Great Products and Brilliant Brand Loyalty: My SONY Experience
Last week, I took a much needed break from my everyday routine and was treated to a fantastic 2-day retreat, sponsored by SONY. If you look around my blog, you will notice, that I have never been a very brand-heavy blogger. While I have consulted with brands, there are no banner ads or sponsored videos on my site. So, this was a step out of the norm and into the unknown. And I loved every second of it because from the moment we arrived, we were treated like super stars.
**Client experience, when done well creates brand loyalty.**
As a creative mompreneur, I have always loved a good camera for documenting my family life and business adventures. So, when I received an invitation from Kimberley Clayton Blaine to attend the #photofunmom event sponsored by SONY, my curiosity was peeked. Would they want to connect with us as bloggers or as moms? Would they train us how to use the camera? How could they make an event like this a success? As a business person, I was totally inspired!
On Wednesday afternoon, I arrived at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego where the valet escorted me to the lobby and a room was reserved in my name. So far so good… actually, it was seemless! As soon as I got to my room, the door bell rang and the welcome note and gifts in the picture above were delivered. I quickly got ready for dinner and went down to the lobby to meet my fellow mommy bloggers.
As I caught up with social media girlfriends, Beth Bleckerman, Kimberley Blaine, Susan Kay Wyatt, and some of the other fabulous gals, we were whisked away in a giant luxury limo bus. We arrived at our dinner spot where we mingled with the SONY team and they spoiled us with a beautiful cocktail reception, a sit down dinner on the outdoor patio at Anthology and a gift bag that contained our new favorite camera, the Cyber-Shot WX-9 (complete with matching case and cleaning cloth).
Of course, we immediately began snapping away as the SONY team explained the many features and talents of this fabulous little camera. (Having been a Canon girl for years, I was a bit nervous that I wouldn’t like the camera, but I LOVE it!) So, we snapped the night away and prepared for the awesomeness that was to come the following day.
On Thursday, SONY sponsored a lovely breakfast that was served in a special dining room before we went to the penthouse of the Hard Rock to learn photography secrets from uber-cool celebrity photographer Brian Smith. We learned how Brian found the perfect locations for his subjects, icons like Sir Richard Branson, Donald Trump, Anne Hathaway, Patricia Arquette, Laurence Fishburne and more. Brian also gave us a sneak peak at his forthcoming book Art and Soul, an incredible collaboration that is designed to help raise awareness for the arts. When he was finished with his presentation, we went on a photographic walking tour of the area. Sheer brilliance!
See what I mean about creating an exceptional user experience? How could any of us not love SONY after this? The cameras are fantastic, but the SONY team was warm, friendly, welcoming and extremely knowledgable. That’s the key to brand loyalty.
When we returned from our leisurely stroll around the Hard Rock ‘hood, we were treated to mani-pedis, massages, facials, shimmer treatments and professional hair and make-up application to prepare us for our photo shoot with Brian.
Have I mentioned how every detail was considered here? Seriously, let me tell you that there was never a moment where we were without great conversation, pampering or delicious food and drink. From chocolate covered strawberries and champagne to finger sandwiches and scones, the food spread was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!
When everyone was finished having their individual portraits taken by Brian, we gathered for one final group shot. We couldn’t help but smile and giggle as this magical day and a half came to an end.
Friendships were formed and deepened.
Memories were made and captured.
And we will all be forever grateful to SONY and Kimberley Blaine for making this experience possible.
Now, please know that from this moment on… every photo on my blog will be captured with a SONY camera because they not only how to make great products, they know how to create raving fans!
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