Sony is promoting its latest Xperia Ion phone by laying emphasis on the entertainment options offered to users, which includes being able to watch movies and play video games. Being an entertainment company, Sony will highly benefit from this campaign, focusing on highlighting their own content related to their PlayStation, the Spider-Man movie, music by Matt and Kim and a lot more.
The Xperia Ion is a 4G LTE phone powered by Android, available with AT&T and priced at $99.99 on a 2 year contract. With this, Sony is looking to establish themselves in the smartphone market. Similar to the PlayStation Vita promotion campaign featuring a hand held game console, Xperia Ion’s campaign continues to focus on highlighting the entertainment features while on the move. The commercial, which is yet to make a debut, shows a young man walking back home, passing a concert by Matt and Kim in the background, a scene from the upcoming Spider-Man movie coming on and is then seen dealing with a soldier straight from a war themed video game.
After having broken ties with Ericsson, this is the first time Sony Mobile Communications is introducing a phone in the US. Besides, it is the first 4G device introduced by Sony along with being the first Sony-branded smartphone in US. Analysts point out that a phone that offers good quality video content with fast wireless data access will certainly provide Sony the push it needs in the smartphone market. In addition to this, Sony is moving beyond their own hardware, in order to make a mark in the gaming market, allowing users of HTC phones to access games from their PlayStation suite.
The Xperia Ion is expected to benefit from the steady increase in the demand for 4G phones, most of the consumers of which belong to age groups under 34. Consumers are mainly looking for entertainment related features, pointed out the creative director of the agency that helped Sony design the One Block campaign which is supported by media sponsorships and offers product placement opportunities. The Xperia Ion will make a sponsored appearance at several events like the ESPN All-Access event, with athletes using the device to send messages via a social media center or at the LA premier of the Spider-Man movie where the host will tweet and take pictures from the said device. Apart from this, digital, theater ads and print ads in magazines like Maxim and Rolling Stone will be used for promotion.
