Unlocking the Senses: Discover the Innovative World of Ginza Sony Park
Last week of August 2024. A post was posted on Sony Ginza Park’s Instagram. There was news that the construction of the Ginza Sony Building, which had been under construction for a long time, was finally finished. At the same time, news was also posted that the new Sony Ginza Park would open in January 2025.
When I walk through Ginza, I think about this at least once. How much is it per pyeong here? Ginza is said to cost around 40 to 50 million yen per meter squared. The most expensive area is said to be about 1.3 billion won per pyeong. Because of these astronomical land prices, the buildings on Ginza Street are tightly packed together. This is because every square meter must be utilized to its full potential.
There is a company that attracted attention by building a park in Ginza, where land prices are high. Sony. Sony created Ginza Sony Park on the site of the Sony Building, which was previously used as a showroom. The reason why I say ‘made’ rather than ‘made’ is because there is currently no Ginza Sony Park. As Sony began construction on the new Sony Building, it dismantled Sony Ginza Park, which had been in operation for two years. This shows that Sony values long-term brand value rather than short-term profits.
In the past, the ground of Sony Ginza Park had various plants, wooden decks, and benches. In the basement, there were various shops including a cafe, a craft beer store, and a general store, as well as a space for live performances. This configuration reflects Sony’s intention to create a complex space where culture and relaxation coexist beyond a simple shopping space. However, Sony did not put Sony products on the front page or advertise here either. This can be seen as a strategy that focuses on building relationships with consumers through brand experience rather than direct sales.
Now, the days when ‘purchasing’ things gave us a sense of meaning and accomplishment in life are long gone. Wherever you go these days, there is always a lot of stuff. You can even buy things instantly with just a finger, anytime, anywhere. This change has accelerated with the rapid growth of online shopping. For example, this is supported by statistics showing that online shopping sales have increased by more than 50% worldwide since COVID-19.
In this environment, brand stores are not simply places to display products, but are transforming into spaces that convey the brand’s values and philosophy. A representative example is that the Apple Store not only sells products but also provides free classes and cultural events. After COVID-19, as online purchases expand, people are asking more questions about brands. ‘Why should we go to offline space? ‘What value will the brand give us?’
Ginza Sony Park and its successor, Ginza Sony Park Mini, are Sony’s unique answer to these questions. These spaces are not simply product exhibition halls, but function as cultural spaces that provide new experiences and inspiration to visitors. Through this, Sony seeks to build its image as a lifestyle brand beyond a technology company and form deep relationships with consumers.
Ginza Sony Park, a time of accumulation that defines ‘Sonyness’ (2018-2021)
Why did Sony build a park? The reason Sony built a park in Ginza was to convey ‘Sony-ness’. It was a result of the ‘Sonyness’ of doing things that other people didn’t do. However, for Sony, creating a park on prime land in Ginza was not an easy task.
In 2016, the Sony Building celebrated its 50th anniversary. During the stay of President Ichio Hirai, who was leading Sony at the time, Sony began discussing a project to review the Sony Building’s next steps. It started in 2013. In order to revive the Sony Building, which was the symbol of Sony and the center of its brand, Sony executives discussed the land in Ginza over architectural design, building height, and tenant composition.
There was also an opinion among Sony executives to build a building and collect rent and outdoor advertising fees. These opinions about profitability are not wrong. However, Sony believed that this type of building construction could not surprise and impress customers. The reason Sony was able to build the park was because of Sony’s entrepreneurial spirit of ‘doing things that people don’t do.’ This entrepreneurial spirit allowed the project to proceed without hesitation despite opposing opinions.
Sony decided not to build a new building immediately after tearing down the building. The idea was not to not build buildings, but to create a ‘period in which buildings are not built.’ After this decision, Sony began to rethink the concept of the ‘Sony Building’. At this time, Akio Morita, one of Sony’s founders and the builder of the Sony Building, and Yoshinobu Asiara, the designer of the Sony Building, came up with the idea of ’a facility open to the street.’
