Sony Store: "SERENDIPITY EXPERIENCE" Promo / PR Ad by Hakuhodo

Category: Best Use of Internet/Online Advertising in a Promotional Campaign
Advertiser: SONY MARKETING(JAPAN)
Product/Service: SONY STORE
Agency: HAKUHODO
Date of First Appearance: Jan 25 2010 12:00AM
Entrant Company: HAKUHODO, Tokyo, JAPAN
Entry URL: http://ss.jp.sonystyle.com/Store/Special/Dotclock/
Executive Creative Director: Zen Tachikawa (Sony Marketing(Japan))
Creative Director, Interactive Planner.: Takumi Matsuzawa (Hakuhodo)
Senior Interactive Producer.: Hirofumi Hori (Hakuhodo)
Account Executive.: Mitsutoshi Sakamoto (Hakuhodo)
Account Executive.: Taizo Oota (Hakuhodo)
Account Executive.: Ryoji Suzuki (Hakuhodo)
SP Planner.: Yasuo Sakakura (Hakuhodo Products)
Creative Producer.: Kouji Fujiwara (Hakuhodo Products)
Creative Planner,Director.: Shohei Matsumoto (Hakuhodo Products)
Computer Graphics Producer.: Jin Kobayashi (Hakuhodo Products)
Computer Graphics Director.: Yoshio Yokota (Hakuhodo Products)
Computer Graphics Designer.: Mayu Sekiya (Hakuhodo Products)
Production Manager.: Takahiro Nagamine (Hakuhodo Products)
Art Director. Designer.: Yuta Ookoshi (Freelancer)
Interactive Director.: Sonoe Fujioji (STUDIO E-SPACE)
Interactive Engineer.: keigo Matsudaira (STUDIO E-SPACE)
System Engineer.: Hajime Kameyama (Faith Solution Technologies)
Sound Designer.: Mao Teraoka (Freelancer)
Public Relations Planner.: Yoshimasa Okamoto (Antil)
Public Relations Planner.: Mika Yamamura (Antil)
Media placement: Online Media - Yahoo!News - 24 February 2010
Media placement: Online Media - ZD Net - 24 February 2010
Media placement: Online Media - Itmedia - 24 February 2010
Media placement: Online Media - CNET Japan - 24 February 2010
Media placement: Online Media - Maikomi Journal - 24 February 2010
Media placement: Online Media - CTV - 12 March 2010
Media placement: Online Media - THK - 12 March 2010
Media placement: Online Media - TXN - 13 March 2010
Media placement: Online Media - CBC - 12 March 2010
Media placement: Newspaper - Asahi Shinbun - 13 March 2010

Describe the objective of the promotion.
To achieve the target number of visitors during the opening of Sony Store Nagoya (10,000 people in 2 days*), the first direct sales store of Sony, and to continue attracting customers (Target: 30,000 people per month). In order to achieve these objectives, we set up a warming-up session as well as built lasting trust between the brand and the users. *Nagoya City Population: 2,258,804 (1/4 of Tokyo 23wards)

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation
To build lasting relations between the brand and the users, we developed a concept coined 'Serendipity experience', which offers unexpected encounters to the users. Based on this concept, we created a core content named ”.clock”(dotclock), which enables audiences to meet people with similar preferences and curiosities. We then held PR events to attract a wide array of curious people and offered ”.clock” blog parts, set digital signage at the store and used twitter to enable more people to access “.clock”.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

As a result, we had 10,950 visitors, which surpassed our original target. The effect of the promotion, converted into advertising costs, was 63 million yen. One of the keys to success was that we prepared for the grand opening by announcing events and updates on our new website. For users, unexpected encounters came as a pleasant surprise, inducing word-of-mouth communication as well as their eagerness to continuously spread the news about their curiosities. We believe that the formation of strong bonds with our users will be a strong attraction to continuously bring users to the store after the grand opening.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service
'Connecting Curiosity' the concept of the Sony Store, is deeply embedded into the promotion method. Although everyone has their own sense of curiosity, it is rare that we find ourselves conscious of it. Therefore, we aimed to give people the chance to be conscious about the newest technologies and products of Sony by visiting the Sony Store. Through this, we can induce people to recall the excitement when visiting the store and engaging with the brand.