Mavericks
In an effort to increase sales of Sony Ericsson’s new W518a Walkman™ phone throughout AT&T retail channels, ALPHA secured a partnership with Mavericks Surf Ventures to align Sony Ericsson as presenting sponsor of the globally recognized big wave surf event. The youth target had a high affinity for action sports and surf culture, and Mavericks’ appealing assets and the Facebook digital community aligned perfectly. Mavericks’ sense of community and authenticity aligned seamlessly with the W518a Facebook®proposition.
The property provided AT&T online and local market channels with a rich catalogue of digital and music entitlements that were used as the foundation for authentic youth-centric sell-through programs. These grassroots channel programs were offered to promote awareness, drive purchase consideration and ultimately sell through at launch.
The Digital Campaign introduced Sony Ericsson to the digital Mavericks audience, allowed the digital community to demo the W518a via Facebook Connect and drove traffic to AT&T.com/storefinder.
The Live Music Tour offered premier AT&T local markets appealing youth assets to drive sell-through of the W518a.
The Surf Contest garnered Sony Ericsson national association with the Mavericks brand and provided top AT&T markets with W518a sell-through assets through mid-life and color refresh.
The Digital Campaign
The Mavericks sponsorship was integrated on both the SE USA and Mavericks Facebook®pages to drive consumers to experience Mavericks, visit the Facebook®Connect page, gain knowledge about the device and ultimately purchase the W518a. The handset was featured as part of a custom Facebook sweepstakes, in Best Wipeout viral online clips and targeted banner buys on Facebook.
