Starting Monday (today), Sony is going to kick off a new year long ad campaign that includes many of its portfolio stars, starting off with Taylor Swift, showing off the Cyber-shot DSC-TX7. This will be a series of star-studded spots that Sony ( SNE – news – people ) plans to roll out this year, as a part of a $100-million-plus TV, print and digital ad campaign. Each ad will feature a Sony-affiliated celebrity to pitch its electronic products, such as its 3-D television and its e-reader. The idea of this new campaign is that instead of focusing in on the many products that Sony makes, it will aim for a particular market and let them know of the product. For example, in 2008 Sony spent nearly $5 billion on their global ad campaigns that ranged from laptops to DVD players.
First, I have to say that I’m floored by this. I’m wondering if of that $5 billion, $4.9 billion was spent outside of the states. Ask any Playstation owner and they will tell you that Sony has had no air presence whatsoever; Microsoft has dominated the airwaves with its Xbox ads. No matter what show or channel you watch, when they produced a big game (i.e. Halo or Gears of War), they had endless commercials running. Most of all, the sheer number of commercials and TV shows that the 360 is in as product placement is insane. This of course has been something that has hurt the PS3 and the PSP and thus, their software sales. I will give it to Sony though for their efforts with Kevin Butler in the past year. Those ads are fantastic and hilarious. My issue in this case is: where were they the other 3 years? I also mention this because the PlayStation brand is one important aspect of their business but Sony is fighting off too many players in too many markets. In the TV market you see Samsung commercials left and right. Computers and cell phones and it’s either iPhone/Droid or MacBook/HP. And for cameras, Canon and Nikon. Yet, we never see any form of Sony add showing us off their products.
However, if this campaign is executed properly, I’m firmly behind it. The idea of this campaign if done properly can be to show off a select group of products, say about 10. This way, you can really hammer your message home about that product and drive buyers to your product. Coming from somebody who only buys Apple and Sony products, you can trust me; if somebody buys your product and is happy with it, they will come back again. This will happen mostly if you give them an extremely compelling reason to come back, like an integrated PSN. Plus, it’s better to show off your new TX7 camera 30 times a day as opposed to 3 camera ads, 2 Blu-ray ads, 5 PS3, 6 e-Reader etc. Now the only request/advice I have for Sony is that please keep the ads simple. I love artistic ads but sometimes, the ad just needs to focus on the product. Show it to us, wow us and tell us what it does differently from its competition. For a good example, look no further than a Samsung LED commercial. From beginning to end, they are driving home how flat that TV is with life-like quality. Another example is Apple; from beginning to end, you see only the iPhone and its features in the ad. It’s nothing fancy, but it gets the message across.
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If I myself had to pick a few key product segments, it would be the following: The Vaio brand is important because everybody is portable nowadays and we take our life and work with us wherever we go. Sony needs to be in that market as a dominant player. Their Bravia television with Blu-ray is integral. I personally would not purchase any television other than a Sony. Those who have been with Sony since the Trinitron days know the quality of these units. Sony has been hampered by Samsung and they need to show off their innovations but come on, show us the TV! I love Justin Timberlake and Peyton Manning, but where was the TV in the commercial? A great part of this segment is that it’s profitable and that’s something Sony needs very much right now. Also, while showing off the Bravia televisions, they should mix Blu-ray in there as well to show what Blu-ray can do for you. It’s really a 2 for 1 deal there. The PlayStation brand is a no brainer. It’s such a huge part of the Sony brand and can become the central hub of Sony. From there, digital cameras are important because we are the camera generation. We love sharing pictures on Facebook and Flickr and uploading them onto our Vaio laptop and showing them off via our PS3 on our Bravia TV. Getting the integration there? Last but not least, the e-Reader battle is something to focus on. This is something new and a shift in the world and Sony HAS to be there. Amazon has had a great run with the Kindle and Barnes & Noble is doing great things with the Nook. Sony now needs to come and not only impress us, but make us pause and say, “that’s different and fantastic”, not another “me too” product. Because in 10 years, I expect it will come to the point when the world will ask, why buy books when one device you hold can automatically download any book you wish and contain a thousand more? This is just the beginning of this product segment and Sony needs to keep its name in the contender circle. I would also mention Sony Ericsson and how big the smartphone market is becoming and how it’s still in the early stages of its cycle, but they have a lot of mess to clean up there before it’s even worth investing some advertising dollars in.