Apple and Samsung own more than 80% of the mobile market in the Middle East.

To win “share of pocket”, Sony needed to steal attention away from them – which meant doing something totally different.

As the first ever fully waterproof mobile range, the launch of Xperia Z3 gave us the perfect opportunity. The world’s first underwater store created a magical customer experience that demonstrated the waterproof Xperia range to our curious target audience in a way they’ll remember for years. Located 5 metres under the sea, the store environment was fully breathable so visitors could talk and play freely with the products. It was also Wi-Fi enabled so they could post live from the sea floor and spread buzz on social media.

To build excitement around the store we executed a fully integrated promotional campaign, and encouraged both mainstream media and tech influencers to pay a visit they spread their own excitement across press, TV, and social media.

From a single activation we ended up making the waterproof Xperia Z3 famous around the world. Brand sentiment for the campaign was 94% positive on social media and 89% positive in press (Sony Mobile global average across all media: 40%). As our story spread to more than 80 countries worldwide, it was covered by Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Wired, GQ, Gizmodo, CNN, Stuff & T3.

The campaign achieved over 97 million media impressions and generated an earned media value of over $4.5 million. And best of all, Xperia sales increased 115%.

The underwater store was located five metres under the sea, just off the coast of Dubai. A store entrance was installed on the edge of the beach, leading curious people out into the water to then dive down to the store. Inside (where they could breathe normally thanks to an air circulation system) they could get their hands on the full Xperia Z3 product range, put them under the water, learn about their features from the store assistants, take pictures, and upload them live through in-store Wi-Fi. The store was open for just under a week during December 2014, in which time almost 30% of visitors left with an Xperia product. Everyone else was given vouchers to spend in Sony’s land stores.

In a region where brands don’t take such big risks, ours paid off: within 4 weeks brand preference was up 4 points and brand sentiment was 91% positive (compared to a Sony Mobile global average of 40%). As our story spread from Dubai to more than 80 countries worldwide, it was covered by Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Wired, GQ, Gizmodo, CNN, Stuff, T3 and over 750 more. We also received global TV coverage, including a Discovery Channel documentary. Our online film earned over 5 million views. In total, the campaign achieved over 97 million media impressions and generated an earned media value of over $4.5 million. And best of all, Xperia sales increased 115%, with retailers across Dubai selling out of Xperia products for over a week.