Sony Unveils FY'01 Consumer Advertising Strategy

    NEW YORK, April 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Electronics today unveiled its
 integrated, year-long marketing communications plans in support of the
 company's consumer audio/video (AV) and information technology (IT) products.
     (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990804/SNYLOGO )
     In conjunction with Young & Rubicam Advertising, Sony announced three
 major "platform campaigns" designed to showcase Sony's leadership in AV/IT
 convergence, while allowing for individual executions of key product
 categories. Two of the multi-million dollar campaigns kick off this month with
 network and cable television spots as well as print executions.  The third
 will launch in June.
     "Each of our three campaigns is designed to highlight a 'platform' where
 Sony products work with other products or with the Internet," said T. Scott
 Edwards, senior vice president of the Brand & Marketing Communications Group
 at Sony Electronics. "Our intent is to emphasize how consumers derive greater
 benefits from this integrated approach than they would receive from simply
 purchasing stand-alone devices."
     The campaigns will center around three core platforms: personal
 networking, home entertainment and portable audio. The personal networking
 platform demonstrates how Sony empowers consumers and professionals to be more
 creative with their AV/IT products; the second campaign focuses on the value
 of home entertainment and the emotional connection people have with their Sony
 devices; while the portable audio spots mark the return of Plato, the lovable
 Gen-Y alien whose world is driven by music.
 
                    Being Creative with Personal Networking
 
     Creative Living, Sony's personal networking campaign, highlights digital
 imaging products and the VAIO(R) computer line.  Targeting a broad audience,
 including business travelers, young professionals, and high-income families,
 the effort reinforces Sony's commitment to innovative technology while
 highlighting some of the group's most distinctive VAIO personal computers,
 Digital8(R) Handycam(R) camcorders, and Cyber-shot(R) still cameras.
     According to Edwards, each spot in the Creative Living campaign features
 different characters who use Sony products in fun and imaginative ways --
 enhancing their lifestyles in the process.
     For example, Monks depicts a Buddhist holy man atop a Nepalese mountain
 peak working on his VAIO R505 notebook computer to develop Tibetan web pages.
 His quiet work environment is interrupted by a second monk who has scaled the
 summit to deliver a slender new docking station, allowing them to sheepishly
 enjoy a Three Stooges DVD.
     Another spot, Basketball, showcases the convergence of digital video and
 computing. In it, a high school senior from Alaska creates a narrated
 "highlight reel" video for Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski in
 the hopes of being considered for a slot on the team.
     The Creative Living campaign, which launched earlier this month, will be
 supported by both print and broadcast media to reach the diverse consumer base
 of Sony's IT products. To reach business travelers, the spot will be featured
 in select airports as well as on CNN InFlight. Additionally, the campaign
 includes a direct continuity program to over 1 million existing Sony VAIO or
 imaging product owners, providing education on new applications available from
 platform-based products and services.
 
                      A New Concept in Home Entertainment
 
     According to Edwards, Sony's new campaign for home entertainment products,
 entitled A Place Called Sony, is grounded in the premise that "extraordinary
 products evoke extraordinary experiences in consumers who are particularly
 passionate about entertainment. The effort touches a warmer, more emotional
 nerve with consumers who appreciate the ability to escape from the daily grind
 and be re-energized at home by TV-based entertainment."
     The campaign's creative centers on a nostalgic toy and hobby store, "Joy,
 Mirth, and Merriment," and its sage shopkeeper, who debuts in an introductory
 spot. The shopkeeper uses his ability to identify people's affinity for
 entertainment and creates a heightened experience for his customers with Sony
 home entertainment products.
     In the introductory spot, passers-by peer into the store and see a red
 curtain, behind which they experience A Place Called Sony.  For example, in a
 spot entitled Kite, a little boy in the shop follows a string past the red
 curtain. He finds himself in a quiet field, which becomes gusty as the
 shopkeeper turns on a WEGA(R) television showing a windstorm.  At the other
 end of the boy's string is a kite, which flaps in the wind as the boy joyfully
 runs through a beautiful field of pinwheels.
     "The advertisement positions WEGA flat screen technology as something to
 be experienced, not just watched," Edwards noted.
     A Place Called Sony will run both in print and broadcast media, with the
 introductory TV spot beginning the week of April 30.  Building off of the mass
 media efforts, the campaign will extend to an event-based tour this fall,
 where consumers will have the opportunity not just to watch and listen, but to
 live and breathe A Place Called Sony.
 
