2015 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

Apple and Samsung dominate the mobile market in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Sony has quietly improved its products so much they’re now arguably better. But to win “share of pocket” vs. iPhone and Galaxy, Sony first needed to win “share of desire” by repositioning itself as a brand that people really wanted to spend time with. So when they launched Xperia Z3, the first ever fully waterproof range of smartphones and tablets, we saw an opportunity. THE WORLD’S FIRST UNDERWATER STORE let us highlight this unique feature in a way that turned potential customers into Sony fans.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

We wanted the underwater store experience to be magical, but still replicate the customer journey of a regular store. To let people interact fully with the products and talk to the sales assistant, we needed air. That influenced everything about how we designed and built it – from hidden weights counteracting the 20 tonnes of upward force created by the air in the store, to the oxygen circulation pipes that ran underground from the beach and up into the store through hidden channels in the legs. When it launched, the store was fully breathable, illuminated, powered, and even had WiFi.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

As our story spread from Dubai to more than 80 countries, the store was covered by Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Wired, Gizmodo GQ, CNN, T3 and hundreds more. Our Internet film earned over 5.25 million views, and our Twitter followers increased 21%. Total earned media was over $4.5 million. Within 4 weeks brand preference was up 4 points, and our brand sentiment score jumped to 91% positive (compared to a Sony global average of 40%). And best of all, Xperia sales increased 115% with retailers across Dubai selling out of Xperia products for over a week.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

We were promoting the world’s first fully waterproof range of smartphones and tablets. Launching them in the world’s first underwater store was not only a perfect fit for this unique feature, the uniqueness of the concept created an emotional connection with the brand that helped us win new fans – both customers in the store and people experiencing it through social media or press/TV coverage.