Launch of Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and use of Social Media

 
 

For one of my third year assignments, I have been looking at a campaign organized by the agency Wolfstar for the launch of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. This campaign  won the CIPR PRide Gold Award 2009 in the Best use of Social Media category for the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire region.

                      

 

Wolfstar is a Public Relations, Social Media and Word of Mouth agency which was chosen by Sony Ericsson over many other PR agency because they wanted to integrate Social Media in their existing traditional PR launch activity.

   

 

The main objectives of this campaign were :

- to build an online knowledge and awareness of the Xperia X1 smartphone

- to differentiate Sony Ericsson and their new phone from their numerous competitors

- to demonstrate that Sony Ericsson is a leader in integrating Social Media into their corporate communication strategy

- to make sure that the campaign had a global reach (not only the English speaking countries) 

- to use the Social Media strategy as a learning platform to develop a global corporate communication.

The creativity of the campaign was that they actually let bloggers "co-create" the campaign by having them involved so that it wasn't marketing led, they targeted influential but non technology blogs to get outside of the Sony Ericsson "bubble" and treated the influential bloggers as being as important as key media so that they wanted to spread the word around the blogosphere and the web.

The campaign was highly successful as they reached all their objectives even better than what they expected and Sony Ericsson was recognized as a world leader in integrating Social Media into corporate communication while being a really cost-effective campaign. They also can use the experience (and actually have) for new campaigns. (see full results)

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I would really like your feedback about this case study so if you could take a couple minutes to give me your opinions by answering a few of the following questions, I would be really thankful !

So what did you think about that campaign and about how they have done it ?

When you buy a product, do you research it first ?

If yes, how ? (Internet, specialized magazines, you ask for information into the shops...)

If you research it on the Internet, where do you ? (official website, blogs...)

Are you only looking for general info about a product or consumers' opinions as well ? Why ?

What do you think are the limits or the risks of a campaign based on the bloggers content like the Sony Ericsson one ?

Thank you for you time and your help !

Comments

[Beth]

Whenever I am looking to buy anything electronic like a phone or a laptop, I always search reviews online in search engines. Bloggers are always popular in the search results and you take notice of them because you trust bloggers to give an independent opinion. In some ways bloggers are expert because they have enough knowledge about the product to write about them, and also they are usually also consumers and have used the product. This makes them the perfect endorsers - in between the friend who's tried a product and the shop salesman.

I think this is why Wolfstar won the award - they targeted the right sources online that consumers pay attention to. However if they were to improve the campaign, they could have done something more integrated, combining online marketing and advertising with social media.

[Adalisa]

I think the core for this campaign to be successful is not the use of New Media but the understanding on how to use it, target the right websites, because at the moment I think big companies are only targeting Facebook because everyone uses it, but I think they do not understand that everyone there is not looking for the last up to date information in their products, some people just go and browse around their own profile and then sneak a peek in their friends' profile.
Instead they used the blogs, this is specific people read the because they have an specific interest in the topic or even what the blogger is saying which is more likely to influence them.

Whenever I want to buy a product I checked the official website but also what the buyers are saying so I go to "reviews websites", because I believe that the information is more trustworthy because they are not selling but informing which there is where the companies' websites lack credibility, as their main purpose is to sell their own products. I don't think many people have an specific website to look for the information, is easier just to google it and then go to the couple of links that appear and then just make a judgement followed by how much the product appeals to you.

What is risky about your product using a bloggers based campaign?
Aren't the buyers the best sellers? If people like their products then they will pass their comments onto other prospective buyers and then the cycle starts for the word-of- mouth process.
There will be bad and good comments but no product is perfect so people in the end is who makes the last decision, Blogging is just the tool to inform the rest is down to the product and the consumers! I think.

[Martyna Stepien]

That's a lot of questions to answer :) I only research things online when it comes to buying electronic products e.g. mobiles. I don't look at official websites becuase i see them as biased. Last time I was changing my phone I googled it and it came up with some blogs and bloggers' opinions. Because all of them were positive, I chose the mobile I have now and I am quite happy with it. But this was he only situation so far that i relyed on someones opinion to buy somethings.

This is also why I dont think that using only new media for the campaign would work for me. I dont go on any specific blogs or websites, so information wouldn't reach me. Though, the campaign they have created was very successful and achieved outstanding goals so i think they have reached the right audience for them and for the product. Now they have a chance to promote their new product in the real world :)

[Barbara]

Hi
I usually become interested in electronics when I see it the magazines. If product is presented in an attractive way, it usually stays in my mind for longer and somehow I would think better about the product than if I had never seen it before. :)
If I want to buy mobile I usually visit shops - I like to see different models before I buy it. If it comes to TV's I like to search info on the internet first and then visit the shop to see how it looks "live".
I think that use of the blogs for the campaign was a good move- only yesterday I was searching for TV and I searched blogger's opinions to learn more about the product.
On the other hand for some reason I don't trust buying electronics on-line.

[Brouts]

Generally, like you know..... If I want a new product... it's because this one is rare and innovate, like Iphone... But in my case I can't have this one because french package are not adapted in the world...... :s
So, like for my laptop... which is a MAC (The best brand in the World) I checked the Apple Store on line to have more informations about it... Because, the official website are the best to inform us about their products, I think...

