SENNHEISER SOUND TOUR KICKS OFF THE
CANADIAN LEG OF NORTH AMERICAN ROAD TRIP
Two teams – six guys, six girls – compete for
Canadian eyes and ears
in a reality road show, competition and webisodes
TORONTO:
They stormed the Today Show, ambushed Willie Nelson and crashed a
wedding, and, in doing so, increased product sales and brand awareness. Now, the twelve competitors of the Sennheiser Sound Tour are poised to
make their mark on Canadian ground.
In a
revolutionary marketing mission – to spread the sound of Sennheiser North
America-wide – two teams of pioneering young pranksters are visiting concerts,
festivals and events in a 30-city tour crisscrossing the US and Canada. Beginning in Milwaukee on June 30, the
guys went west, the girls east, each rising to meet their challenges and out-do
the other in broadening consumer awareness of the Sennheiser brand. The Canadian leg kicks off in
mid-August with the guys’ team visiting Victoria, BC and travelling east; the
girls’ team heading to Halifax then west – both teams competing for victory and
personal prizes.
As they
innovatively introduce Canadians to the premium sound experience of Sennheiser,
their competitions, pranks, experiences and antics will all be captured on
video and posted on a weekly
webisode via sennheisersoundtour.com. The two teams connect with fans on
Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other outlets.
Anne Joyce, Director of
Marketing, Sennheiser Canada states, “The Sennheiser Sound Tour utilizes a
combination of exciting, unconventional avenues in addition to traditional marketing
to reach today’s diverse range of headphone consumers. Our campaign speaks to the
individuality and confidence of contemporary electronics consumers, a market
which includes music enthusiasts, online gamers, multimedia artists and
musicians.”
Sennheiser
is leading the way in creating brand awareness through innovative, bold
and cost effective methods.The campaign was
designed to drive Sennheiser brand awareness and consideration through an
integrated, efficient engagement program. Since the Tour’s inception, Sennheiser has seen an up trend in US
sales, and a significant growth in the Canadian consumer division as retail
prepares for the team visits.
“The full
impact of the initiative is hard to measure at this juncture,” says Joyce. “The tour still has another month on
the road and the 20 webisodes that are being produced as a result of tour will
live online forever. The
initiative will be measured in full in January of 2010 when the viral impact of
the tour has had time to be realized.”
However,
the teams are having an on-the-street impact on sales, with Sennheiser products
snapped up, leaving store shelves empty as evidenced in The Guy’s Webisode 5, www.sennheisersoundtour.com/#week5-guys.
With the tour generating over 4,000 engaged Facebook FANs in five weeks
and growing daily, this non-traditional campaign is a true
testament of the impact of social media.
The 12
“cast members” were chosen from more than 300 candidates. Seven Canadians and five Americans made
the final cut and readied for the road in Sennheiser’s “Hear.
I am.” promotion. The
innovative campaign is the brainchild of The Jetstar Group, a Toronto-based
Strategic Marketing Agency.
As the diverse cast of characters – a professional
surfer, a photographer, an actor, a
pro gamer and musicians – continues their Canadian tour, consumers visiting sennheisersoundtour.com or
their Facebook page, Sennheiser Sound Tour, can follow the teams, learn more
about Sennheiser products, and win valuable prizes as well.
In the true spirit of a reality show, and to keep the
mystic of the challenges, Sennheiser has elected to reveal tasks to the public
at the same time as the team receives them. “Both teams find out at the same
time,” says Anne Joyce. “We cannot
give one team an advantage over the other. This also creates the mystery and excitement among our
Facebook fans who tune in daily to see what is new and what is next.”
The Tour culminates at SoundFEST, Sennheiser’s own trade and consumer event taking place
on September 14th at the Metropolis in Montreal. SoundFEST will feature an all-star line up
of Quebec artists and both teams will meet each other again for the first time
since June. The challenges for the
teams at the closing are expected to be monumental and memorable!
ABOUT SENNHEISER
Sennheiser is a
world-leading manufacturer of headphones, microphones, and wireless
transmission systems. Established
in 1945 in Wedemark, Germany, Sennheiser is now a global brand represented in
over 100 countries. The Sennheiser Group is proud to be affiliated with Georg
Neumann (world leading studio microphones), Klein + Hummel (studio monitors)
and Sennheiser Communications that brings their innovative technology to
headsets for PCs, offices, mobility and contact centers. Sennheiser’s pioneering excellence in
technology has rewarded the company with numerous awards and accolades
including an Emmy, a Grammy, and the Scientific and Engineering Award of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Sennheiser offices in Canada are located in Pointe-Claire
Quebec.
