CHALLENGE:
Sonnet Technologies, a worldwide leader in upgrades for Apple Macintosh computers and iPod digital music players, was introducing two new iPod accessories to the general consumer market. Sonnet saw competitor’s media coverage and decided that an aggressive media relations campaign was imperative to get their products media exposure to quiet their competition.

Sonnet’s main goal was to increase visibility in the iPod accessories space to venture beyond the Mac media community. A new marketing tagline - “Love Your iPod Even Longer” - was formed and Sonnet concluded that they needed to bring on a PR firm to help with the launch of the new line of iPod accessories. Sonnet hired BLASTmedia as their PR firm and challenged BLAST with significantly leveraging media placements to increase sales of the new iPod accessories.

SOLUTION:
The BLASTmedia team generated an aggressive consumer media plan that would facilitate Sonnet’s primary goals and achieve results well above the client’s expectations. The plan included a major product launch that targeted daily newspapers and national magazines, specifically PC and general tech pubs.

RESULTS:
BLASTmedia’s PR campaign successfully increased exposure of Sonnet Technologies’ products in the national media - both daily newspapers and magazines.

Throughout the media relations campaign, there was a direct correlation between major media placement and sales, and the “Love Your iPod Even Longer” was used in many reviews. Since partnering with BLASTmedia, Sonnet’s online sales have doubled.

The iPod accessories were featured in more than 60 media outlets, including the Washington Post, Newsday, Gannett News (syndicated), Denver Post, Smart Computing and CNET. One article published in the New York Times on Thanksgiving Day increased the sales one accessory (the iPod battery) over 800% of a typical weekend sales and shattered their one and two day sales record.