• by Emily Burg , November 28, 2006

As part of its continued strategy to build its brand equity among the U.S. Hispanic market, Sony Electronics is offering a delivery service to Mexico for its Hispanic-American customers to use for holiday purchases.

Exploiting its distribution capabilities throughout the Americas, the Sony Para Tu Pais (Sony For Your Country) program will enable consumers to purchase holiday gifts in the U.S. and have them delivered directly to their family and relatives in Mexico. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 67 percent of the U.S. Hispanic population is of Mexican origin.

U.S. Latinos voted Sony best overall and most trustworthy brand in a 2005 poll.

Sony began the initiative with a pop-up store at the Montebello Town Center in Montebello, CA, that will stay open through Jan. 7. There, bilingual sales reps will guide consumers through the purchasing process of TVs and DVD players, audio equipment, personal computers and PlayStations. Customers can also order through a toll-free number staffed by a bilingual call center and a Web site at Sony.com/ParaTuPais. Sony promises to deliver products within seven business days from the purchase date, with a limited warranty in Mexico for one year.

Sony is the first electronics manufacturer to offer this service, and as such, is the first global brand to recognize the potential of catering to the loyal consumer with ties to Latin America. While a handful of stores in the U.S. have the capability of delivering products purchased in the U.S. to Latin America, none have the global reach and brand recognition of Sony.

Sony's Hispanic marketing agency Alternative & Innovative Marketing LLC (AIM) of San Diego is managing the Montebello store, as well as advertising surrounding the campaign. Ads are running on local and national TV, including Univision, as well as on radio and in local newspapers. The campaign has a six-figure budget, AIM said.

AIM previously managed Sony's LA Experiencia Sony (the Sony Experience) lifestyle tour that launched in Southern California in October, with the goal of creating Hispanic market enthusiasm for its products in advance of the Christmas retail season.

Sony had found that U.S. Hispanic consumers were familiar with the Sony brand from their home countries, but lacked knowledge of the company's digital capabilities and had little hands-on experience using Sony laptops or personal-audio products. Director of Corporate Marketing for Sony Electronics Tanya Diggs had said that interactive experiences like the pop-up store and the lifestyle tour would help give all American consumers the same premium Sony experience.

Hewlett-Packard is also attempting to facilitate the buying process for Hispanic consumers this holiday season. HP launched a new Spanish-language Web site at www.hp.com/go/hpahora that offers product information in Spanish, as well as a dedicated bilingual phone line and Spanish-language sales materials at 200 leading retailers in the biggest U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico.

In addition, HP desktops with a Spanish-language version of Windows XP will be available at 48 CompUSA stores in those same markets.