Like every other electronics
marketer, Sony knew it would have an especially rough time launching the new RGB (red, green, blue) TV technology. Sure, the vastly improved color and clarity would be quickly evident to early
adopters. And the products would be ready to ship as many consumers approached the natural replacement cycle for their COVID-era OLED and 4K TVs.
But there was static ahead. Over the last five
years, consumers have shifted away from physically shopping for electronics, making a “seeing is believing” claim harder to support. Worse, it was already evident that the economic
landscape for splurges like a fancy new TV was likely different than when the tech was perfected.
The solution, the company decided, was a much longer introductory timeline, relying on intense
education rather than the usual electronics hype machine.
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Typically, explains Jennifer “Jazzy” Jasnoch, head of Sony’s home entertainment marketing
communications, “you’re introducing the product to the press and creators, and then going to market with that product. But this launch changed how we started the storytelling.”
Fourteen months prior to announcing the then-still-unnamed TVs, the company invited creators and key members of the press to Sony’s Tokyo headquarters, where the sets are engineered.
“It was very hands-on and about getting them to understand and care about what this technology is, and why they -- and eventually, consumers -- should care.”
The goal was less
about the looming launch, and more about keeping Sony top-of-mind as conversations about this new technology began to intensify. “Instead of being hyper-focused on launch day buzz, we wanted to
have a long-term approach, building our credibility, and in turn really building those advocates to help us tell the story.”
The big question, she tells Marketing Daily,
“was how do we educate them to make sure that everybody's getting a clear message to consumers?” And while the information given to those early audiences was quite tech-heavy, the process
helped the team translate the reactions into consumer launch marketing, which began in May. “We focus on something that is very
simple,” she says. “There’s just a huge difference in picture quality.”
Will that be enough to convince consumers they need the Bravia 9 II or the
Bravia 7 II, likely to cost an entire monthly mortgage and car payment, at a moment when many consumers are using credit cards to finance weekly groceries?
Jasnoch thinks it will,
especially when consumers compare a 2020 set with an RGB picture. And it helps that in general, the replacement cycle for TVs is between three and five years, which means that more people are at least
theoretically open to replacing their pandemic purchase. TV sales in the U.S. hit new records in 2020, jumping to a historic 47.3 million new sets, an increase of 15% from the prior year, according to
the Consumer Technology Association.
“This is something that is just, wow,” says Jasnoch. “The difference stops you in your tracks.”
The long-lead
strategy seems to be paying off, with more than 200 earned media placements and 3.8 billion earned impressions by launch, plus influencer videos getting more than 150 million views.
But
while the company had a large launch event this spring, Jasnoch says the real proof of the strategy won’t be evident until the fourth quarter, when people are looking to buy a new TV,
driven by holiday promotions and heavy-duty sports viewership.
Sales, of course, will be the ultimate metric. But the premium brand is also closely tracking consideration and brand trust.
“We may not always be the volume leader in TVs,” she says, “but we want to be seen as leading in innovation.”