©2011

Campaign SummarySony Mobile is the 10th most socially engaged brand in India, according to a Nielsen McKinsey survey. This is due to the performance of the Sony Mobile India Facebook page, which gained 800,000 fans in eight months with consistently increasing engagement levels.

We achieved this through a series of campaigns, tightly integrated with Sony’s smartphone launch calendar. The audience was carefully selected and targeted through contests appealing to specific groups. Our campaigns included crowdsourced phone reviews, theme-based photographs, dance choreography and quizzes. Designed to be viral, each contest brought a large number of viewers and fans to the page.

Sony Mobile India now has 1.3 million fans, second only to Samsung Mobile India.

Campaign Brief: Challenges and Objectives The Indian smartphone market is crowded and competitive; Sony Mobile competes with Samsung, HTC and Blackberry. Our brief was simple: raise awareness of Sony Ericsson as the smartphone of choice amongst Indian youth, leveraging the Facebook page. Our objectives were to grow the fan base and engagement.

During the year, Sony bought out Ericsson’s stake in the joint venture and the company was renamed Sony Mobile India. Our objective was to make the target audience aware of this change and facilitate a smooth brand transition.

Our objective evolved to become tactical in supporting product launches and driving sales through online programmes.

Campaign SummarySony Mobile is the 10th most socially engaged brand in India, according to a Nielsen McKinsey survey. This is due to the performance of the Sony Mobile India Facebook page, which gained 800,000 fans in eight months with consistently increasing engagement levels.

We achieved this through a series of campaigns, tightly integrated with Sony’s smartphone launch calendar. The audience was carefully selected and targeted through contests appealing to specific groups. Our campaigns included crowdsourced phone reviews, theme-based photographs, dance choreography and quizzes. Designed to be viral, each contest brought a large number of viewers and fans to the page.

Sony Mobile India now has 1.3 million fans, second only to Samsung Mobile India.

Campaign Brief: Challenges and Objectives The Indian smartphone market is crowded and competitive; Sony Mobile competes with Samsung, HTC and Blackberry. Our brief was simple: raise awareness of Sony Ericsson as the smartphone of choice amongst Indian youth, leveraging the Facebook page. Our objectives were to grow the fan base and engagement.

During the year, Sony bought out Ericsson’s stake in the joint venture and the company was renamed Sony Mobile India. Our objective was to make the target audience aware of this change and facilitate a smooth brand transition.

Our objective evolved to become tactical in supporting product launches and driving sales through online programmes.

The story…Research and Insights

Desktop research and social media analysis, including listening to and monitoring communities and conversations, gave us the insights required to design our strategy. We found perceptions of Sony as a youthful brand with music and sound quality being the unique selling points of its smartphones amongst the target audience. It also revealed peer-to-peer recommendations as one of the prime drivers of smartphone purchase decisions.

We identified 13- to 25-year-olds as the key target for Sony smartphones based on our analysis and started building our campaign on channels frequented by this audience. The platforms we chose for Sony Mobile were Facebook and YouTube. Our research also showed sound quality and looks as the attributes most appealing to the target group.

Strategy

Drawing on our research, we crafted a strategy that reflected ‘vibrancy and youth’ and focused on engaging audiences through an integrated programme that straddled social media, TV commercials and product launches.

Our campaign was focused on showcasing two specific phone attributes – sound quality and stylish looks . We used a series of contests, quizzes and crowdsourced content to generate widespread awareness and engagement on social platforms. We collaborated with Shiamak Davar, India’s best-known choreographer and youth icon, for a dance contest and are now extending the association to a college-level ground activation.

We leveraged existing Sony relationships, using popular products like Bravia TVs and sound accessories, as rewards and using a Sony Pictures association with ‘Spiderman’ for a mini contest giving away Spiderman merchandise.

Our content strategy was to co-create maximum content through fans using contests. We ensured high levels of participation and engagement by sharing examples of what we were looking for, be it photo or video contests.

Research and Insights

Desktop research and social media analysis, including listening to and monitoring communities and conversations, gave us the insights required to design our strategy. We found perceptions of Sony as a youthful brand with music and sound quality being the unique selling points of its smartphones amongst the target audience. It also revealed peer-to-peer recommendations as one of the prime drivers of smartphone purchase decisions.

