Sony Ericsson announced today that five-time Grammy Award-winning artist Usher will headline Sony Ericsson’s Walkman music phone campaigns in North America. The partnership covers the United States and Canada, in addition to more than twenty countries in Europe and will include title sponsorship rights for Usher’s North American tour later in the year. Sony Ericsson will engage in joint marketing activities with exclusive wireless operator, AT&T in the United States.
Usher will discuss the details of the partnership and make a surprise announcement at a press conference at the Sony Club at the Sony Building in New York City on May 28th.
“This partnership with Usher is the ideal campaign for us to build on the leadership that we’ve established in the mobile music arena,” said Karen Morris, Sony Ericsson vice president of marketing in North America. “Consumers will be able to get the ultimate mobile music experience, thanks to Sony Ericsson and Usher.”
“New and exclusive content from Usher’s new album and tour on AT&T is the kind of mobile content our customers have come to expect,” said Andy Wilson, vice president, marketing for AT&T’s wireless operations. “This program with Sony Ericsson allows our customers to connect with Usher wherever they have their mobile phone.”
Usher echoed those sentiments saying, “This is a great partnership for me as an artist. The Sony Ericsson brand is young and vibrant and with the new Walkman phones making a lot of noise, it’s perfect timing for us all.”
Synergistic Brand Alliance
The campaign is well timed, as sister company Sony BMG will release the follow up to the global best selling album ‘Confessions’ on May 27th. The new album is aptly titled ‘Here I Stand.’
“This is very much a strategic alliance for us rather than ‘synergy lip service,’” said Donna Clower, senior vice president of strategic marketing, Sony BMG Label Group. “We have successfully worked with Sony Ericsson on many occasions; this is the first time however that we are in synch from the launch of a campaign and across so many countries. As a brand, they understand the creative nature of our business and we look forward to working with Sony Ericsson again throughout our long-term campaign with Usher.”
Usher’s manager Benny Medina shares the same sentiments, “We have been working on pulling this together with our label LaFace/Zomba (Sony BMG) and Sony Ericsson for some time and are very excited to be working with such a great brand. They speak our language and share our values. With Sony Ericsson as our partner we are looking forward to a great year ahead and beyond.”
VALUE-ADD OFFERINGS
The Sony Ericsson Walkman™ phone campaigns fronted by Usher will deliver many added value offerings to music fans throughout the year, including but not limited to:
- The hottest Walkman™ phones
- Access to exclusive content
- Unprecedented access to the artist through exclusive competitions, including meeting Usher on the set of a video shoot
- VIP status and the hottest ticket in town when the tour hits North America
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications serves the global communications market with innovative and feature-rich mobile phones, accessories and PC-cards. Established as a joint venture by Sony and Ericsson in 2001, with global corporate functions located in London, including R&D sites in Europe, Japan, China and America. Sony Ericsson celebrated the 5th anniversary of the start of the joint venture on 1st October, 2006.
Sony Ericsson is the global title sponsor of the Women's Tennis Association, and works with the Association to promote the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in over 80 cities during the year. For more information on Sony Ericsson, please visit www.sonyericsson.com/uk.
The Zomba Label Group consists of record labels Jive, LaFace, Volcano, Verity, GospoCentric and Fo Yo Soul. These labels represent a varied group of artists including Justin Timberlake, R. Kelly, Usher, Tool, Ciara, Chris Brown, Pink, Britney Spears, OutKast, Kirk Franklin, Three Days Grace, 311, Nick Lachey, T-Pain, Byron Cage, Bullet For My Valentine, Buddy Guy, Living Things, Anthony Hamilton, Donnie McClurkin, John P. Kee, Fred Hammond, Hezekiah Walker, Marvin Sapp, Kelly Price, J. Moss and Backstreet Boys.
Contacts:
Stacy
Doster, 919-472-7112
stacy.doster@sonyericsson.com
or
Dan
Guitteau, 972-341-2515
dguitteau@golinharris.com
or
Tori
Rappold, 646-387-4893
tori.rappold@bm.com
