New Appointments for BDA European Promotions

In addition to Victor Matsuda’s re-election as the BDA’s Global Promotions Committee Chair, the Blu-ray Disc Association has also announced the appointment of its regional Promotions teams chairs. For the U.S., Andy Parsons has re-elected, and for Japan/AP, Yutaka Komai has been re-elected. For Europe, Niels Leibbrandt from Sony Europe takes over from Frank Simonis who stands down after an exciting and eventful two years in charge.

Niels Leibbrandt
 
“The Chairman’s role is a fixed duration two-year appointment and Frank has completed what has been a challenging and tremendously successful period in charge. Our sincere thanks go to him for his expert guidance and management of the BDA European promotions committee,” comments Niels Leibbrandt.
 
Leibbrandt brings a wealth of experience and modern marketing methods in the arena of introducing new entertainment formats. As well as working with Sony Europe, he was previously promoting technology standards within Philips Electronics, based at the company’s Eindhoven headquarters.

Association appoints new European Promotions Committee Chair
Slipping into the Chairman’s seat, Niels looks forward to an exciting period ahead as Blu-ray consolidates the strong growth it experienced in the fourth quarter of 2008. “With Blu-ray Disc one thing is sure: Seeing is Believing,” explains Leibbrandt. “Many consumers may think they are satisfied with DVD, but when they actually get to experience Blu-ray Disc they are truly amazed by the picture quality that can be achieved."
 
“This said, many European consumers do not fully understand what Blu-ray is, nor do they understand how to get true High Definition picture quality on their HDTV,” he continues. “What is less known too is that Blu-ray Disc covers applications areas such as loss-less 7.1 audio, which simply is fantastic for movie special effects and music concerts. Or that consumers can go online with their BD player to browse the latest movie content. Or that there are Blu-ray computer drives and editing software that offer the ideal solution to store HD Camcorder footage safely."
 
Niels realises that he stepping into big shoes when he inherits the BDA European Promotions Committee Chair. “Although European Blu-ray Disc players and movies sales achieved tremendous Q4 growth in 2008, we still have a formidable promotional challenge remaining in Europe before the format is self-propelling."
 
“The BDA’s 2009-2010 promotional task is clear: to help establish the mainstream consumer adoption of Blu-ray Disc in Europe for all application areas,” concludes Niels Leibbrandt. “BDA Europe continues to drive European promotion initiatives by supporting local Blu-ray taskforces and independent industry organisations. We will work on consumer messaging and promotional tools explaining the benefits of Blu-ray in an easy way. We will drive Life-style PR and online initiatives to reach tier 2 consumer segments and we will co-operate to enhance visibility of Blu-ray Disc at the shop-front. The Blu-ray Disc Association is at the international home entertainment industry’s service.”