On New Year's Eve last year, tens of thousands of revelers flooding the streets of Taipei Xinyi District were all excited to usher in the arrival of the new year.
When the clock ticked at 12am, the 128-second fireworks burst from the top floors of Taipei 101. People were not only enchanted by the fireworks, but also by a sentence projected on the world's tallest freestanding building.
The phrase "2006 Bravia by Sony" had caught everyone's attention, at the same time arousing curiosity among those who were not in the know.
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
Chao Yi-chien (
The 22-year-old part-time tutor did not know the meaning of Bravia until she read news reports the following day.
Indeed, Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp managed to send its message across to potential clientele from all walks of life, and they are not limited to those in Taiwan.
The image of the world's tallest countdown was simultaneously broadcast by global media, such as the US' CNN, Japan's NHK and China Central Television.
The price reportedly paid to sponsor the fireworks was NT$20 million (US$60,661).
Taipei Financial Center Corp (TFCC, 台北金融大樓公司) operators have decided this year to push the price tag up to NT$30 million and prolong the fireworks display to 188 seconds.
"We want to break last year's record by showing a longer display of fireworks this time," TFCC assistant vice president Michael Liu (
"The firework countdown attracts international media attention and it is the biggest moment of the year for us," he said.
Already 10 companies have approached TFCC this year for possible firework sponsorship.
The list includes local and foreign big names in the computers, communications and consumer electronics industries. Even an automobile firm made contacts, he said.
Sony is definitely not missing out on the exposure this year.
Hiroyuki Oda, division president of Sony Taiwan Ltd, was all smiles last Wednesday when asked by media about the effect of last year's firework sponsorship.
"The impact was so much greater than we expected," he said.
All that the company initially wanted people to realize was that Bravia is the brandname of Sony's liquid-crystal-display (LCD) TV sets, he said.
Sony brought in its first LCD TVs to local stores in September last year, already throwing a bomb into the market with competitive pricing for the 32-inch model.
The price war caused a shortage for its TVs until October and sales shot to the No. 1 position the following month.
After the 101 sponsorship, Sony maintained its leadership in terms of sales amount for the next nine months until September this year, according to the company's latest statistics.
This translates to an impressive victory in the competitive market, as local makers such as Kolin Inc (歌林), Sampo Corp (聲寶), BenQ Corp (明基) and Tatung Co (大同) are fighting for a share with foreign big names -- Samsung Electronics Co and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, which owns the Panasonic brand.
While the company is now gearing up for this year's firework bidding, Oda said Sony is still evaluating the campaign format.
"We are looking forward to any form of partnership with 101, but we haven't reached any conclusion yet," he said.
However, some locals were wondering if foreign brands should not have given way to local players to pronounce their branding powers to the world.
"Some people were complaining that 101 had given the advertising chance to a foreign brand last year," Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Cheng Wen-tsang (
The office has decided to play the role of mediator this year by communicating with TFCC, hoping the latter will favor local firms.
The GIO has reportedly asked local big names, such as Acer Inc, Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), BenQ and Giant Inc (巨大機械), one of the world's leading bicycle brands, to form a joint bid.
It hopes each of their brands will be projected on the four sides of the skyscraper.
But Liu said it might be an uphill task to please everyone as views from four directions of the building have a different "value." The tentative plan is to leave all attention to only a single brand, he said.
"What we are looking for is a productive and creative proposal. The sponsorship is not to use Taipei 101 as an outdoor media, but rather co-branding for both the sponsor and the building," he said.
Sony outbid others last year as its sponsorship did not end with the short-lived fireworks.
The deal also included the use of Taipei 101 images in Sony's corporate calendars and brochures, as well as further collaboration on the Sony Fair held in April at the Taipei 101 concourse, he said.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
STREAMLINED: The dedicated funding would allow the US to transfer equipment to Taiwan when needed and order upgraded replacements for stockpiles, a source said The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a defense appropriations bill totaling US$838.7 billion, of which US$1 billion is to be allocated to reinforcing security cooperation with Taiwan and US$150 million to replace defense articles provided to the nation. These are part of the Consolidated Appropriation Act, which the US House yesterday passed with 341 votes in favor and 88 against. The act must be passed by the US Senate before Friday next week to avoid another government shutdown. The US House Committee on Appropriations on Monday unveiled the act, saying that it allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative
RSS