Last night Sony unveiled the newest additions to its Vaio laptop line at Guastavino’s, promoting its four key marketing pillars—create, serve, perform, and innovate—with a multimedia event featuring live graffiti, tattooing, and an alternative circus. Innovations in the new computers, such as touch-screens and the Windows 7 operating system, prompted internal planners to design a presentation that was suitably progressive.
The vaulted ceilings of Gustavino’s—a landmark space—were chosen as a backdrop to give the evening the drama Sony and its public relations partners sought to create. “We wanted to show people what the Vaio lifestyle was all about,” explained Paine Public Relations client service manager Amy Hamaoui. “That’s design, innovation, ultra-performance—and it’s really very sexy.”
Hamaoui drew attention to Thomas Pendleton, star of A&E’s Tattoo Highway, who was on hand to demonstrate the brand’s “innovate” platform by giving real, Vaio-inspired tattoos to willing participants. (The tat in question featured a female robot DJ spinning music on a Sony laptop—and, yes, several guests now sport her image for life.) In the lobby, a team of graffiti artists showcased their skills, creating a mural using the five colors that the new Vaio notebook is available in. DJ Kiss provided a steady backdrop of upbeat rock, hip-hop, and electronic tracks.
Guests mingled among the the various artistic vignettes on display, sampling passed plates from the in-house caterers (mini pizzas with pesto sauce, spinach-artichoke croquettes) and specialty cocktails, like the "Blu-Ray" and the "Vaio Press." A live screen touted Vaio’s Twitter feed and called out in-house celebrity sightings of the likes of Nigel Barker and Star Jones.
As for that all-important sexiness, that arrived at 8 p.m., with Los Angeles-based performance troupe Cirque Berzerk. They closed the night out with PG-13 acrobatics, a mix of cabaret and burlesque styles that even incorporated the new Vaio laptops.