Going back to the time when Akio Morita was leading Sony, the Sony Building at that time had a 10-pyeong triangular site called ‘Sony Square’ facing the Sukiyabashi intersection. Akio Morita called this place ‘Ginza’s garden.’ Sony executives paid attention to this ‘garden in Ginza’ and reinterpreted it in a modern way, and the idea of ‘park’ emerged. While the new Sony Building was not being built, it was decided to turn this place into a ‘park in the city’.
During the two years that Ginza Sony Park was maintained, Sony decided not to think about profitability. The two years were a process to move to the next step. During this period, Ginza Sony Park was exposed to a lot of media and gained publicity beyond Sony’s expectations. In particular, through media exposure, Ginza Sony Park began to become Sony’s branding and became known as an interface and platform that connects companies and people. The form and platform of the park created an opportunity for Sony’s brand communication.
Sony thought that what the park needed was ‘space’. White space meant undefined use of space. In other words, leaving space in the space meant allowing visitors to freely use the space. Sony thought that people’s creativity would fill this void. This was similar to the process by which Sony developed video games from a subculture to a global culture through the PlayStation.
Ginza Sony Park, which operated for about three years from 2018 to 2021, did not exhibit Sony products or related content for the first year. Sony wanted to promote this place as a pure park. In a survey conducted a year later, many visitors evaluated Ginza Sony Park as a ‘Sony-like place.’ People thought that the ‘uniqueness’ of using the building space under reconstruction to create a park was ‘Sony’.
Starting in 2019, Sony began presenting various projects including Sony products at Ginza Sony Park. Opportunities to experience Sony’s products and technologies were provided through exhibitions such as the ‘Walkman 40th Anniversary Exhibition’ and ‘Music in the Park’. Of the 8.54 million people who visited Ginza Sony Park during this period, half were people who stopped by by chance, and the other half were people who visited for the purpose of an event.
The direction Sony wanted to take through Ginza Sony Park was to redefine the Sony brand. Just as Sony redefined listening with the Walkman and video games with the PlayStation, it now wanted to redefine the brand itself. Looking at Sony’s sales structure from 2018 to 2020, the main profits occurred in the areas of games, content, finance, and image sensors rather than electronic products. By 2023, close to 70% of sales will come from the content sector alone.
Ginza Sony Park served as an opportunity to develop space planning, branding, and marketing, which had been Sony’s weak points, in Sony’s own style. Through this, Sony redefined the brand ‘Sony’ and explored the direction Sony should take in the future. Although the goal of 10 million visits was not achieved due to the coronavirus, Sony discovered the importance of ‘space and activity’ at Ginza Sony Park. If you create an activity such as an event where there is space, it becomes a space filled with experiences. It was true. I learned that the direction the park should pursue is to create diverse experiences through this space and activities. Above all, I learned that the balance between white space and activity is important, and that in order to deal with both white space and activity, you need editing skills and time to accumulate. After Ginza Sony Park disappears into history in 2021, Sony plans to I did not throw away the valuable experience I gained. We prepared for after Sony Ginza Park. That’s how Ginza Sony Park Mini was born.
Ginza Sony Park Mini, drawing the future of offline through accumulation of experience. (2022-2024′)
Sony is a company that boasts an unrivaled position in the field of image and sound technology. From Walkman to PlayStation, various products have provided people with an ‘experience’ that goes beyond simple products. In particular, PlayStation has been focusing on selling ‘experience’ for a long time, accumulating know-how to turn ‘experience’ into culture for over 20 years. In the past, Sony also focused on products, but has now shifted its focus to selling ‘experiences’. It is difficult to find a veteran who creates ‘experiences’ as well as Sony.
Ginza Sony Park is a space that depicts the ‘offline future’ that Sony should pursue by bundling and integrating the various experiences that Sony has accumulated through its products. Ginza Sony Park Mini, created following Ginza Sony Park, is an extension of these efforts. Modern society is an era where information overload and individual diversity coexist. This means that we are living in an age where various interpretations abound. YouTube is full of interpretive videos about dramas, animations, and even everyday life. People do not simply accept given content, but actively participate by interpreting it and giving it meaning.