              Exploring Platonic Relationships with Portable Audio
 
     "Reaching out to a broad Gen Y demographic, 'Plato' embodies the
 individualism and popularity that young adults crave," Edwards said. "What
 makes the character particularly well received by his peers is his pervasive
 incorporation of music into his everyday, real world challenges and
 relationships.
     For example, in Wrestler, Plato is directed by his coach to lose enough
 weight in five hours to participate in the tournament later that day.  Plato
 works off the weight during a five-hour music session on his MiniDisc
 Walkman(R) personal stereo that incorporates long play functionality.
     In The Doctor, Plato is getting a routine physical.  Clearly, the doctor
 does not know where to begin the examination, but does find something that
 resembles a heartbeat atop Plato's head.  The beat is the trance music
 pulsating through Plato as he listens to his Network Walkman stereo.
     Geared towards the Gen-Y audience, the print and broadcast media-based
 campaign is set to air in late July and will run throughout the year. A
 refresh of the www.sony.com/walkman web site along with some new affiliate
 links, promotions, and grass root events will be important elements to the
 second generation of the campaign. Further, to help stay relevant to its
 target Sony is also co-sponsoring a summer internship program with Rolling
 Stone magazine
 
                              A Call to 'Dream On'
 
     For the first time in more than 15 years, all of Sony's consumer
 electronics campaigns will be integrated by a common themeline -- Dream
 On(TM).
     "Dream On represents the remarkable things passionate people do and
 discover with Sony's innovative technology," Edwards said.  "We simply want to
 encourage more of it ... more creativity, more joy, and more dreams."
     According to John Partilla, managing partner at Young & Rubicam
 Advertising: "Our goal is to ensure that each campaign maintains its own
 individual audiences without losing sight of Sony's overall Dream On vision.
 We believe all of the integrated Dream On campaigns demonstrate the power of
 the Sony brand with original, creative, and fun ideas."
 
                     MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT -- Click Here
                http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X42696653
 
 

SOURCE  Sony Electronics

    NEW YORK, April 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Electronics today unveiled its
 integrated, year-long marketing communications plans in support of the
 company's consumer audio/video (AV) and information technology (IT) products.
     (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990804/SNYLOGO )
     In conjunction with Young & Rubicam Advertising, Sony announced three
 major "platform campaigns" designed to showcase Sony's leadership in AV/IT
 convergence, while allowing for individual executions of key product
 categories. Two of the multi-million dollar campaigns kick off this month with
 network and cable television spots as well as print executions.  The third
 will launch in June.
     "Each of our three campaigns is designed to highlight a 'platform' where
 Sony products work with other products or with the Internet," said T. Scott
 Edwards, senior vice president of the Brand & Marketing Communications Group
 at Sony Electronics. "Our intent is to emphasize how consumers derive greater
 benefits from this integrated approach than they would receive from simply
 purchasing stand-alone devices."
     The campaigns will center around three core platforms: personal
 networking, home entertainment and portable audio. The personal networking
 platform demonstrates how Sony empowers consumers and professionals to be more
 creative with their AV/IT products; the second campaign focuses on the value
 of home entertainment and the emotional connection people have with their Sony
 devices; while the portable audio spots mark the return of Plato, the lovable
 Gen-Y alien whose world is driven by music.
 
                    Being Creative with Personal Networking
 
     Creative Living, Sony's personal networking campaign, highlights digital
 imaging products and the VAIO(R) computer line.  Targeting a broad audience,
 including business travelers, young professionals, and high-income families,
 the effort reinforces Sony's commitment to innovative technology while
 highlighting some of the group's most distinctive VAIO personal computers,
 Digital8(R) Handycam(R) camcorders, and Cyber-shot(R) still cameras.
     According to Edwards, each spot in the Creative Living campaign features
 different characters who use Sony products in fun and imaginative ways --
 enhancing their lifestyles in the process.
     For example, Monks depicts a Buddhist holy man atop a Nepalese mountain
 peak working on his VAIO R505 notebook computer to develop Tibetan web pages.
 His quiet work environment is interrupted by a second monk who has scaled the
 summit to deliver a slender new docking station, allowing them to sheepishly
 enjoy a Three Stooges DVD.
     Another spot, Basketball, showcases the convergence of digital video and
 computing. In it, a high school senior from Alaska creates a narrated
 "highlight reel" video for Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski in
 the hopes of being considered for a slot on the team.
     The Creative Living campaign, which launched earlier this month, will be
 supported by both print and broadcast media to reach the diverse consumer base
 of Sony's IT products. To reach business travelers, the spot will be featured
 in select airports as well as on CNN InFlight. Additionally, the campaign
 includes a direct continuity program to over 1 million existing Sony VAIO or
 imaging product owners, providing education on new applications available from
 platform-based products and services.
 
