WALKMAN HI-RES FIGURE

Bronze Spike

Case Film

Presentation Board

TitleWALKMAN HI-RES FIGURE
BrandSONY
Product / ServiceWALKMAN®
CategoryC01. Brand Environments
EntrantDENTSU Tokyo, JAPAN
Entrant Company DENTSU Tokyo, JAPAN
Advertising Agency DENTSU Tokyo, JAPAN
Production Company BIRDMAN Tokyo, JAPAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Shinya Seino Dentsu Inc. Creative Director/Art Director
Yasuhisa Nito Dentsu Inc. Planner/Copy Writer
Yuhi Suzuki Dentsu Inc. Assistant Producer
Kouhei Ai Dentsu Inc. Producer
Masahiro Miyakawa Dentsu Inc. Producer
Ryo Roy Tsukiji BIRDMAN Inc. Interactive Director/Planner
Nobuaki Arikata BIRDMAN Inc. Technical Director/Programmer
Ryotaro Nakano BIRDMAN Inc. Designer
Tsuneharu Motoyoshi BIRDMAN Inc. Programmer
Yuya Murata BIRDMAN Inc. Motion Designer
Takeru Kobayashi 29970 Device Director/Engineer
Daichi Shirai BIRDMAN Inc. Device Engineer
Keita Abe BIRDMAN Inc. Device Engineer
Shojiro Nakaoka Bitztream Music/Sound
Kazuya Toda TOHOKUSHINSHA FILM CORPORATION Film Producer
Ryohei Kaneko TOHOKUSHINSHA FILM CORPORATION Production Manager
Keisuke Hakomori Freelance Film Director
Nobuharu Kawai Freelance Camera Operator
Hiroyuki Ohta Freelance Electrician
Tomohiro Nishijima CAPRA Editor

Brief Explanation

The challenge was visualizing the high-quality sound. Create media art works using a technique known as Chladni figures (visualize modes of vibration using a sand-like material).

The Brief

Promote to consumers the performance of a flagship product of the highest sound quality.

How the final design was conceived

As the good quality of sound cannot be seen it is difficult to portray the actual sensation. 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), and were thus able to “visualize” high-quality sound. By interweaving this with a production of music and light, we aimed to create an experience that had never been seen by anyone.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

Carried out during the Christmas season, it is estimated that approximately 400,000 people visited the installation. TV and Web-focused PR advertising appearance was equivalent to approximately 2 million US$. As a result, the top-end model, the high resolution audio capable WALKMAN ZX1, experienced sales far exceeding expectations causing it to be continually sold out, and additional production runs were added.