sony sells waterproof 4GB mp3 walkman in bottles of water

sony to sell waterproof 4GB mp3 walkman in bottles of water
all images courtesy draftfcb

since launching at the 2013 CES in las vegas, sony approached auckland-based advertisment agency draftfcb to help produce a campaign for their ‘NWZ-W27′ walkman sports mp3 player, a water-proof, all-in-one digital device with 4GB of internal memory. designed specifically to withstand not just water but the sweat from intense workouts, the compact mp3 provides a perfect solution for everyone from the health conscious to performance sports athletes. to showcase its waterproof capabilities, the marketing initiative re-purposes the ubiquitous vending machine into a unique sales portal for athletes looking for a new waterproof music player.

‘when sony briefed us on the ‘W’ series sports walkman, its first wearable, wire-free, and waterproof mp3 player, it quickly became clear that swimmers were our ideal target,’ says kevin walker at draftfcb new zealand. ‘we needed to get it somewhere swimmers couldn’t ignore it – right where they needed it the most. so we hijacked something they’ll find in every fitness centre the world over: vending machines. in order to do this, we placed the product in bottled water, something else every swimmer needs, and in doing so created the perfect product demonstration.‘

‘this simple packaging innovation gave us a unique way to display the product, which instantly demonstrated its benefit. it also transformed the humble vending machine into a conversation starter and a distribution channel, allowing swimmers to buy the product as easily as they’d buy a bottle of water,’ he adds.