| Title | WALKMAN® HI-RES FIGURE |
| Brand | SONY MARKETING (JAPAN) |
| Product / Service | WALKMAN® |
| Category | A06. Use or Integration of Music |
| Entrant | BIRDMAN Tokyo, JAPAN |
| Entrant Company | BIRDMAN Tokyo, JAPAN |
| Contributing Company | BIRDMAN Tokyo, JAPAN |
| Contributing Company 2 | DENTSU Tokyo, JAPAN |
| Production Company | TOHOKUSHINSHA FILM CORPORATION Tokyo, JAPAN |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Shinya Seino | DENTSU INC. | Creative Director/Art Director |
| Yasuhisa Nito | DENTSU INC. | Planner/Copy Writer |
| Masahiro Miyakawa | DENTSU INC. | Producer |
| Kouhei Ai | DENTSU TEC INC. | Producer |
| Yuhi Suzuki | DENTSU INC. | Assistant Producer |
| Kazuya Toda | TOHOKUSHINSHA FILM CORPORATION | Film Producer |
| Ryohei Kaneko | TOHOKUSHINSHA FILM CORPORATION | Production Manager |
| Roy Ryo Tsukiji | Birdman Inc. | Interactive Director |
| Nobuaki Arikata | Birdman Inc. | Technical Director/Programmer |
| Takeru Kobayashi | Birdman Inc. | Device Director/Programmer |
| Daichi Shirai | Birdman Inc. | Device Engineer |
| Keita Abe | Birdman Inc. | Device Engineer |
| Kosei Motoyoshi | Birdman Inc. | Programmer |
| Ryotaro Nakano | Birdman Inc. | Designer |
| Yuya Murata | Birdman Inc. | Motion Designer |
| Shojiro Nakaoka | BITZTREAM | Music |
| Keisuke Hakomori | Film Director | |
| Shinya Kaburagi | FRONTAGE INC. | Account Director |
| Tsuyoshi Sone | FRONTAGE INC. | Account Director |
In Japan a lot of branded entertainment initiatives using games and animation can be seen. As this campaign was for a high-end device, full-fledged audio was used to boost product affinity and understanding. Additionally, real, hands-on experiences were emphasized in addition to the Internet.
The quality of audio cannot be seen with the eyes and is thus difficult to actually portray. As such, we used the power of sound to vibrate an object covered with sand which resulted in the formation of mysterious-looking patterns (Chladni figures), enabling us to make high-quality sound “visible.” By interweaving this with a production of music and light, we aimed to create an experience that had never been seen by anyone before. A device capable of producing the mystical, geometric patterns was setup at Tokyo Midtown and PR activities were carried out. Two weeks prior to the event video footage was shot at a concert hall and uploaded to YouTube. The scientific phenomenon known as Chlandi figures was used as a hook to create interest, and information about the project was carried on successive news sites. The first day of the event coincided with the product launch date, and a product presentation was carried out at the event site as well.
In addition to announcements on SONY’s Facebook and Twitter pages, video footage shot at a concert hall was produced in advance. This video was uploaded to YouTube and other video-sharing sites, and announcements were also made through other media such as the Web.
As the promotion was rolled out as one of the largest Christmas lights illumination events in Japan, it is estimated that approximately 400,000 people visited the installation. PR activity was equivalent to approximately 200 million yen in TV and Web-focused advertising exposure. Exposure in the context of “Hi-res art produced by the high-quality sound of the WALKMAN” was raised, and the product experienced sales far exceeding expectations causing it to be continually sold out, and additional production runs were added.