Sony created Ginza Sony Park to reflect the needs of the times. Ginza Sony Park was more than just a shopping space, it was a space that provided space for visitors to experience a variety of experiences and make their own interpretations. Sony did not force a specific interpretation on visitors, but rather created an environment that promoted free interpretation. . Ginza Sony Park provided a unique experience through the integration of branding, communication, space marketing, and space branding. It simultaneously demonstrated strategies to deliver brand value to people, communicate with consumers, use the space itself as a marketing tool, and build a brand image.
For Sony, Ginza Sony Park was not about pursuing short-term effects. It was an investment for the future. It was a strategic space to provide positive experiences to consumers and continuously create brand value in keeping with the changing times. Ginza Sony Park is more than just a shopping space, it has built a differentiated Sony brand image based on experience. This is the result of comprehensive consideration of all elements, including space design, collaboration, and pop-up store operation, from a long-term perspective, going beyond short-term sales promotions or branding strategies.
Ginza Sony Park is an experience-centered space, focusing on providing visitors with a comfortable and leisurely experience. To this end, a stable atmosphere was created by organizing a wide and open space, utilizing natural lighting, and providing various rest areas. In addition, blank spaces were appropriately placed throughout the space so that visitors could freely create their own experiences. This is why the ‘blank space’ of Ginza Sony Park leads to the ‘accumulation’ of Ginza Sony Park Mini.
Ginza Sony Park Mini is a space that explores more diverse possibilities based on the experience of Ginza Sony Park. Based on the experience and know-how accumulated at Ginza Sony Park, Ginza Sony Park Mini is accumulating experience through collaboration with various companies and artists and operating pop-up stores, unlike at Ginza Sony Park. Rather than selling products, we are delivering new experiences and trends to visitors. Ginza Sony Park Mini is not simply a scaled-down version of Ginza Sony Park, but serves as a stepping stone for the new Ginza Sony Park.
“We must continue to build content through software, not hardware.” This was a decision made by Sony after dismantling Ginza Sony Park to make way for the construction of a new Sony building. Sony put this perspective into action. They created a space called ‘Sony Park Mini’ in a corner of an underground parking lot in Ginza. The purpose was to continuously accumulate content. ‘Sony’ is an entertainment and design company, not an electronics company.
While operating Ginza Sony Park, Sony discovered that Ginza Sony Park itself was an analog space that was difficult to copy. These lessons became the driving force behind the creation of Ginza Sony Park Mini, which can quickly and nimbly showcase a variety of projects. Unlike Ginza Sony Park, which emphasized ‘space’ and gave people numerous choices, Ginza Sony Park is an experimental space where Sony constantly does things with people.
Created with the concept of ‘continuing to create programs that feel the pulse of artists’, this place hosts various projects such as holding exhibitions with various brands and artists, screening short films, and introducing unique pop-up stores in a small space of 10 pyeong. It is being presented. As a ‘place of experimentation for experimental parks’, Sony Ginza Park Mini is the space for the new Sony Park, scheduled for completion in 2024. After opening in March 2022, close to 40 programs have been held so far. did it
[크기는 중요하지 않다. 경험이 더 중요하다]
Ginza Sony Park is opposite the Tokyu Plaza Ginza basement 2nd floor exit. A pillar near the exit explains Ginza Sony Park Mini’s programs. Ginza Sony Park Mini, which is connected to the parking lot, is too small to be considered a park. Rather, it is very small. Moreover, since half of it is a cafe, the actual space is very small. But Sony doesn’t focus on size. Rather, as an entertainment company, it is continuing what it showed at Ginza Sony Park through various collaborations suitable for small spaces. However, Sony does not only use this small space.
Currently, Sony is carrying out an art project using the walls during the construction period. When I visited in April 2023, the second wall project was in progress, and a 30m wall art painted by artist Satoshi Yamaguchi was installed. In the first episode, wall art drawn by artist SHUN SUDO on the wall of the first basement level of Ginza Sony Park in 2020 has been posted on the ground since March of last year. It received rave reviews from many people as a meeting and photo spot.
Space is an experience, not a retail space. The existing Ginza Sony Park had a strong spatial character centered on exhibitions, various pop-ups, and retail. Differently, what should Ginza Sony Park Mini do until the new Sony Building is built? Ginza Sony Park, which is starting anew, continues to experiment by asking questions about why it should exist. We also do media art by artists, create pop-up stores, and exhibit artwork.
