Sign up for the FREE Tell Membership and receive benefits that include the digital edition of Tell Magazine sent straight to your inbox, product giveaways, coupons and much more!
Sign up for the FREE Tell Membership and receive benefits that include the digital edition of Tell Magazine sent straight to your inbox, product giveaways, coupons and much more!
The tallest building in Philadelphia is now host to a one-of-a-kind Sony Style store, a brand new,2-brand partnership with cable giant Comcast called "Sony Style Comcast Labs."
Nestled just a floor below the towering Comcast Center’s main public attraction, a lobby boasting a 2,000 square foot HD video wall, the new retail space is half hardware/services store, half new-tech showcase.
"Sony Style is usually a very lifestyle-driven experience. This is a little more techy," said Dennis Syracuse, Senior Vice President of Sony Retail Stores. Syracuse said Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast, and Sony’s CEO, Sir Howard Stringer, came up with the idea two years ago and assigned their respective teams to implement a hands-on environment that will not only sell Sony products but also demonstrate emerging Comcast services like a 100 Megabite-per-second high speed internet connection.
The 3,500 square foot space is semi-cirular in design, with designated areas for home theater, digital imaging, gaming, computers and mobile accessories. While the displays look like most other Sony Style stores nationwide, with Bravia flatpanels and Vaio laptops live and ready for action, a closer inspection reveals that much of the Sony hardware is paired with Comcast products, like DVR cable boxes or "enhanced cordless" telephones. (Comcast is currently the third largest phone service provider in the U.S., after AT&T and Verizon.)
The new retail presence is part of a massive recent marketing effort on the part of Comcast, which has also just launched a series of catchy ads featuring live actors singing in a cartoon cityscape called Comcast Town (www.comcasttown.com). Comcast marketing executive David Juliano said the company is looking for new ways to give people a sense of expanded possibilities beyond basic cable, phone and internet service.
"Like most cable companies, we do most of our sales over the phone," said Juliano. "But it’s hard to demonstrate things like high definition over the phone. When customers can actually see it, they want it desperately, and they can sign up for everything right here in the store."
Related Posts