awareness. BenQ and Optoma are also brands where momentum cannot be ignored. Both brands have done a great job with awareness and image in this category and it shows. This yearly tracking study reveals that BenQ and Optoma have improved the numbers, gaining 17% in consideration each since 2013.
“Many brands post great scores this year, even some of the lesser known brands,” states Tanya Lippke, “In order for brands to turn this consideration into an actual purchase, consumers must have a clear understanding as to what your brand offers in correlation to the purchasing factors that are most important to them. This report reveals what messages the major brands are delivering and how these perceptions are affecting them in the market-place.”
Many brands were researched in-depth and each show significant strengths and weaknesses in certain areas. Brands that are analyzed in depth in this report include: BenQ, Dell, Dukane, Eiki, Epson, Hitachi, InFocus, NEC, Optoma, Panasonic, Runco, and Sony.
This extensive 340+ page report reveals detailed customer insights and analysis that will help manufacturers to build and sustain an advantage in the marketplace. This report analyzes:
• Unaided brand awareness
• Aided brand awareness
• Brands used
• Brand consideration set (Is your brand among a select group of brands considered for purchase?)
• Superior brands (Is your brand always considered? Most desired?)
• Inferior Brands (Is your brand never considered?)
• Buying criteria
• Importance rating of buying criteria
• Brand affinity (How strong is your brand strength on key purchasing attributes?)
• Brand associations (What type of projector use is your brand most associated with? Mobile projection? Home entertainment?)
• Brand image index (How strong is your brand compared to the average and your competitors on important purchasing factors and affinity attributes?)
• Plus: Projector use and purchasing (How are projectors used in each market segment, what benefits are realized from using a projector, what are the downsides, how many hours are projectors being used, where are consumers getting information about projectors and brands, where are they buying most, who are the gatekeepers of purchase, does your brand measure up on the most important purchasing factors?)
• This report also includes market trend graphs for each market segment that tracks the movement of top brands from 2006-2016 in important areas such as: unaided and aided awareness and brand consideration.
For a complete brochure and outline of this study, or for more information on purchasing, please contact Tanya Lippke, Director of Survey Market Research, at (207) 783-0055 or tmlippke@tfcinfo.net.
