How Sony drove product consideration and improved brand awareness by teaming up with the Guardian and Time Out for a fitness focused partnership.

1.
Client: Sony Mobile
Campaign: #SonyRunYourWay
Best Content Partnership
Executive Summary:
Our young, urban audience want to stay fit but find it hard fitting it all in (don’t we all!)
We made running more accessible and fun by utilising the key feature of Sony
smartphones – the low light camera. We created three events in spectacular urban
locations, giving participants Xperia Z3 phones to take in the view. Using this content
at the heart of our campaign. The result was increased consideration and positive
sentiment toward Sony ahead of market leaders Apple and Samsung.
Background and objectives: Steal market share
Sony is well-known as a quality consumer electronics provider but in the smartphone market
Sony has to play third fiddle to the established behemoths of Apple and Samsung.
Against such a competitive context we were challenged to drive consideration of Xperia Z3,
Z3 Compact & Smartwear products by improving brand perception, with the long term goal
of increasing sales and stealing share from both key competitors.
Insight: Make your run, fun
We identified two key share steal audiences, Tech Aficionados & Young Urbanites. The
features of the Sony products both appealed to these younger groups and they were also
more likely to be in-market for a new, state-of-the-art smartphone.
We knew our competitors could out shout us in ATL so we needed to focus our efforts into
owning a passion point that united two audiences with different attitudes and lifestyles:
fitness.
We identified both audiences want to improve their fitness but are held back by lack of time,
energy and enjoyment. Capitalising on the seasonal uplift in fitness at the turn of the year,
we wanted to showcase how Sony products can help make everyday fitness a more
enjoyable experience.
A key feature of the Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact is the high quality low light camera, so to
enable our Tech Aficionados & Young Urbanites to enjoy their fitness routine more and fit it
around their busy lives we wanted to let them know they can use Sony smartphones to
capture the amazing scenery encountered on early morning/evening runs. Running at this
time allowed them to make the most of both the city and their free time.

2.
The Plan: Run your way with SONY – Introducing low-light running
To do this we needed to use partners who were relevant to both audiences and able to tell
the story in a credible way but crucially create suitably appealing group running events and
amplify the amazing experiences Sony Xperia created.
We chose to partner with Time Out and The Guardian to create and amplify our events as
they each brought different strengths. Time Out offered a wealth of expertise in London
events and relationships with running clubs such as Run Dem Crew. The Guardian took the
events to a national audience and dialled up the fitness focus using their established Fitness
section.
To showcase the Xperia Z3’s superior camera, we created a series of runs that were better
in low light. These runs featured scenery that looked so good that the runners had to stop in
their tracks and take a photo, took participants to undiscovered corners of London providing
access to amazing spaces and views, and gave people the chance to explore and play with
the Sony Xperia Z3 along the way.
The events: Three low light running events were created in association with Run Dem Crew,
a running collective based in the East End. Run Dem Crew members were given an Xperia
Z3 and became brand advocates for the duration of the events.
These events were at the heart of the campaign and created the content that fuelled the
partnership system. The events were attended by editorial teams with Time Out also
sourcing influential fitness bloggers to attend. Participants used #SonyRunYourWay to share
photos from their experience.
Post-event content: Content created from the runs was featured in print and digital features
in Time Out and The Guardian. Online content featured the bloggers’ own fitness regimes
and training suggestions.
Amplifying it nationally: The Guardian created running focussed articles in print (Guardian
Weekend and Do Something) and on our bespoke #SonyRunYourWay hub. Content
covered a range of fitness topics and took the Sony fitness association to a broader national
audience with suggested running routes in other UK cities. All articles drove readers to find
out more and sign up to the #SonyRunYourWay events. This was supported by a display
takeover of The Guardian Running section and two co-branded videos featuring talent
sourced by The Guardian to drive deeper engagement.
Co-branded coverwraps of The Guardian and Time Out launched the campaign promoting
all three #SonyRunYourWay events. The high impact coverwraps were supported by a
feature inside Time Out and online detailing our three very special low light running events -
the Icon to Icon run, the City Lights run and the Morning Rave run.
The partnership was amplified through existing Sony Mobile partnerships such as the
bespoke London promotion on Kiss FM which encouraged listeners to go online for the
chance to win a place at the run and an Xperia Z3. The talent led promotion drove a high
number of entries and two Kiss winners attended each of our #SonyRunYourWay events.

3.
Results
• Sony Xperia consideration increased by 45%
• Sony Xperia brand awareness increased by 26%
• Favorability towards Sony Xperia more than doubled after users had been exposed
to the campaign
• Those exposed to the campaign were 3 times more likely to see the phone as
desirable
Association with fitness:
• Research showed an over-riding positive sentiment around the fitness content
• Respondents were 7 times more likely to identify Sony Xperia with fitness post
campaign
Additional results:
• The campaign reached 32% of Tech Aficionados and 30% of Young Urbanites
nationally
• The campaign exceeded all expectations in terms of sign ups and competition
entries; all three events were hugely oversubscribed with 2,990 event sign ups
overall
• Social engagements exceeded expectations - over 2,869 social shares of content
throughout the campaign
• 5,684 competition entries (+184% on benchmark of 2,000)
Client View
“Our fitness partnership with The Guardian and Time Out was very effective at increasing
consideration among our core audience and associating Sony Mobile with fitness.
MediaCom’s idea to create a series of low light running events was a fantastic way to
showcase the Xperia Z3’s superior low light camera and Sony Smartwear features. The
events, powerful photography and content highlighted our product features to an engaged
audience in a credible way and ensured the campaign objectives were achieved.”
Dominic Gains, Head of Brand Communications, Sony Mobile UK