We identified 13- to 25-year-olds as the key target for Sony smartphones based on our analysis and started building our campaign on channels frequented by this audience. The platforms we chose for Sony Mobile were Facebook and YouTube. Our research also showed sound quality and looks as the attributes most appealing to the target group.

Strategy

Drawing on our research, we crafted a strategy that reflected ‘vibrancy and youth’ and focused on engaging audiences through an integrated programme that straddled social media, TV commercials and product launches.

Our campaign was focused on showcasing two specific phone attributes – sound quality and stylish looks . We used a series of contests, quizzes and crowdsourced content to generate widespread awareness and engagement on social platforms. We collaborated with Shiamak Davar, India’s best-known choreographer and youth icon, for a dance contest and are now extending the association to a college-level ground activation.

We leveraged existing Sony relationships, using popular products like Bravia TVs and sound accessories, as rewards and using a Sony Pictures association with ‘Spiderman’ for a mini contest giving away Spiderman merchandise.

Our content strategy was to co-create maximum content through fans using contests. We ensured high levels of participation and engagement by sharing examples of what we were looking for, be it photo or video contests.

Our strategy…

CONFIDENTIAL – Not authorized for public distribution Objectives are listed on next page

©2011

“We targeted six months to reach a million fans and almost got there. The agency worked closely with our marketing team and as an integral part of our organisation. That is special. They helped grow our influence and connect with our digital unpaid army, and were happy to stretch to new assignments with an open mind and great energy. This is something I value in a business partner.” - P Balaji, MD, Sony Mobile India

For a company in one of the hottest consumer markets in India – the mobile phone, it was important to have a digital program closely aligned to the global and local sales and marketing teams of Sony mobile. It was also necessary to have competitive intelligence.

As a result, we had the capabilities to seamlessly execute campaigns in tandem with new product launches on multiple social platforms. Our intelligence tools measured up Sony’s competitors and we planted the roots for a 360 degree Social Customer Relationship Management and a capability for social commerce

We first created a Facebook app that asked users for written and video reviews of Sony Mobile smartphones. This showcased the recommendations of technology enthusiasts so that actionable changes to the product marketing and design teams, straight from the fans, could be made.

Our second campaign, was for Sony Mobile’s Arclight smartphone, which embodies superior design, feel and look. We launched a Sony Mobile Arclight ‘LookBook’ competition for Facebook fans and asked them to send stylish images of themselves to feature in an official album to be launched on Facebook.

Our third campaign, for the Live With Walkman smartphone, ideal for music lovers, began with featuring an upcoming TV commercial featuring a celebrity. The TVC featured the facebook page, making it a truly cross-media promotion. It resulted in a second competition – one of the largest online dance video contests, ‘Go Thump! Live With Walkman’. Users were asked to upload videos of dances to be judged by Shiamak. Contestants were asked to dance to the music of the commercial for their video, and an app on Facebook populated a specially-created YouTube channel for Sony Ericsson in India.

For the flagship Sony Mobile Xperia S launch, we supported the events by leveraging the audiences on existing platforms. We livestreamed all three launch events on Facebook, bringing hundreds more to the launch virtually.

Our next campaign, ‘Get Shorty’, is currently running for the Xperia U smartphone, which allows users to change the colour and appearance of the lower portion of the phone. Our campaign asks users to upload photos showcasing their true colours, following which an app analyses the pictures to give the person’s true colour. We coupled this campaign with a Spiderman Trivia quiz, timed to coincide with the release of ‘Spiderman-3’, and gave away Xperia U smartphones to winners along with Spiderman merchandise.

For a company in one of the hottest consumer markets in India – the mobile phone, it was important to have a digital program closely aligned to the global and local sales and marketing teams of Sony mobile. It was also necessary to have competitive intelligence.

As a result, we had the capabilities to seamlessly execute campaigns in tandem with new product launches on multiple social platforms. Our intelligence tools measured up Sony’s competitors and we planted the roots for a 360 degree Social Customer Relationship Management and a capability for social commerce

We first created a Facebook app that asked users for written and video reviews of Sony Mobile smartphones. This showcased the recommendations of technology enthusiasts so that actionable changes to the product marketing and design teams, straight from the fans, could be made.

