Sony lets online users take over Times Square

This is a big campaign.

Sony is currently running a campaign that lets users upload their own pictures to a microsite; pictures that could eventually make it up on Reuters’ jumbo screen in Times Square. Sony editors sift through all the photos and chose those with the biggest smiles to be included in a slide show that runs in Times Square 5 times a day for a week.

By giving users an mega incentive, Sony has devised a way for consumers to give up their personal content. As marketers struggle with privacy issues, this serves as a good lesson of the conditions under which consumers are willing to share their information; it needs to be on their own terms and provide a mutual benefit for both the advertiser and consumer. In this case, Sony gets to interact with their current customer base when they are not in need of new electronic equipment, and their consumers in turn, get their 15 minutes of fame.

Say Cheese.