To herald the launch of what was widely considered 2005's most exciting gadget, the PlayStation®Portable (PSP), JCPR had no need for red carpets or star-studded parties. Instead, the agency team used a cultural approach to complement core product launch activity, using key creative influencers rather than celebrities to generate PR-able content.

This approach was also recommended for the European launch, as the PR challenges were very different from those faced in Japan and the US. By the time the PSP reached Europe, it had already dominated international entertainment news for over a year and was now suffering from 'media fatigue'... standard product PR tactics alone were never going to be enough.

JCPR also needed to turn the PSP into a design and style icon desired by people who lead mobile lives - a new audience mindset from the ones encountered in the '90s. Prior to the PSP launch, people had always associated the PlayStation brand as an indoor, sofa-bound solus activity, but the launch of the PSP enabled the team to create collaborations which were unconfined by geographical boundaries and therefore challenged people's perceptions of the PlayStation brand.
Eleven collaborative projects with leading creatives from the sectors of design, style and music formed the backbone of the UK PSP PR campaign, some of which were selected centrally by Sony Computer Entertainment and then rolled out across an additional six European markets. Extensive consultation with territories driven by the creatives' expertise ensured all projects had cultural resonance on a local level.

Robert Phillips, Founding Partner at JCPR, explains: "Our work on the launch of the PSP was essentially a classic influencer campaign. We targeted key influencers and tastemakers and turned them into brand ambassadors. We worked with each of them to design unique collaborations celebrating the PSP's brand values, providing us with activities and content upon which to build media hype over and above the physical launch of the PSP. This approach seduced the niche groups, who we wanted fall in love with the PSP, in a very subtle, natural and unforced way - which is the JCPR style, and corresponds directly with how PlayStation works. It's about building a dialogue, with culture."
The avoidance of celebrity glitz and glamour was not a crazy risk on JCPR's part: the decision was based on the learnings and experience in how to build credible brands. JCPR had already shepherded Sony's PS2 into its current position as a mass-market behemoth, and knew how to win the crucial mindshare necessary to drive mass PSP sales while maintaining a credible and newsworthy edge.

One such activity was PSP Presents Amaze Me an audio-visual installation based on a series of short films from six leading artists within the creative industries spanning fashion, film, art and music. Amaze Me set down a challenge to the public to, well, 'Amaze Me'. Conceived by SHOWstudio and its founder Nick Knight, PSP Presents Amaze Me was adapted for six European cities and toured extensively in leading outlets that included 'Comme des Garcons' in London and 'CCCB' in Barcelona.

PSP Design Club, www.PSPdesignclub.com brought together fourteen of Europe's most esteemed artists, including Turner Prize winner Chris Ofili, in an experimental project celebrating the liberation of the creative process.
These and other projects mirrored the PSP brand values of beauty, desire and freedom. Talented young UK artists from Arabic backgrounds got the chance to exhibit their work under Sony's guidance, demonstrating a harmonious fusion of the two cultures, and Luella Bartley's limited edition PSP holder drew wide attention. Portable, practical and cool, they embodied and complemented the essence of the PSP.

It was also important that each collaboration highlighted a particular functionality of the PSP, as the team wanted to make sure that people understood that the PSP was a mobile entertainment device and not just a handheld games console. The music side was celebrated by events like PSP Anywhere at Electowerkz in London; and PurEUrban, an online music map of the European urban audio landscape celebrating the marriage of technology and music. The interactive gaming aspect of the PSP was emphasised in the PSP/RCA installations created by Royal College of Art students exploring freedom and how the portability of the PSP will inspire new relationships amongst players.

By linking the PSP with cutting-edge art, design and music events, JCPR elevated its status from a handheld gaming device to an icon for a cultured youth market.

So, if you stole one of the 500 giant cardboard guitars designed by Peter Savill from the street last summer for PSP Presents Cut Out, be proud that by claiming a free piece of art and expressing your teenage irresponsibility, you also played a part in expressing freedom, beauty and desire.