Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications has appointed Acxiom to boost its customer engagement strategy, as part of a global deal to put the consumer at the heart of the brand owner’s business.
As a global partner, Acxiom will enable Sony Ericsson to understand and communicate with its consumers more effectively to deepen brand affinity and drive business.
The appointment comes as Sony Ericsson is coming under increasing pressure in the handset market. BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) and Apple recently crept ahead of both Sony Ericsson and Motorola in total phone sales. The market leader is Nokia, with second spot being held by Samsung and LG third.
Sony Ericsson is aiming to regain market share with the launch of its PlayStation-branded Xperia smartphone. Named the Xperia Play, the handset will be the first mobile device capable of running the forthcoming conversions of classic PlayStation games.
The Acxiom engagement includes business culture change, marketing strategy, data cleansing and enhancement, implementation services and marketing operations, to provide outsourced support to Sony Ericsson and deliver consumer communications campaigns.
Sony Ericsson head of digital and CRM Ben Padley said: “The dramatic shifts in our business marketplace require that we urgently develop strong relationships of engagement with our consumers. This includes identifying our consumers, learning about them and engaging with them in the most insightful manner possible. Acxiom provides us the ability to do that quickly and at scale.”
Acxiom chief executive of Europe Stephen Whyte said: “This is truly a strategic partnership within which we integrate our resources with those of Sony Ericsson and work with senior stakeholders to drive transformation within their business. It builds upon our demonstrated ability to deliver enterprise-wide business transformation, marketing strategy and marketing operations, while showing we can deliver global, multichannel marketing programmes at scale.”
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