Pre-orders are an essential component to any tech. launch. Being able to persuade an influential, tech. savvy audience to purchase before a product has even hit the shops has repeatedly been demonstrated to deliver significant uplift in unit sales once the product is available for mainstream release.

To drive pre-orders for the Xperia Tablet Z, Sony faced two challenges. Not only did we need to convince tech. fans that our product was superior to the competition, there was also work to be done in making the tablet a desirable, aspirational object. In short, we needed people to think the device was premium, top spec. and cool.

To address this, we created “The Science of Colour” - the world’s first art exhibition created specifically for tablets. We commissioned celebrity photographer Tyler Shields to use the tablet to shoot high-colour, striking images and video and exhibited them on Xperia devices in a unique gallery space in the heart of London. In doing so, the campaign took the Xperia Tablet Z out of the tech. pages and into mainstream consciousness – positioning it within the lifestyle space that had previously been dominated by one brand – Apple.

By combining creativity with rigorous media relations this campaign highlighted the key USP of the product and generated the highest pre-order volumes for a Sony tablet ever seen in the UK.

We decided the best way to hero the device’s screen was to do something never done before: use tablets to deliver the world’s first 100% digital art exhibition.

Using over 150 tablets, we built a site-specific gallery in Shoreditch, the area where the highest concentration of the UK’s tech. and creative influencers both live and work.

After a global search we selected LA-based celebrity photographer Tyler Shields as the perfect artist to collaborate with – his mix of dynamic action shots and love of bold, striking colour, provided the perfect attributes to show the full capabilities of the Xperia Tablet Z.

We worked with Shields to create an exhibition entitled “The Science of Colour” featuring visually striking artworks of models throwing brightly-coloured paint-powders in the Mojave desert. And then we opened the gallery, first to an audience of influencers and celebrities and then to the wider public for three days.

Outputs:

News of the first ‘tablet’ gallery received widespread coverage in cultural and ‘what’s on’ sites.

A busy media schedule for Tyler Shields resulted in a number of stand-out pieces hitting both Metro and The Evening Standard on the Friday the gallery opened to the public.

Overall the project secured 73 pieces of coverage including The Daily Telegraph, Mail Online, The Huffington Post, Who’s Jack, Don’t Panic, Idol Magazine and Hunger TV.

Over 269,000,000 opportunities to see

212 media, bloggers, and VIPs attended the launch night.

Outcomes

Over 4,500 people attended over the course of the three days the gallery was open to the public.

Most importantly, the campaign led to the Xperia Tablet Z being the most pre-ordered Sony tablet ever.