Editing Walkman (section)

== Marketing ==
{{Main|Sony marketing}}
The marketing of the original Walkman helped introduce the idea of "Japanese-ness" into global culture, synonymous with miniaturization and high-technology.<ref name="Gay, Paul 1997">Du Gay</ref> The "Walk-men" and "Walk-women" in advertisements were created to be the ideal reflections of the viewing audience.<ref>Du Gay, 25</ref> Sony implemented a marketing strategy, hiring young adults to walk around in public wearing a Walkman, offering nearby people to test out the product. Sony also hired actors to pose with the Walkman around the streets of Tokyo as an additional form of promotion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=SONY TPS-L2 – The Walkman Archive |url=https://www.walkman-archive.com/gadgets/walkman_sony_01_tps-l2_eng_v3.htm |access-date=2022-04-16 |website=www.walkman-archive.com}}</ref>

A major component of the Walkman advertising campaign was overspecialization of the device. Prior to the Walkman, the common device for portable music was the portable radio, which could only offer listeners standard music broadcasts.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title = Taking Your Favorite Sound Along: Portable Audio Technologies for Mobile Music Listening|last = Weber|first = Heike|date = 2009|journal = Sound Souvenirs|publisher = Amsterdam University Press}}</ref> Having the ability to customize a playlist was a new and exciting revolution in music consumption. Potential buyers had the opportunity to choose their perfect match in terms of mobile listening technology. The ability to play one's personal choice of music and listen privately was a huge selling point of the Walkman, especially amongst teens, who greatly contributed to its success.<ref name=":0" /> A diversity of features and styles suggested that there would be a product which was "the perfect choice" for each consumer.<ref name="ReferenceA">Du Gay, 31</ref> This method of marketing to an extremely expansive user-base while maintaining the idea that the product was made for each individual "[got] the best of all possible worlds—mass marketing and personal differentiation".<ref name="ReferenceA" />

In the early 2000s, Sony debuted Plato, a blue alien, as its mascot for the Walkman.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Adalian |first=Josef |date=2003-09-08 |title=Ad icon Plato reps new TV philosophy |url=https://variety.com/2003/scene/markets-festivals/ad-icon-plato-reps-new-tv-philosophy-1117892042/ |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>