Sony Australia said they would not launch their 3D TV offering until July, but in an effort to take advantage of the FIFA World Cup, which they are sponsoring to the tune of $500 million, the launch has been brought forward to June.
The announcement will be made on June 2nd at an event in Sydney.
Six weeks ago Sony told journalists that they would not officially launch their 3D TV offering till after the Sony sponsored World Cup despite several existing Sony Australia staff telling ChannelNews and SmartHouse that Sony always planned to launch their 3D TV offering in June in an effort to take advantage of their World Cup investment.
The Japanese Company who is desperate for 3D TV to take off is set to launch a major advertising campaign during the FIFA World Cup in an effort to take the gloss off Samsung’s 3D efforts which has seen them score sales by being the first vendor in Australia to deliver a 3D TV offering to retailers.
Paul Colley Communications Manager for Sony Australia said “All elements of Sony’s 3D experience are being bought together. What we are launching is full high definition; it has a 3D resolution higher than what you will see in Cinema’s. You will be able to play sport and watch movies in 3D and when you play games in 3D you will be right in among the action”.
A ChannelNews preview of Sony’s latest European 3D TV campaign shows how Sony’s ad agency, Anomaly, made use of montages starring a strongman, the footballer Kaka, a sports car burning out and an exploding goalmouth.
Do not adjust your set
The ad is shot in fuzzy ‘fake 3D’ and warns you that your TV is not on the blink, but adds that “Maybe it’s time to buy a 3D TV.” A more direct advertising message is hard to imagine!
Unless you give viewers a bit of a jolt, a wake up, if you can’t make a serious impact then it is just another bit of fancy TV wallpaper,” Anomaly’s co-founder Paul Graham, told Media Guardian in the UK.
“We’ve got to get people into stores, or cinemas, to get people into 3D.”
In Australia Sony has been negotiating for several months with SBS who have the rights to the 2010 World Cup which is being played in South Africa. A major sponsor of the broadcast Sony locally is set to benefit from the Companies global involvement in the World Cup from the shooting of matches using Sony developed 3D camera’s to the involvement of local World Cup players like Tim Cahill.
SBS is set to put to air several World Cup games in 3D including the Australia Vs Germany game on June 13th. They said recently that at least 15 World Cup matches would be broadcast in 3D during the month-long tournament.