Our second campaign, was for Sony Mobile’s Arclight smartphone, which embodies superior design, feel and look. We launched a Sony Mobile Arclight ‘LookBook’ competition for Facebook fans and asked them to send stylish images of themselves to feature in an official album to be launched on Facebook.

Our third campaign, for the Live With Walkman smartphone, ideal for music lovers, began with featuring an upcoming TV commercial featuring a celebrity. The TVC featured the facebook page, making it a truly cross-media promotion. It resulted in a second competition – one of the largest online dance video contests, ‘Go Thump! Live With Walkman’. Users were asked to upload videos of dances to be judged by Shiamak. Contestants were asked to dance to the music of the commercial for their video, and an app on Facebook populated a specially-created YouTube channel for Sony Ericsson in India.

For the flagship Sony Mobile Xperia S launch, we supported the events by leveraging the audiences on existing platforms. We livestreamed all three launch events on Facebook, bringing hundreds more to the launch virtually.

Our next campaign, ‘Get Shorty’, is currently running for the Xperia U smartphone, which allows users to change the colour and appearance of the lower portion of the phone. Our campaign asks users to upload photos showcasing their true colours, following which an app analyses the pictures to give the person’s true colour. We coupled this campaign with a Spiderman Trivia quiz, timed to coincide with the release of ‘Spiderman-3’, and gave away Xperia U smartphones to winners along with Spiderman merchandise.

How we did it… What we achieved…

CONFIDENTIAL – Not authorized for public distribution Objectives are listed on next page

We collaborate with Sony Mobile and advise them both on strategic approaches and market development for products,, and also at the tactical operational level for BTL activation campaigns. Sony Highlights from our campaign include -

• Xperia S sales targets were met within three days.

• The number of fans for Sony Mobile India quadrupled from over 500,000 to over 2 million within twelve months of managing the Facebook page.

• Sony Mobile was recognised as the 10th most popular brand on social media in India by NM Incite, a joint venture by Nielsen and McKinsey & Co.

• We delivered 95 million+ impressions and reached 35 million users within the first eight months of managing the Facebook page.

• We engaged 600,000 non-fans, and added 2,000+ fans every day with over 10,000 stories created around posts each day.

• The viral effect of more than 1,000 dance videos brought more than 1,300 people every day to the Sony Mobile India Facebook page and subscribers to the associated YouTube channel.

• The Spiderman quiz had 5,000 registrations and more than 26,000 answers in the four days it was open.

This is an award winning campaign because….Our campaigns, while focused on the target group, cut across the technology adoption spectrum – from early adopters to laggards. Our ability to showcase specific elements of each phone and tie them back to the core campaign plan allowed the community to identify with all Sony Mobile products. Our individual transmedia campaigns, while addressing product-specific target groups, combined to activate, engage and grow the fan base as a seamless social media story.

We collaborate with Sony Mobile and advise them both on strategic approaches and market development for products,, and also at the tactical operational level for BTL activation campaigns. Sony Highlights from our campaign include -

• Xperia S sales targets were met within three days.

• The number of fans for Sony Mobile India quadrupled from over 500,000 to over 2 million within twelve months of managing the Facebook page.

• Sony Mobile was recognised as the 10th most popular brand on social media in India by NM Incite, a joint venture by Nielsen and McKinsey & Co.

• We delivered 95 million+ impressions and reached 35 million users within the first eight months of managing the Facebook page.

• We engaged 600,000 non-fans, and added 2,000+ fans every day with over 10,000 stories created around posts each day.

• The viral effect of more than 1,000 dance videos brought more than 1,300 people every day to the Sony Mobile India Facebook page and subscribers to the associated YouTube channel.

• The Spiderman quiz had 5,000 registrations and more than 26,000 answers in the four days it was open.

This is an award winning campaign because….Our campaigns, while focused on the target group, cut across the technology adoption spectrum – from early adopters to laggards. Our ability to showcase specific elements of each phone and tie them back to the core campaign plan allowed the community to identify with all Sony Mobile products. Our individual transmedia campaigns, while addressing product-specific target groups, combined to activate, engage and grow the fan base as a seamless social media story.