Reader Revolution

The Reader Digital Book by Sony is a slim, portable device that allows people to carry about 160 eBooks in their hands. It uses an electronic paper display with E Ink technology, what makes it viewable even in direct sunlight. It can display Adobe PDFs, personal documents, blogs, RSS newsfeeds, and JPEGs, as well as play unencrypted MP3 and AAC audio files. The challenge was to introduce 2 million consumers into digital reading by trying it first hand and encourage more young Americans to read.

Nearly half of all Americans ages 18 to 24 read no books for pleasure. In many instances, reading had been replaced with listening to MP3 players, watching TV or playing video games. Sony’s aimed to engage 2 million consumers in a 16-week period, conducting one-on-one interactions in a 30,000+ event program. Over 1,200 “Reader Revolutionaries” were deployed to conduct product trials at major retailers and key venues around the country, including airports and train stations. For the first time ever, the demonstration of an electronic device was allowed beyond security checkpoints at airports. This was supported by a website that included an interactive online trial. Sony would provide eBooks to a school every time someone took the two minute trial of the Reader (offline or online). To generate buzz and participation, two-time memory world record-holder Dave Farrow read digital books on the Reader around the clock for 30 days in a Manhattan storefront. A press event, blogs, daily videos and social network sites worked together to generate buzz.

Sony managed to conduct hand-to-hand interactions with 2.2 million potential purchasers. It increased retail distribution by 400% and increased website traffic to sony.com/reader by 500%, leading to over 100,000 online trials. Sony Reader sales grew by over 300%. Finally, Sony provided 15 million eBooks to 150,000 schools in the USA.