New Sony Displays for Walmart and Target Set the Standard

The competition between electronic brands in big box stores is – well, like it is between brands almost everywhere – really fierce. So, when we get an assignment from Sony to develop retail displays for Walmart and Target to showcase Sony’s new, industry-leading noise-cancelling headphone technology and True-Wireless earbuds, we know successful designs are going to have to check a lot of boxes. You could probably name some of those boxes yourself. So give it a shot.

How about these for starters:

• Attracting attention in a busy, highly competitive environment? Yep. That’s why we always do a thorough in-store audit of the competition so we know what we have to beat.
• Perfectly projecting Sony’s brand image as a leader? Of course.
• Rugged and durable? A given. A broken display sitting around in store is no good to anyone.
• Secure so the displayed products don’t take a walk? You bet.
• On budget? Absolutely.

But we had to go a further than that.

First up. people aren’t going to buy headphones promising a breakthrough technology without experiencing it themselves. So, a successful demo is critical. That’s why each display was loaded with top hits from Sony Music Artists. Unfortunately earbuds can’t be demoed for reasons of hygiene.

Next the displays had to be “future proofed” – meaning that they have to be changeable to adapt to the newest songs, new product stories and messages and even new products themselves. And this has to all be easy or it’s not going to happen in a busy store. So, here are some of the key features we designed into one or both displays:

• A hidden USP jack allows new music from Sony’s library to be easily added.
  

  New 1′ Sony Noise-Cancelling Headphone Display for Walmart

• Magnetic graphics can be easily peeled off and replaced in seconds.
• The Walmart version of the display allows a second set of headphones to be added sometime in the future by turning the headphone mounting post 90 degrees (see photo) – and it has a concealed cut out to add a second demo button.
• If needed the guts of each display can be accessed by simply lifting the top panel sort of like a car hood.

All of which gives these displays a much longer effective life and, of course, gives Sony a higher return on the investment it made.

And lastly these displays ship fully assembled and ready to go. The faster they get set up – the faster they start generating sales.

About Sony’s New Noise-Cancelling Headphone Technology
As a side note, Sony’s new headphones technology is truly remarkable and getting a lot of attention in the tech world. Here’s just a few of the features Sony’s new WH-1000XM4 headphones offer:

• First up you know that noise-cancelling means they block all the sound around you – in this case completely so you hear only your music even in noisy environments like in crowds and on airplanes.
• If you want to speak to someone start talking and the music automatically stops and lets in ambient sound so you can conduct a conversation. Stop talking and the music starts automatically.
• Or conversely if you want to hear what’s going on around you (like a PA announcement) – just place your hand over the housing to let in ambient sound.
• Sensors in your headphones detect whether you’re wearing them or not, then adapt playback accordingly to help save battery power.
• They offer sophisticated style and exceptional comfort thanks to super-soft, pressure-relieving ear pads in foamed urethane and an ultra-light-weight design.
• And of course, they feature Sony’s exceptional audio quality.

To learn more visit Sony’s web page.