                      A New Concept in Home Entertainment
 
     According to Edwards, Sony's new campaign for home entertainment products,
 entitled A Place Called Sony, is grounded in the premise that "extraordinary
 products evoke extraordinary experiences in consumers who are particularly
 passionate about entertainment. The effort touches a warmer, more emotional
 nerve with consumers who appreciate the ability to escape from the daily grind
 and be re-energized at home by TV-based entertainment."
     The campaign's creative centers on a nostalgic toy and hobby store, "Joy,
 Mirth, and Merriment," and its sage shopkeeper, who debuts in an introductory
 spot. The shopkeeper uses his ability to identify people's affinity for
 entertainment and creates a heightened experience for his customers with Sony
 home entertainment products.
     In the introductory spot, passers-by peer into the store and see a red
 curtain, behind which they experience A Place Called Sony.  For example, in a
 spot entitled Kite, a little boy in the shop follows a string past the red
 curtain. He finds himself in a quiet field, which becomes gusty as the
 shopkeeper turns on a WEGA(R) television showing a windstorm.  At the other
 end of the boy's string is a kite, which flaps in the wind as the boy joyfully
 runs through a beautiful field of pinwheels.
     "The advertisement positions WEGA flat screen technology as something to
 be experienced, not just watched," Edwards noted.
     A Place Called Sony will run both in print and broadcast media, with the
 introductory TV spot beginning the week of April 30.  Building off of the mass
 media efforts, the campaign will extend to an event-based tour this fall,
 where consumers will have the opportunity not just to watch and listen, but to
 live and breathe A Place Called Sony.
 
              Exploring Platonic Relationships with Portable Audio
 
     "Reaching out to a broad Gen Y demographic, 'Plato' embodies the
 individualism and popularity that young adults crave," Edwards said. "What
 makes the character particularly well received by his peers is his pervasive
 incorporation of music into his everyday, real world challenges and
 relationships.
     For example, in Wrestler, Plato is directed by his coach to lose enough
 weight in five hours to participate in the tournament later that day.  Plato
 works off the weight during a five-hour music session on his MiniDisc
 Walkman(R) personal stereo that incorporates long play functionality.
     In The Doctor, Plato is getting a routine physical.  Clearly, the doctor
 does not know where to begin the examination, but does find something that
 resembles a heartbeat atop Plato's head.  The beat is the trance music
 pulsating through Plato as he listens to his Network Walkman stereo.
     Geared towards the Gen-Y audience, the print and broadcast media-based
 campaign is set to air in late July and will run throughout the year. A
 refresh of the www.sony.com/walkman web site along with some new affiliate
 links, promotions, and grass root events will be important elements to the
 second generation of the campaign. Further, to help stay relevant to its
 target Sony is also co-sponsoring a summer internship program with Rolling
 Stone magazine
 
                              A Call to 'Dream On'
 
     For the first time in more than 15 years, all of Sony's consumer
 electronics campaigns will be integrated by a common themeline -- Dream
 On(TM).
     "Dream On represents the remarkable things passionate people do and
 discover with Sony's innovative technology," Edwards said.  "We simply want to
 encourage more of it ... more creativity, more joy, and more dreams."
     According to John Partilla, managing partner at Young & Rubicam
 Advertising: "Our goal is to ensure that each campaign maintains its own
 individual audiences without losing sight of Sony's overall Dream On vision.
 We believe all of the integrated Dream On campaigns demonstrate the power of
 the Sony brand with original, creative, and fun ideas."
 
                     MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT -- Click Here
                http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X42696653
 
 SOURCE  Sony Electronics