“It lifts your mood, distracts you from fatigue, and is proven to increase your endurance. It’s no wonder MP3 players have become an essential piece of kit for any fitness fanatic. You can barely step foot in a gym without overhearing somebody’s thrash metal playlist.
But amidst the cacophony, there is one bastion of silence that remains. The swimming pool. Swimmers have been left to battle on in solitude, with their thoughts their only company.
So when Sony briefed us on the W Series Sports Walkman, their first wearable, wire-free, and waterproof mp3 player, it quickly became clear that swimmers were our ideal target. But the challenge was getting the attention of this niche market. ”

“Mass media? Probably not particularly effective in this case. We needed to get it somewhere swimmers couldn’t ignore it, right where they needed it the most.
So we hijacked something they’ll find in every fitness centre the world over – vending machines. In order to do this, we placed the product in bottled water, something else every swimmer needs, and in doing so created the perfect product demonstration.”