MySpace.com today have announced Sony Ericsson Australia as the principal sponsor of the MySpace Pix platform. The dedicated photo sharing channel launched in May this year, and to date has been ‘friended’ by 34,332 MySpace users.

The Newshound spent Monday and Tuesday at the Advertising and
Marketing Summit in Sydney, where all the talk from the speakers was of
the importance of branding, especially in relation to the digital space.
So its interesting to see this new initiative between Sony Ericsson
Australia and MySpace, an integrated branding strategy making use of
digital distribution.

In addition to branding on the MySpace Pix profile, Sony Ericsson
will be arming photographers across the country with their latest Sony
Ericsson C702 Cyber-shot handset. These roving photographers will
supplement MySpaces own fleet of photographers capturing gigs,
launches, club nights and events and uploading them directly onto the
site.

All those photographed will be handed a Sony Ericsson/MySpace Pix branded card, pointing them back to the MySpace Pix profile.

In conjunction with the sponsorship of the new MySpace Pix channel,
Sony Ericsson is launching a MySpace profile on 28th July. The profile
will also allow users to comment on the page, learn more about the
handset and also take part in the Map Your Madness photo competition,
where users can enter by uploading a shot of their madness.

At MySpace we have been evolving our industry-leading ad solution
strategy since the sites inception; this exciting new partnership will
not only allow Sony Ericsson to be incorporated into the user
experience on MySpace, but importantly will be supported with direct
brand exposure in a fun, offline environment too, said Andrew
Cordwell, national sales director, Fox Interactive Media and MySpace.

Integrated marketing agency iris is set to launch the campaign for
Sony Ericsson which aims to drive sales of the new Sony Ericsson C702
Cyber-shot handset. The national campaign supported by in-store
marketing, trade campaigns, experiential, online and outdoor media will
encourage consumers to befriend the new Sony Ericsson MySpace profile
and share their photos on the MySpace Pix Channel.

MySpace is such an important area for brands. We want to create a
destination site for Sony Ericsson, driving a sense of community for
consumer via interactions online and offline, said Simon Porter
managing director, iris Sydney.

In the UK, 14 percent of 18-24 year old social networkers believe
brands appear more friendly and creative on social networking sites,
while 13 percent said social networking sites have made them see brands
as experiences they can become involved with.