Sony Launches Major 4K Cross-Promotion

14 Aug, 2014 By: Erik Gruenwedel

---

Sony Electronics, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Best Buy, in collaboration with National CineMedia, Aug. 14 launched the industry’s first cross-promotion designed to increase consumer awareness of 4K Ultra-HD televisions and content.

Starting Aug. 15 and running through Sept. 25, Sony will air a 30-second promotional spot featuring outtakes from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 on more than 3,600 AMC and Regal Entertainment movie theater screens nationwide showcasing the benefits of Sony 4K Digital Cinema projection and how consumers can enjoy this experience at home watching the Amazing Spider-Man 2 Blu-ray Disc on Sony 4K Ultra-HD TVs.

The sequel is available at retail Aug. 19 as a three-disc 3D Blu-ray combo pack, a two-disc Blu-ray combo pack, DVD and Digital HD.

Mike Fasulo

At the same time, Sony Experience Stores in more than 350 Best Buy locations will feature 4K Ultra-HD demonstrations with staffers specifically trained to proactively engage consumers about 4K resolution, according to Mike Fasulo, president and COO of Sony Electronics. The campaign will be further supported by in-store events, online media and Best Buy’s Aug. 17 newspaper circular.  

“[The Amazing Spider-Man 2 disc] is critically important in that it’s entertainment, and that’s the story we’re trying to get out to the consuming public,” Fasulo said. “Packaged media and, specifically, [4K] entertainment is really the glue that keeps it all together.”

SPHE has led the home entertainment industry in 4K with nearly 30 movies mastered in 4K resolution and released on Blu-ray. They include: The Amazing Spider-Man (2D), Total Recall (2012), Battle: Los Angeles, The Karate Kid (2010), Taxi Driver, Angels & Demons, Glory, The Other Guys, Spider-Man (2002), Pineapple Express, Spider-Man 2 (2004), Moneyball, Men in Black (1997), Godzilla (1998), This Is The End, After Earth, The Smurfs 2 (2D), Elysium, Grown Ups 2, Captain Phillips, The Monuments Men, American Hustle, Funny Girl, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2D), and, later this year, Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II.

The titles can also be downloaded separately via Sony’s 4K Ultra-HD Media Player and streamed or downloaded (only) on a connected Sony TV.

Fasulo dismissed analyst reports suggesting consumer awareness of 4K is lagging and TV unit prices are offputting. He said the Ultra-HD business is “doing gangbusters” for Sony, at a time when the 4K market is still in its infancy.

Sony is offering a $1,000 discount on the purchase price of new-model 4K Ultra-HD TVs in Best Buy’s Sony Experience Stores.

Fasulo said Sony is uniquely positioned to roll out a 4K cross-promotion due to its 4K theatrical projectors, 4K TVs, Blu-ray players and content.

“We’re delivering Sony entertainment to the theaters [in 4K], and we’re bringing it into the living room for a great TV experience in packaged media as well as downloads and streaming,” he said.

 

Bookmark it: