Sony VAIO Connects Facebook, In-Store and World Travel
August 10, 2011 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
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.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Meet up with top voices in search, social, display, and email marketing during ClickZ’s Connected Marketing Week, Aug. 15-19, in San Francisco.
Share and Enjoy
Car dealers turn toward social media
August 10, 2011 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
TORRANCE, Calif. —Just a few years ago, John Pohlig might have hung up balloons and perhaps an inflatable gorilla outside this Honda dealership here to attract shoppers.
Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY
John Pohlig, director of marketing for Scott Robinson Honda in Torrance, California, uses Facebook and other social media to try and increase business.
Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY John Pohlig, director of marketing for Scott Robinson Honda in Torrance, California, uses Facebook and other social media to try and increase business.
Instead he’s posting notes on Facebook and other social media sites. The effort is aimed at getting people to comment on what kind of car they’re likely to drive on a vacation — and includes dangling the chance to win a free iPad in return for a “like” endorsement on Facebook.
Four thousand “likes” later, and Scott Robinson Honda has a huge Facebook base. But can Pohlig, the dealer’s marketing director, point to actual car sales from his activities?
“No,” he says. “But we’re building relevance out there. Our objective is to reach as many people as possible. Over the long run, this will help build our business and our company.”
Active Facebook users can’t help but notice that more businesses are creeping into the conversation on the social networking site — and that local car dealers are one of the most aggressive and prominent talkers. Some 41% of dealers now have Facebook pages, according to CNW Research.
Most dealers, however, farm out the social media posting work to others. “Their niche is selling and servicing cars,” says Richard Valenta, founder and CEO of Irvine-based TK Carsites, which provides Internet marketing services for dealers.
Matthew Funk, an aspiring Los Angeles novelist, is one of the TK Carsites writers who pens Facebook notes for dealers and assists them with their strategic plans.
“Auto dealers not on Facebook are missing the boat because that’s where their customers are,” he says. “And that’s where their customers expect them to be.”
Shifting to the Web
Valenta’s firm helps some 40 dealers nationwide with their daily Facebook image, both in penning notes and advising them on social media strategy. TK Carsites’ rates start at $700 monthly for basic Facebook marketing and go all the way up to $8,000 monthly for website design, hosting and marketing services.
Some dealers are more proactive than others. Chuck Capps, one of the owners of Advantage Nissan in Bremerton, Wash., says he spends a few hours daily on social media. Facebook may not be a huge traffic builder for the dealers, but it does help get people to their websites, emerging as a vital marketing tool that for some has replaced the weekend newspaper ad.
Thanks to widgets designed by TK Carsites, Capps can instantly initiate a chat session with a Web shopper, offer directions to the dealership, show videos of cars, and tout discounts and specials.
So much so that some 68% of his business now starts at the website — from customers finding the dealership online, initiating contact and making an appointment to meet.
“People don’t just drop in like they used to,” he says. “Before they visit, they’ve already done their homework, narrowed their choice down to 2 or 3 vehicles, talked to us online about pricing.”
Capps used to spend $25,000 monthly on weekly newspaper, radio and TV advertising. Now he’s only spending money online, with $8,000 monthly to TK Carsites.
At Holmes Honda, in Shreveport, La., e-commerce director Bear Goodman says his Internet sales department has helped generate 30% of the company’s total income.
“People don’t have time to spend all day at the dealership anymore,” he says. “We answer all their questions online before they come in, and get them right out.”
Posted | Updated
