Thousands of books
wherever you go
Project overview
Storing up to thousands of eBooks on one device, the new Reader Touch and Pocket editions were developed by Sony as the next ‘must-have’ gadgets to hit the market. Targeting everyone with a passion for reading, Sony set out to maintain its position as a leader in the eBook device market.
Our brief was to create an integrated digital strategy to position the Reader as a must-have item for everyone.
The challenges
Reader isn’t as sexy as my iPhone
Comparisons were always going to be drawn between the Reader and other portable devices like Apple’s iPhone. But with a special E Ink® screen and simple user interface this is a product that stands out from the crowd. Rather than the fast-paced, frantic world of TV or gaming on the move, the Reader is all about escaping into world of literary worlds for hours of reading that is enjoyable and easy on the eye.
What we did
Opening a whole new world of Reading possibilities
Hugo & Cat worked with the Sony marketing team to build up clear user personas based on market research, and to map different demographics and age groups to the different editions of the device. We used this mapping to tap into how each audience could relate emotionally and practically to the possibility of digital books. The range was vast; for the academic user the Reader could be an effective means of storing, personalising and annotating texts, while to the ten-year old child it could offer a world packed with mysteries and possibilities.
The campaign and site were 3 months in the making. Centring on key audiences we developed four campaign executions that brought to life the enjoyment and escapism of reading, commissioned from 4 leading illustrators from across the world. Each illustration depicted a character escaping to the imaginary worlds borne from books they are reading.
"This was truly integrated work: the look-and-feel, information architecture, production proposal and media strategy all being presented to us as a completely harmonised package"
Patrick Butler Head of Online for Sony Europe’s Audio-Video Marketing Division.
Online, we designed the journey to educate, inspire and drive sales. The result is a website that is now live across Europe. Users can interact with the products in a number of ways depending on their particular interest:
- A tour of the Reader range
- Brand introduction movie
- Live feed of eBooks from leading book sellers
The results
“Every point of this demanding brief was met in an exemplary fashion.
The proof is in the results which are spectacular with an immediate step change in traffic to the site of well over 100% which has continued to grow further since go live. We’ve seen a big increase in site engagement too with longer dwell time and a reduction of a third in the bounce rate compared with the previous site”.
Patrick Butler Head of Online for Sony Europe’s Audio-Video Marketing Division.
With huge choice of eBooks from the websites of leading bookstores such as Waterstone’s and WHSmith, owners of a Reader can download 10,000s of books to enjoy at their leisure. This has got to be one of Hugo & Cat ‘s favourite gadgets of the year
Store 100s, even 1000s, of eBooks
With a Reader you can carry an entire library of books in your bag, so you always have a huge choice of what to read and when to read it. Take 100s of eBooks with you wherever you go (or 1000s of eBooks with optional memory card on some models) and you’re ready for any journey.
Read for hours on the paper-like screen
New digital book readers from Sony use an innovative E Ink® Vizplex™ screen which means it’s just like reading a paper page. It has high contrast, high resolution and a wide viewing angle. What’s more there’s no backlight and no flickering so it’s gentle on your eyes and you can read for hours even in bright sunlight.
Get a huge choice of eBooks
A Reader is easy to use just like an MP3 player. Download books and quickly transfer them from your PC or Mac to your Reader using a hi-speed USB connection. You can get eBooks from the websites of leading bookstores or legally download free eBooks from selected websites. You can even borrow books online from local public libraries.