Campaign Snapshot: Sony and Atomic Launch the Sony Tablet S

Background

With Apple, Samsung, Motorola, RIM and HP already competing in the tablet race, Atomic's job was to help launch the new Sony Tablet into a crowded and now commoditizing marketplace - engaging and exciting consumers, while generating strong, positive coverage from technology, business and consumer press and bloggers.

Objectives

• Launch the Sony Tablet big in the U.S. with significant and positive media coverage
• Highlight the groundbreaking design and unique features of the Sony Tablet and what sets it apart from competitors in the crowded marketplace
• Engage and excite consumers by building anticipation with social media buzz leading up to the Tablet launch
• Generate momentum toward meeting yearly key performance indices (KPIs) for Tablet that included:
  • Press coverage (overall number of articles)
  • Impressions
  • Quality of media coverage (tier 1 and 2 coverage)

Strategy and high-level tactics user to execute the program

Analysis of the tablet space via ComContext™ and analysis of ongoing monthly coverage of Sony and its competitors fostered a number of key insights and helped Atomic build a strategic, well-informed plan of attack to launch the Tablet in the US:

• Atomic felt Sony should not try to beat Apple at its own game like so many other competitors have tried to do
• We chose to focus messaging on Sony's own historical design prowess, the Tablets's unique and differentiated design attributes and its connection to Sony's content ecosystem
• We observed that top tier media targets fell into two distinct camps - those who were producing negative coverage of almost any Android Honeycomb tablet (targets we should avoid), and those who seemed to see Android tablets as a viable alternative to Apple's marketplace dominance (those we should prioritize.)
  • According to WIRED's Michael Calore, "Sony has taken a chance by eschewing the simple slate and going with a more humanizing shape. It's new and unusual, but yet familiar to anyone who's read a magazine at the beach. An admirable choice."

We observed that competitors were timing large numbers of reviews to hit on or near product announcement dates, which flooded the media with mostly positive coverage when the excitement around the product was the greatest

• Sony and Atomic organized and pitched a series of announcements, roundtables and briefings, and seeded early (pre-announcement) product with high-priority targets, to unfold the tablet story in the media, and drive sub-spikes of coverage leading up to the launch
• Atomic organized a regional Tablet tour in San Francisco and New York to give reporters the opportunity to experience the Tablet firsthand and to speak with product managers directly to learn about key differentiators and what makes the product stand out
• Sony and Atomic took the Tablet directly to consumers and influencers with the #CatchTheTablet social media program (see separate social media campaign snapshot)

Results

• The Sony Tablet launch was covered in 1,201 articles, generating nearly 1 billion impressions since the August 31 announcement. Many top tier outlets took notice and covered the launch, including Wall Street Journal, PCMag.com, WIRED, PC World, Computer Shopper and CNET, all communicating the product's unique and differentiating qualities effectively
• A number stories carried content about Sony's design prowess and content universe as positive differentiation compared to Apple and against Apple's me-too competitors
• Sony's #CatchTheTablet social media campaign was considered the most successful contest and social media promotion in SEL history, resulting in an 8 percent overall increase in Facebook fans and a nearly 5 percent increase in Twitter followers
• In addition, trade press covered the campaign, the SEL communications team and Atomic in publications like PRWeek, PRNewser and The Next Web