So after far less time than anyone thought possible … including our producer … we have another bit of work for SONY Asia coming out, and this time it’s for one of the true icons of consumer technology, the Walkman.
Now despite tons of research all saying it was outdated and irrelevant – too associated with tape and CD players – our research found people of a ‘certain age’ regarded the brand with real warmth and soul.
OK, so some of you may think that’s a feeling you get when talking about an old jumper or a video game system … and to a certain extent you’d be right … however I always find that when a brand has soul and authenticity, you have a real foundation to build a relevant and powerful brand for modern times – probably best demonstrated by Mini, FCUK and ADIDAS.
Sure, iPOD is the current God of portable music … and while they owe that mainly to design, navigation/simplicity and the brilliance of iTunes [for giving digital music – a new format at the time – a legitimate forum to be accessed and played] they also owe a big thanks to Walkman for giving them the attributes of ‘Freedom and Individuality’ which they basically ‘stole’ for their iconic ‘silhouette’ campaign. [I know they stole it, I was one of the people who did some of the ‘stealing’, ha!]
Saying all that, iPOD has infiltrated popular culture more than almost any other single consumer electronic product of the last decade – and I include [none-office] PC’s in that statement. And while some argue iPOD still sells less than the Walkman player [but only if you include all the SONY Ericsson Walkman Phones being sold into the equation] it is the iPOD that has [almost] single handily changed the way the World consumes, creates and purchases music.
What’s really interesting is that it seems less and less people are really ‘listening’ to music – more often or not, they simply ‘hear it’ [often because they use it as an accompaniment to life’] and if the track doesn’t make an impression on them within the first few bars, they simply ‘change song’. This means bands are now writing songs specifically for the iPOD user – making sure they have a musical hook within the first few seconds because they know if they don’t – their chances of being listened to, are almost zero. And then of course, there’s the small matter that iTunes / Internet has undermined the stronghold of the Record Industry – which on the positive side has resulted in musical freedom for many up and coming bands – and on the negative side – has meant musical freedom for many up and coming bands. And all this still doesn’t take into account the way iPOD has changed the popularity of certain musical genres or the cottage industry of accessories it has inspired or the influencing of unrelated categories to start including iPOD-friendly components into their products [Hummer for example!]
I have immense respect for what Apple have done with iPOD … lets face it, it’s astounding but without doubt they were also helped by SONY who have done their very best over the years to destroy their wonderful brand through some of the most astoundingly brilliant abuse ever witnessed. However it seems SONY have finally realised what they have got with the Walkman brand and from what I’ve heard, they seem to finally want to do it justice again via new products, new thinking and new communication. [Lets hope it’s not just words eh!]
Anyway, while this ‘new attitude’ is being transferred into ‘action’ [fingers crossed], we have been asked to start seeding the Walkman brand back into the consciousness of today’s portable music loving crowd and to do that, we have developed a campaign based around the proposition [and product truth] of “Sound Is Sacred”.
Like with the Robots spot, I know an ad is not going to drastically change their fortunes … which is why I am working in areas such as product development, packaging, distribution etc … but until the really great products start surfacing next year [along with a campaign we’ve done that is fucking magic and exciting] this should help abit – especially as we’re not falling into the competitive trap of talking about ‘memory size’ and/or the fact you can listen to your favourite tracks wherever you are. [No Shit Sherlock]
Walkman might of lost its throne to iPOD … Walkman might have a long way to go to get it back … but if SONY are serious about taking back their seat, then I honestly believe [and I appreciate I may be mental thinking this] they can do it. Afterall, with Playstation they took on Nintendo and SEGA and won, so there are precedents set to show it can happen if they really want it to. I hope they do!
Anyway, hopefully you’ll see some of the tons of stuff we’re doing over the coming weeks/months – but until then, I hope you enjoy the ‘taster’ I’ve supplied, Ha!