The work described here won Technology Campaign of the Year in the PRWeek Awards Asia.
Objective
Sony had launched a new smartphone flagship model called ‘Xperia Z1’. The brand wanted to dominate the android imaging space in a fiercely crowded smartphone market in India with a 20.7 Megapixel camera in the phone. Advances in camera phone technology were making the world of compact cameras redundant. Sales of compact cameras had fallen by 30-35 per cent from the 2011 levels. The Xperia Z1, at the time of release, was the most powerful android imaging device in the world. The objective was to position Sony’s new flagship as the best camera phone in the market and showcase the strengths of its different camera features.
Strategy
The campaign was designed to answer and dispel beliefs that only professional cameras could produce high quality images. The brand brought in celebrated smartphone photographers, each with a different style, to inspire photography enthusiasts. Instead of demonstrating beautiful photographs in an exhibition gallery – it brought the gallery to everyone’s screens. We did this through an expanding real-time gallery, with photographs in different styles, from different parts of India. To make it a two-way conversation, if viewers could ask the photographers questions.
Results
The most significant result was that it helped Sony earn the trust of its fans as a brand that is transparent and open to interactions. The campaign not only produced wonderful art, but also answered all the questions from interested buyers. The Brand Trust barometer moved Sony up three notches form its fifth rank (2012) to second (2014). At the end of 2014, Xperia phones contributed to 25 per cent of the company’s revenues.