When I visited, a fashion performance and exhibition called Everyone’s Closet was being held. When someone left their clothes there to sell, half of the clothes went to the seller, half to an organization designated by the people who planned the performance, and the other half were sponsored. In some ways, we created an environment that felt like Comme des Garchons and allowed for performances like Off-White and Pyrex Vision. When I talked to the employees and said that the space itself was avant-garde and resembled a Comme des Garchons exhibition, they seemed very surprised.
What’s important is why Sony runs this place. This is not simply a place for marketing, but a space where Sony continues to solidify the identity and contents of Ginza Sony Park through countless pop-ups within Ginza Park Mini. Currently, Sony is creating a culture by accumulating gaming experiences online through PlayStation, and offline, it is accumulating various experiences through Sony Ginza Park Mini. These experiences created online and offline are making the Sony brand dynamic. In fact, based on the experience accumulated at Sony Park in Ginza, Sony presented a ‘comics’ exhibition in Chelsea, New York, and it was a huge success. Sony, which holds the copyright to Spider-Man, once again demonstrated that it has solidified its foundation and planning capabilities as a content company through the success of the comic exhibition held in New York.
However, Sony is not just doing pop-ups when utilizing Ginza Sony Park. It is also actively used as a tool for branding of the entire Sony Group. Sony recently created ‘Original Blend Materials’, an eco-friendly material for use in a wide range of applications such as outer boxes, inner boxes, cushions, sleeves, product protection sheets and instruction manuals. Sony exhibited this at Ginza Sony Park and showed it to the people.
The reason Sony created Original Blend Materials was to convey environmental awareness to customers. However, Sony realized that environmental awareness cannot be conveyed well simply by making and providing products. No matter how eco-friendly Sony is, what if customers don’t know about this in detail? This is because customers cannot know whether Sony is making efforts to be environmentally friendly. Sony believed that customers would become more environmentally conscious if they knew about Sony’s eco-friendly efforts. To convey this message, Sony used the Ginza Sony Park Mini. This is not the end. The results of Sony’s research are also exhibited at Sony Ginza Park Mini.
Sony has an in-house company called Sony Design Consulting. This company provides design consulting and services to clients and partners outside the Sony Group based on the design experience Sony has accumulated over a long period of time. Recently, Sony Design Consulting Co., Ltd. conducted a joint study with Deloitte Analytics on the cognitive process of ‘design’, and as part of this, it held the ‘Brain Rendezvous’ exhibition at Sony Park Mini. In particular, before this brain rendezvous, brain waves were measured in real time, and the state or change was expressed as a 3D object and displayed on the wall. In this way, Sony considers Ginza Sony Park Mini not just a space, but as a medium to express and convey themselves.
The space for conveying experiences begins with accumulation. Since Ginza Sony Park Mini is a pop-up space, it continues to collaborate with various brands and artists. The period is generally short, about two weeks. Pop-up events are very diverse, including companies, architects, and artists. From December 19 to 28, 2023, a convenience store pop-up called shoppe was held with architect Taichi Kuma, and an event was held in collaboration with Shiseido, a global cosmetics company representing Japan, and Hanatsubaki, Shiseido’s corporate culture magazine, and Shiseido Gallery. did it In the summer of 2023, a project called ‘Sony Park Mini Summer Trilogy’ was held with three themes during the summer vacation, including catch ball, ice cream, and haunted mansion. In particular, at the haunted mansion pop-up event, 128 Sony speakers were used to create a three-dimensional sound effect. In addition, in January 2024, the RUSSET BURBANK GINZA STORE pop-up store was opened to sell limited edition lucky bags, which are one of the Japanese New Year events. In this way, Sony is creating various directions for the company through various pop-ups. Above all, Sony, known as an electronics company, is solidly establishing itself as a brand that creates culture and as a brand that mixes with various fields and always creates something new through various collaborations.
