By turning a simple water bottle into a new media channel, we got people talking and believing.

PR and social outreach generated over 500 million opportunities to see the bottle with Perez Hilton, Mashable and the UK’s Independent among the many covering the bottles.

Achieved a staggering 400% uplift in sales (vs. 20% objective) resulting in the product selling out in December.

Soared to the 3rd most popular product on the Sony NZ website JUST behind the newly launched PS4 – a product with nine times the spend and massive global buzz.

Note: No price promotions were used during the campaign.

First we found some clear bottles, then filled them with water and placed a W Series Walkman in each. Next we infiltrated vending machines in pool centres with a surprise new drink placed in the top shelves for $99. The vending machines were aimed at generating talkability rather than actual sales.

Ambient media was key for directing people to the vending machines and included media-first formats such as decals at the end of pool lanes, floor decals at pool entry ladders, changing room eyelites and digital screens. Geo-targeted mobile banners also connected with people in proximity to the pool.

Next we re-contacted consumer media with our ‘new news’ offering water bottles as prizes to generate editorial coverage.

And finally, we created a targeted influencer outreach campaign that talked to swimmers of the centres, high profile water based athletes and highly connected celebrity swimmers to generate maximum earned coverage.

Sony’s ‘W Series’ Walkman was an innovative all-in-one mp3 player/headphone set that could be worn while swimming. After a failed launch, consumer feedback revealed the biggest barrier was disbelief – for most people, water and electronics just don’t mix. As a result, sales were poor and the product ranked a lowly 35th most popular product on the Sony New Zealand website.

With a small budget of $20K NZD, we were tasked with lifting Dec/Jan sales by 20% (vs. 2013 average). Typical Christmas lift is c10%.

Clearly telling swimmers the product was waterproof wasn’t enough. We needed to prove it.

Our strategy: Dramatize the product capabilities to prove its waterproof credentials in a way that would also drive "new" buzz.

Our idea: Create an entirely new owned asset that could demonstrate the product, get it in front of swimmers AND earn the talkability it needed… the humble water bottle.