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| Sansa Mp3 EMEA Launch |
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| How do you launch a product into the turbulent electronics market without huge brand recognition and equity? How do you unstage the 800pound gorilla that leads the category; a gorilla renowned for personifying uber-cool and uber-chic? And to make matters even more interesting, why not pitch your product squarely at the most fickle, attention-deficient consumer group possible – teen males. In Spring 2006 that is exactly what SanDisk did with the launch of their range of Sansa Mp3 players in Europe. A launch dedicated to take the “attitude” battle right to the door of Steve Jobs and Apple iPod. |
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| The campaign idea, driven out of Grey San Francisco and executed across Europe by Banner, was centred in, of all things, the runaway success of the iPod. What had once been the brand badge of the peripheral, the underground, the creative outsider had rapidly become the most ubiquitous symbol in the world – the distinctive white earbuds of the Apple iPod. In that enviable success the opportunity existed to position a new brand as the “real” voice of the authentic music listener. Apple had become the symbol for the mindless masses, white earbuds the visible acknowledgement that their individuality had been usurped. |
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| It was crucial that the “I don’t” campaign retain an air of underground-cred. This was not for mega-buck TV campaigns or ubiquitous outdoor campaigns. This had to personify underground and authentic or it would fail at step one. Banner’s media team bought a stunning array of web traffic on credible underground websites, distinct postings in the London Tube and a small run in trendy nightclub venues specializing in open-mic nights and upcoming bands. To add a uniquely London medium to the underground “revolution” Banner commissioned sandwich boards to patrol the areas near the London Apple store. Street teams trolled live music events and trendy youth colleges handing out distinctive idon’t T-shirts. T-shirts were also seeded across a number of upcoming European DJ’s to wear during their sets. |
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| “I don’t” didn’t just create a ripple in the market, it spawned an on-line tidal wave. At its height the campaign was the 7th most blogged topic on the internet generating upwards of 160,000 unique visitors a day. Not surprisingly the empassioned Apple loyalists were incensed at the work; one going so far as to write a death threat to the PR Manager at SanDisk. However, the campaign was always intended to have a polarizing effect – love it or hate it, it was difficult NOT to react to it. For a brand trying to gain traction in a new product category; a category so obviously dominated by a stalwart brand like Apple, SanDisk had to make a ballsy move. With “I don’t”, the company did just that. At the time of writing, Sansa products were number 2 in the category behind, you guessed it Apple, but had managed to take a real bite out of their competitors. |
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