Based on experience, space should always aim for accumulation. Through Sony Ginza Park Mini, Sony is practicing integrating the various projects that Sony can do and the experiences that come from them. Above all, during the construction process of the Sony building, we plan to build a Ginza Sony Park that will be rebuilt in the future based on people’s experience of Sony through Ginza Sony Park Mini. Rather than an event-type pop-up, Sony is constantly experimenting with various experiences to find the brand’s texture and continues to revise its direction accordingly. For example, there are times when we hold exhibitions by very experimental artists, as well as a lucky bag event at the beginning of the year and a chocolate shop pop-up during the Valentine’s Day season. We continue to experiment with ‘Sony-ness’, which aims to create something new while repeating the familiar and the unfamiliar. In this respect, Sony shows that the size of the space does not matter. Rather, we experiment countless times with Sony’s senses and perspectives to accumulate experiences through content appropriate for the space. As with Ginza Sony Park, Sony does not promote existing Sony products at Ginza Sony Park Mini. This movement of Ginza Sony Park is a time of accumulation to design experiences in detail for the near future.
A space for conveying experiences requires accumulation.
It is people who bring experience to space. It’s not a brand. We must not forget that there are people behind the brands that create experiences. Often we forget this. Let’s go back to the survey conducted one year after Sony created Ginza Sony Park. Sony Park’s customer survey shows that the direction pursued by Sony Ginza Sony Park was the right one. In a customer survey conducted by Sony, customers said Ginza Sony Park was “fun,” “a facility I’ve never seen before,” and “it’s like Sony.” Even though there were no Sony products, people knew the ‘core’ of the Sony brand, ‘Sony-ness’.
For companies, products are the interface that connects relationships with customers. Ultimately, people gain experience through products, and that experience creates a relationship between the customer and the brand. Sony’s Walkman, PlayStation, and cameras gave people an image of Sony as cool and creative. No matter how much a brand creates experience-oriented spaces, the main axis of that space must be felt in the products that the company provides to people. If you don’t feel them in the product, it’s just a slogan.
What Sony needs is a space to talk with consumers and brand communication through products. The reason why offline spaces are receiving attention again after the coronavirus is because communication between brands and people was cut off during the coronavirus period. During the coronavirus period, this process was replaced online, but its limitations were clearly felt. Also, people no longer just demand great images from brands. There are also demands on the brand’s relationship with society, such as sustainability and social contribution. However, when talking about social contribution, people distinguish whether it is a slogan or not.
Sony has diversified its business areas to match the times. In the process, we realized that we needed a platform rather than a showroom. Ginza Sony Park was created in this way and became a product and platform like the Walkman or PlayStation. The reason why Sony exhibited Original Blended Materials at Sony Ginza Park Mini was to show that the sustainability that Sony can achieve is not a slogan, but actual action. Nowadays, consumers no longer think that only technological advancement is public. Through Sony Park, Sony learned how to contribute to people and streets as a public space, and also discovered that people think of spaces as Sony-like and innovative. In this process, I learned that the way the brand space should move forward is to actually show and continue to do so rather than empty shouting.
Sony is a company that has been solidly verified in terms of image and sound technology. In addition, for nearly 20 years, we have accumulated the know-how to turn ‘experience’ into culture through video games called PlayStation. The reason Sony is able to focus on selling ‘experiences’ is because it has accumulated over a long period of time. This is by no means a flashy proposal. Through Ginza Sony Park, Sony has simply tied together the experience it has accumulated through the products it has made. And in 2024, based on this accumulation, they are once again designing a space based on the brand philosophy of ‘Sonyness’.
To create a public space, public institutions do not have to create the space. Publicness is created through the actions of people who use it. Creating a public space is also creating a private space. The park itself has a public nature, but people act within that public nature because they feel safe. Therefore, in a stable public space, people can feel safe and take personal action. It can be said that it is a park that should have a public and private nature where no one will say anything even if you eat a packed lunch or play a musical instrument.
In some places, eating is illegal, and in some places, playing a musical instrument is a violation of performance laws. But the reason no one in the park says anything about this is because they have a sense of stability that everyone accepts. Therefore, public spaces must maintain a balance between publicness and privateness. In other words, parks have a public nature to society as a whole, but for those who use them, they are private spaces.