By Christian Azolan, Mobile’s new communities editor
After a rapturous reception at Mobile World Congress, Sony Ericsson was keen to show off its Xperia Arc, Neo and Play devices to those that will be selling them – the retail staff.
And last night (23 February), retail staffers from up and down the country got a sneak peak and a chance to play with the devices before their official launch next month.
Every network and store was invited to a cinema in Haymarket where they were treated to a £5 Cineworld voucher, popcorn, chocolate and drinks, and the chance to experience PlayStation 3 games on a 40 foot cinema display.
The Sony Ericsson brand machine was full swing with slogans flashing up on screen such as 'the future of mobile gaming is upon us' as dramatic music played in the background.
The presentation, which included training on the Android 2.3 OS, highlighted the Xperia brand values and the Sony Ericsson Vision.
It aimed to recruit retail staff to the Sony Ericsson’s Ambassador program, which gives retailers the opportunity to own and win Xperia handsets, vouchers and other Sony products. In exchange, staff get to be heard as an honest retail voice, giving Sony Ericsson advice on what customers – and they – want.
The idea is, staff will become engaged with the Sony Ericsson brand, and as a result, will want to sell the manufacturer’s products.
And it seems to be working.
Miles Steward from the Kings Road Orange store told me on the night. 'This is definitely the right way to push this, as it is for the staff and it feels like a very hands on approach.’
As part of the programme, seven competition winners will get to go to Las Vegas for CES 2012. Kiren Bal from the Three Store in Hammersmith turned to me during the presentation after the presenter asked, ‘who wants to go to Las Vegas?’, and said: ‘Who doesn’t want to go to Vegas?’ Sony Ericsson had the room engaged completely.
But the highlight of the evening was the hands-on demo of the handsets – and it was the Arc and ‘PlayStation’ Xperia Play that captured the hearts of those in the room.
The Neo also got some attention for looking great – and having a £25 per month price point. Iky from Three said: 'I'm going to sell shed loads.’
Staff asked loads of questions about Android operation system and handset capabilities, but what everyone wanted to know was: Which games are going to be available for the device?
May Paglingayen, from Vodafone Kingston store, told me: ‘If they get the Street Fighter game on it, then that’s me sold.’
The Xperia Play will come with six pre-installed games, with Tetris being one of those. Sony Ericsson also revealed that classic games from the PlayStation’s back catalogue such as Crash Bandicoot were also going to be made available. This got the room very excited.
Meanwhile, the Xperia Arc was also on show – and staff loved playing with the demo handsets. Aaron Harrison, from the Vodafone Clapham Junction Store, said: ‘The Xperia Arc is what the X10 should have been, I would buy one.’
Overall, Sony Ericsson did a very good job, with some retail staff clearly in awe of the products and the chance to get a hands-on pre-launch preview.
John Garcia, from Fonehouse in Wimbledon, said: ‘It's great to see phone reps here showing you how to use and get the best from the products, it makes it a more personal training event.’
Richard Cleary, who traveled from the Guildford T-Mobile Store, said: ‘I love the fact that I get to see the handsets first.’
Now that’s dedication; he would make a great Ambassador.