The campaign has mainly been featured in print media and OOH in major cities.
However, the scope and depth of Xu’s involvement is set to increase, according to Charley Kan, managing director at MEC Beijing. “We are looking to develop Xu’s involvement with the product, so that it will feature on her blog and online magazine,” he said.
The Sony Cybershot K858c is being marketed as an industry leading ‘imaging phone’, with the suggestion that its high quality snapshots make low-range digital cameras redundant, as it allows owners to take and store good quality photos with their phones.
Xu’s image positions her as intelligent and creative as well as attractive and stylish.
The actress-director-photographer’s blog reports impressive hit figures and Sony hopes the Cybershot brand will benefit from her popularity and unique profile, in a category heavy with celebrity endorsements. While performing well in Western Europe, Sony Ericsson has not managed to achieve the same market superiority in Asia, particularly against rivals Nokia and Samsung.
However, new Sony Ericsson president Dick Komi-yama has been quoted as saying that India and China are a particular focus as the company strives to be one of the top three mobile phone makers by 2011.
Sources suggest that advertising budgets look set to increase in the category.