Marchon Readying CE, Optical, Online Distribution for Passive 3D Glasses

3D glasses manufacturer Marchon is preparing for the spate of passive 3D TVs due on the market this year with a multi-pronged distribution strategy that includes CE retail stores, optical outlets and an e-commerce site due to launch within the next 60 days, David Johnson, president of Marchon’s 3D group, told Consumer Electronics Daily. The company is also exploring selling glasses to theater-goers at cinemas, Johnson said, and is testing the concept at select theaters.

Marchon’s broad reach with the direct-sales model to consumers will also include “an aggressive mail-order and catalog” campaign, Johnson said. Marchon is the 3D glasses supplier for Vizio passive TVs and will “actively participate” with other TV brands as they roll out, he said.

Johnson said the company is in discussions with theaters about loyalty programs where a pair of glasses could be a reward for purchases made within a club membership. After consumers buy “a certain number of tickets,” they could get a coupon for a pair of glasses, Johnson said. The company has done three market tests, and consumers appear to be receptive to the idea of getting “dual-purpose glasses that work as sunglasses, too,” he said. When asked whether consumers would be willing to pony up $35-$40 for a pair of glasses they typically borrow for free at a 3D theater, Johnson said “thirty-five dollars for a pair of nice sunglasses is not as outrageous as paying that for popcorn and soda."

Marchon, whose fashion brands include Calvin Klein, Lacoste and Nautica, is “actively addressing” the prescription market, Johnson said, albeit with caution. The company has produced “some pieces already,” he said, but the “few times we've been ready we weren’t comfortable with the supply chain.” In the meantime, he said, the company has made “continued improvements to the designs.” The company plans a global launch of the prescription products sometime this year, Johnson said, though prescription lenses “require absolute assurance of quality and training in the lab environment. We're doing our homework."

Marchon will have 50 SKUs around 18 models of 3D glasses in theaters this year, and another 60-80 SKUs in optical stores, Johnson said. The company is also working with the PC market where manufacturers such as Dell, Fujitsu, HP, NEC and Toshiba will launch desktop monitors and laptops with 3D technology this spring. “About all of them will be passive models,” Johnson said, noting that Marchon has not addressed the active-shutter glasses market. Marchon “might have bundle deals for passive displays,” he said, but “CE companies consider 3D glasses that are part of a bundle ‘a spare part’ and don’t make a practice of announcing their spare part alliances.” Bundled 3D glasses “are almost never branded with any brand but their own.”