However, every advices and opinions from bloggers or friends are good to take, like yours for my MAC ^^... To be sur about our purchase, to buy it with a better security and to convince yourself to buy the product ^^.... So I think it's not a bad thing to check some blogs, to have more opinions about something...

Finally, it's not a big deal to check a blog, because peoples writing something in it are either Happy about the product or completely disappointed, so we can trust in bloggers opinions...

[jo torn]

I agree that bloggers are very effective when it comes to technical goods, people that are really into that sort of thing tend to be online alot as well and therefore an online campaign seems the perfect choice.

I personally very rarely search online for info about products I may buy, but if I was to it would be for this sort of product. Bloggers are very unbiased and can really influence behaviour so therefore getting you rproduct out there in the 'blogging world' will be great publicity!

Hope this helps!

[Kristina Peters]

I suppose without really realising, I am influenced by what I see on blogs, adverts and social medias. Not that I want to buy it usually, as I'm not that great with technology..but that's just me. But I see them as a well established and reliable brand. So in future if I am looking for a phone, I wouldnt hesitate to go with Sony Ericsson.
I don't usually research products I buy, which I probably should. But I'v never really needed to as I buy products for their basic necessities..like my phone, I only use it to call...so the cheaper the better for me lol.

[Lucky]

I think the campaign was well implemented, it was very clear that Wolfstar carried out thorough research into their target audience before they started the campaign- hence its success and award status. It was positive that they were able to use the experience as a basis for other successful campaigns, too.

It depends on the product, if I want to buy something I'd use regularly for a while, like a phone or laptop I’d definitely do some research before buying it, just so you can get the best deal etc..
I’d usually check on the shop’s website first, then have a think about it and go to the shop to find out more. I tend to look for info on the product rather than customer reviews, everyone’s experiences are different.

Bloggers obviously can give a first person account of how a product works, but again everyone’s experiences are different so sometimes it could be biased either way, or they might have affiliations with the company. But generally it can be a really good thing.

[Rachel]

I definitely think this campaign was successful, that's clear from the results! And I do believe it is important to research products and that blogging is probably a really good way to go about it. However, personally, I don't go and find blogs to find out about products. I do go online to find out a bit more about products, but that tends to be on companies websites. I like to have more of a personal approach to buying items like mobile phones, and feel that I am going to trust what is being said more if I can see the person in front of me rather than reading words from a page. Having said that, I'm probably going the completely wrong way about it considering every phone I ever get breaks! And so because of this case study you've brought to my attention, I am certainly going to have a search to see what people blog about before I do any purchasing!!

[Catherine]

The only thing I go online to research is holidays...not products. My boyfriend on the other hand, is always reading blogs and review sites before buying a product (maybe it's a guy thing?). I think that above all, he likes their honesty and he likes to see he is getting a good product for his money. In my opinion - if you have read about a product and you can see that it will suit your needs, who cares what anyone else thinks? As Lucky rightly said, everyone has different experiences and some people (a lot of people) just like to have a good moan and then you miss out on what is probably a good product.
Wolfstar set out a number of SMART objectives and reached out to bloggers as though they were their key stakeholders - something that is still very unique. Social media is very cost effective so they were able to monopolise on this benefit too. A worthy winner in my view!

[John]

It happens that sometimes when i want to get a new product i like to see comments from he people that have already used it. However, i tend to pay attention to who makes which comments. indeed, there are some fans out there that do not give a quite objective critic of the things they buy just because they prefer a specific brand.

Specialists are good to listen to but they won't describe a product for what it can provide you with but more for its "specifications" and what advancement it brings to a particular industry. Those facts are not really necessary to a "normal".

Friends are definitely of a good influence as I can easily see and try with my own hands the product i want to buy. I also like to test products rather then reading lines about them.

[Brice]

Excellente idées de cibler d’autres blogs que ceux spécialisés dans la téléphonie car l’impacte est tout de suite plus importante et même des gens qui ne se seraient pas senti impliqués l’ont finalement été. Très bonne idée aussi d’aller puiser dans la créativité des bloggers pour créer une campagne de publicité.

Quand je veux acheter un produit je regarde sur internet les différentes analyses sur le produit et les avis des consommateurs. Ma recherche démarre sur Google avec les mots clés et après je suis les différents liens qui me sont proposés. Peu importe si c’est un blog ou un site officiel tant que les remarques sont constructives et tout de même assez pointues.

Je pense que la limite à ce genre de campagne c’est que les informations changent entre les différents blogs et que le produit présente plusieurs descriptions différentes. Je pense qu’il faut imposer une bonne base d’informations sur le produit pour ensuite laisser les avis de chacun critiquer que ce soit en bien ou en mal le produit. Je pense aussi que ce genre de campagne fonctionne quand le produit est un très bon produit. Une telle campagne pourrait se révéler plus que négative dans le cas où le produit lancé serait défectueux ou pas assez abouti.

[Stuart Bruce]

Hi Marion, Great post. Thanks for taking an interest in the work we've been doing with Sony Ericsson. There is a wealth of evidence that people are heavilly influenced by "people like them" and that's one of the reasons that social media is so powerful. Let us know if you'd like any more information to help you with your assignment.