Sony VAIO Connects Facebook, In-Store and World Travel

Sony VAIO aims to boost trust in Internet transactions among Latin Americans, and hopes a campaign driving them from Facebook to stores and back to Facebook will help. The company tapped marketing agency Ignited to create a Facebook app with a contest element.

The promotion, “Go Around The World With The S Series,”is for Sony VAIO’s S Series laptops. According to Ignited, the idea is to drive consumers through a banner campaign and Facebook engagement ads to the app and to reinforce the contest’s prizes – a trip around the world and S Series laptops – while increasing overall brand awareness and generating sales.

Citing research, Ignited said the campaign is specifically focused on consumers in Latin America because they are less likely to purchase online due to factors like taxes, theft and lack of trust. Sony faced a challenge when shifting from traditional to digital advertising because of this aversion in the region.

Even though Ignited Account Director Bree Bandy said she expects the majority of consumers to buy in-store, the goal of the campaign is to initially engage Latin American consumers online in a compelling way, encourage them to go to stores, and then come back online to enter the contest.

“The idea was to make sure consumers got into the store to see, feel, and touch the products and therefore help push them towards purchase online – which is a new experience for most of these consumers,” noted Ignited rep Claire Eisenberg in an email.

Focus in the region is broad, targeting Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. It’s also focused on a younger demographic – men and women aged 18 to 24.

In order to enter the contest, consumers must go to a participating store and get one of 200,000 VAIO passports. The passport contains product information as well as a unique code. Then, they must go back to the Facebook page to enter the code and fill out an entry form, and submit photos of three things they would take with them on a trip around the world. They also must describe what characteristic of the S Series would serve them best during the trip – in 226 characters or less.

Bandy said judges will choose the top 20 submissions based on originality of photos and creativity of the submission entry. The top 20 will be featured on VAIO’s Facebook page in a gallery. The one entry with the most likes will win the grand prize trip around the world with a friend. Four runner-ups will win an S series notebook. As of Wednesday, Sony VAIO had 593,000 fans.

The app also contains an explanatory video and a store finder feature.

“We are already seeing active participation, however it is very early and we have several more weeks in the submission period,” said Bandy.

The campaign launched July 29. According to Bandy, submissions will be accepted until September 5, voting will take place between September 6 and 30, and winners will be announced October 7.

Campaign promotion also includes in-store elements in Sony Style stores and in select local country retailers, as well as an online display campaign.

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