Sony Style ‘blog’ tour mixes grass roots with guerilla marketing
NEW YORK —In a world rife with market research, Sony has come up with a fresh way to directly engage its consumers.
Rick Clancy, senior vp of corporate communications at Sony Electronics, started a trek of all 40 Sony Style stores on June 2 in Atlanta, encouraging consumers to let him know what’s wrong and right with the company’s retail operation. The tour is an extension of a blog that he has been writing, developed to encourage consumer and employee interaction. “The main purpose is in line with the blog,” Clancy said, “to create a way to engage directly with customers, and with store representatives.”
Already, feedback from the blog and tours has initiated change. Sony is adding a hotline to support sales of its high-end SLR digital cameras, which is designed to handle the detailed questions that product owners may have, Clancy told Retailing Today during his New York store visit. Sony already devotes a special counter to the cameras in stores.
Dennis Syracuse, senior vp of Sony Style retail, noted that the company can’t have a true photography specialist in every store, but digital SLR consumers need them to be confident in their purchases. “This is the photographic expert you have to have,” he said.
During his store visits, Clancy is interacting with consumers to encourage dialogue, to demonstrate the newest products Sony is offering and to talk about the latest company initiatives, which Sony already promotes through blog posts, photos and podcasts. While the stores are the focus of the tour, Clancy said, “You can’t do anything at Sony without considering product.”
He encourages people he meets to participate in his blog, which has the long-term goal of establishing a relationship between motivated Sony customers and employees that will give the company insight into those individuals who are most deeply involved with its products. Knowing what Sony’s customers like and dislike about its operation represents potentially fruitful information.