Sony Mobile Communications won top honors at the Dubai Lynx Awards 2013 for its unique James Bond-themed promotional campaign “Say it Like Bond”. The campaign was declared gold-winner in the Interactive category and silver-winner in the Promo Activation, as well as Direct Marketing categories, at the gala awards ceremony held last Wednesday. Executed by Sony Mobile's advertising agency, Fortune Promoseven (FP7) Dubai, the ‘”Say it Like Bond” campaign highlighted the Sony XperiaTM ion, which was used by the iconic 007 in Skyfall, the latest film in the James Bond franchise. Set up outside the cinema halls at the Mall of Emirates, visitors were attracted with props from the film, including a London phone booth and a 2012 Aston Martin DBS. Participants were asked to enter the phone booth, fitted with an XperiaTM ion, and render an impression of James Bond's famous line, “The name is Bond, James Bond”. Using Arduino technology and a voice analytics engine built into an app on the phone, voice imitations that were a 95 percent match to that of the Skyfall star Daniel Craig, immediately unlocked the doors and started the engine of the Aston Martin, thereby signaling the winners of an XperiaTM ion. Spyridon Gousetis, Director of Marketing, Sony Mobile Communications Middle East and Africa, said: “The campaign was an instant success from day one. In the ten days that followed, over 5,200 participants tried their luck at mimicking Bond. Interestingly, 43 people delivered a near-perfect impression and won the XperiaTM ion. The campaign saw a 60 percent increase in footfall across our outlets and 30 percent rise in sales of the phone.” Gita Ghaemmaghami, Marketing Communications Manager, Sony Mobile Communications Middle East and Africa, said: “The brief was to generate excitement around the release of ‘Skyfall'. All the ingredients were there to be used. It was just a matter of piecing them together to give participants an experience as close to the film as possible and offer them a chance to witness the hero of the hour, the XperiaTM ion, in action. The result was a highly interactive execution, delivered with style.” The “Say it Like Bond” campaign won two awards at MENA Cristal Festival held in Lebanon last month, including the Media Cristal silver award for “Best Use of Mobile” category and the Digital and Mobile Cristal bronze award for “Mobile Marketing”. – SG
