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“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” – Napolean Hill

This quote reminds me of a story about a boy named Sparky.  For Sparky, school was all but impossible.  He failed almost every subject in school.  He didn’t do much better in sports and throughout his youth, Sparky was awkward socially.  He was not actually disliked by the other students; no one cared that much.

However, Sparky had a dream – to become a world-renowned professional artist.  He was proud of his artwork but no one else appreciated it.  Nevertheless, he relentlessly pursued his dream by submitting his artwork to the school yearbook and even press agencies for consideration.  Unfortunately his works were all rejected.

What if someone came up to Sparky, listened to his dream and said, “Anything you can imagine, you can make real. I will give you $100,000 to help you realize your dream.”

This is what Sony could do for you with their new global brand message “make.believe” (make-dot-believe) campaign.

make.believe stands for the power of Sony’s creativity, ability to turn ideas into reality and the belief that anything you can imagine, you can make real.

The dot in make.believe symbolizes the place where great things begin. It is where inspiration meets creativity, where creativity meets reality.  The purpose of this campaign can be summarised in the following diagram:

In line with this new direction, Sony is organising two exciting and very rewarding contests from now til 14 March 2010.  Both of these contests highlighted Sony’s role as the dot in make.believe in helping you turn your imagination into reality.

Dot Your Dream with Sony Contest

Dreams are personal aspirations.  Everyone draws inspiration from different sources.  The Dot Your Dream with Sony contest offers you 4 mediums of expression for your choosing to best express your dream.  Pick one of the categories to represent and match your aspiration.

If you dream of becoming a film maker, actor or any role related to this industry, tell Sony how they can help make your dream come true by sharing them at the movie.me category.  Similarly this applies to the other respective categories i.e. music.me, game.me and tech.me.

For us, our dream is to leverage on Sony’s range of high tech audio and video systems to document and capture the beautiful landscapes, stories of people we come across during our round-the-world trip.

After submission closes on 14 March 2010, representatives of Sony will pick, in a lucky draw, 2 dreams from each of the 4 categories.  The selected 8 dream entries will then stand as finalists and opened to the public for voting from 1 April to 14 April 2010.  At the end of the voting period, the top 3 most voted finalists will win attractive prizes from Sony.

The finalist with the highest voted dream entry will get $100,000 worth of sponsorship from Sony to realise his/her dream.  Finalists with the 2nd and 3rd most highest voted dream entries will receive Sony products valued at $10,000 and $5,000 respectively.

Submit your dreams/aspirations here: http://www.sony.com.sg/makedotbelieve

Dot Your Moment with Sony Photo Contest

If you are a huge World Cup soccer fan with a passion in photography and concerned with the potentially high World Cup cable TV prices, fret no more because you could win a chance to go to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ as Fan Photographers, where you will be able to shoot all the action up close by the pitch!

The theme of the Sony photo contest is “Dot Your Moment”.  What are the wonderful events going on in your life now?  Just came back from a very memorable holiday?  Or when a loved one embarks on a milestone of life – graduation from university?  Be it a joyous celebration or a life-defining event, convey it in a photograph.  Who knows, the most meaningful moment to you might just be the winning moment Sony is looking for!

After submission closes on 14 March 2010, a panel of judges appointed by Sony will select – based on thematic relevance, technical quality and composition, creativity and general aesthetics – 25 entries as finalists.  The selected 25 dream entries will then stand as finalists and opened to the public for voting from 1 April to 14 April 2010.  At the end of the voting period, the top 8 most voted finalists will win attractive prizes from Sony.

Each winner will receive:

• 1 pair of return economy air tickets to South Africa.
• Accommodation and airport transfers in South Africa.
• 2 match tickets to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™.

Submit your memorable moments here: http://www.sony.com.sg/makedotbelieve

Even if you are not participating, you could still stand to win attractive prizes such as a trip to South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™.  All you have to do is vote for your favorite photograph – so mark 1 April 2010 on your calendars when voting begins!

Remember Sparky – the boy with the dream to become a professional artist?  Despite all the setbacks he faced, he decided to write his own autobiography in cartoons.  This cartoon character became famous worldwide as Charlie Brown in one of the longest running comic strip –“Peanuts” about the boy whose kite would never fly and who never succeeded in kicking the football.

Who knows, you could be the next successful Sparky by partnering with Sony through their make.believe campaign activities.  These Sony Dot Your Dream and Dot Your Moment contests could be the turning point in your life as they bring you closer to your dreams and aspirations.  Don’t wait anymore, join up now and you could be rewarded!

Photos courtesy of Behrooz Nobakht, Snoopy & Sony