Sony Recorder Overview
Sony Electronics
Rewarding Recording® Program
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS OVERVIEW
Prepared by: Sony Electronics Inc.
Created: December 31, 2003
Revised: March 9, 2004
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Sony Electronics
Rewarding Recording® Program
Program Requirements Overview
2003 Program
I. Purpose of Document
This document contains a complete outline of Meridian's (MEC) and Sony’s commitment to
the operation of this program. It identifies each of the key areas of the program, including
communications, enrollment, administration, customer service, fulfillment, reporting and any
other essential program elements. This document will serve as a basis from which decisions
on changing the program will be made and communicated.
II. General Information
A. Program Overview
Rewarding Recording® is a loyalty program designed to reward end-users for
purchasing qualifying Sony Professional Media products purchased either directly
from Sony or through an Authorized Sony Pro or Data Media Dealer. Participants in
the program receive Rewarding Recording® Dollars as a percentage of their total
purchases to redeem via the Sony Rewarding Recording® online catalog or for
reimbursement for services, parts, etc. The primary objective of the program is to
keep Sony Professional and Data Media products front and center with users so that
when additional product is need they think, and buy, Sony. This program is a webbased program, available only by accessing www.sonyrewardingrecording.com.
B. Program Dates and Deadlines
Eligible Sales Dates: July 1, 2003 – June 30, 2004
Eligible Claim Cutoff Deadline: August 31, 2004
Redemption Deadline: August 31, 2004
Claim Process: Within 60 days of the invoice date.
Document Process: Within 30 days of online submission.
C. Program Phone/Fax Lines – Customer Service
Toll free customer service line: 1-866-322-7749
Fax line: 1-800-990-1915
The toll-free Customer Service hotline will be available to participants for program
related questions. Customer Service will be able to answer all inquiries pertaining to
the Rewarding Recording® program. Inquiries that Customer Service is unable to
resolve will be forwarded to the Program Administrator or Account Manager for
resolution.
Customer Service Representatives are available Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. 5 p.m. Central Time. Calls received after business hours or on weekends will get a
voice message with instructions for leaving a message. Messages left on voice mail
will be called the next business day.
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The toll-free program fax line will be available to participants to fax required invoice
back-up and other program related materials.
D. Participants
Approximately 20,000 Participants
E. Program Eligibility
In order to qualify for earnings in the program, participants must:
• Have access to www.sony.com/rewardingrecording
• Have a valid e-mail address
• Purchase a minimum of $1,000 in eligible Sony Professional Media Products
• Become a participant via Sony approval
F. Award Earnings
Payout Structure
For each $1 US purchased, a participant earns $0.025 Rewarding Recording®
Dollars (i.e. - $10,000 purchased of eligible Sony Professional Media equals $250.00
Sony Rewarding Recording® Dollars).
G. Award Options
Once a participant has purchased the minimum of $1,000 in eligible Sony
Professional Media Products, they are eligible to select items from the Rewarding
Recording® Catalog.
Items include:
• Sony Professional Products (fulfilled by Sony)
• Sony Consumer Products (fulfilled by Sony)
• Sony Apparel (provided by Sony, fulfilled by MEC)
• Gift Card Rewards (provided by Sony, fulfilled by MEC)
• Sony Parts, Service or Training (check request fulfilled by MEC)
NOTE: There are no cash buy-ins allowed in the Sony Rewarding Recording®
Program.
H. Eligible Products
Participants claim eligible Sony Professional Media products, determined and
updated by Sony.
I. Award Index
Rewarding Recording® Dollars are valid until August 31 each calendar year for
qualifying purchases made July 1 – June 30 of each calendar year.
III. Communications
E-MAIL BLASTS
• Monthly, Sony will provide information for an electronic newsletter to be sent to all
participants with valid e-mail addresses.
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E-MAIL SAMPLES - APPENDIX V
• New Member E-Mail
• New Member - Dealer Enrollment E-Mail
• Forgot Password E-Mail
• Reminder E-Mail
NOTE: The need of additional e-mail conditions to be added is under advisement.
IV. Enrollment Process
The enrollment process is outlined below for each type of program participant:
Online Participants
• Participants may join the Rewarding Recording® Program via online enrollment only
• Participants access the Rewarding Recording® website and click on the “My Account”
link
• Participants can either click on the “Enroll Now” button or the “click here” link to access
the enrollment (profile) page
• Participants complete the required information (name, title, company, address, phone, email address, password and promotion code, if applicable)
• Participants create their own password that must be a minimum of four characters in
length
• Participants can indicate whether or not they wish to receive additional information from
Sony Electronics Inc.
• Once the participant clicks on “submit”, the Activate Account e-mail is sent to the address
indicated. The participant is required to click on a link in the e-mail to access the website.
The user can claim purchases at this time and has view-only rights to the online catalog.
• A Sony VIP approves the online enrollments once the account is activated.
• Once a Sony VIP approves the account, the user will have their personal account
associated to the online catalog. At this time, the user receives a Welcome E-mail*
containing username and password information.
• At this time, the participant has full access to the website.
Sony Authorized Dealer Participants
Members are automatically enrolled/updated through the participating Sony Professional
Media Authorized Dealer as part of the electronic sales information transmitted to Meridian
via FTP by that dealer.
• Monthly sales feeds can only include the previous month’s sales.
• As part of the Monthly File Processing, net new accounts are created automatically when
the Dealer file(s) is processed.
• A net new account must have a valid e-mail address to be created. 100% email
compliance is mandatory. The dealer must notify Sony of all email changes.
• When a new account is created, the user receives a Welcome Dealer E-mail* containing
username and password information at the e-mail address indicated on the file.
• Net new accounts are automatically approved and are not required to have Sony VIP
approval to participate.
NOTE: Currently, there are six Sony Authorized Dealers: The Tape Company (TTC), Electric
Picture Company (EPC), Innovative Business Products (IBP), Edgewise Media, VSA (Video
Service of America), and Recording Media & Equipment (RM&E).
Sony Direct Sales File (DSF) Participants
Direct Accounts consist of members who purchase their eligible products directly from Sony.
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• As part of the Monthly File Processing, net new accounts are created after Sony reviews
the kickout file. When the DSF file is processed, approved accounts are added to the
program
• A net new account must have a valid e-mail address to be created (provided by Sony)
• When a new account is created, the user receives a Welcome Direct E-mail* containing
username and password information at the e-mail address indicated on the file.
NOTE: Sony has the authority to roll up/inactivate accounts at will.
Sony Historical Participants
• Historical participants represent those inherited as part of the Rewarding Recording®
program with a previous vendor
• Historical Participants may or may not meet the enrollment requirements (i.e. – absence
of valid e-mail address*), but are allowed to participate in the program
*Username is always the participant e-mail address unless otherwise specified by
historical data or requested by Sony. Username and password information is NOT
case sensitive (i.e. – users may log in using ALL CAPITAL LETTERS or all lower case
letters or a CoMbInAtIoN of both)
V. Hierarchical Structure
• Participant Levels
• 100-VIP
• 200-Partipant
• 240-National
• 250-Regional Manager
• 300-District Sales Manager
• 800-Company
• 900-Guest
• Participant Level Types
• Online (ONL)
• TTC
• EPC
• DSF
VI. Claiming Process
Only claims entered on-line or claims received via approved Dealer or Direct Sales file will be
accepted in the Rewarding Recording® program (no phone option).
The claiming deadline for any claim is 60 days from the invoice date.
The claiming process is outlined below for each type of program participant:
Online Participants
• Participants access their account and click on “Enter My Invoices”
• Participants read the claiming guidelines and update their profile information if necessary
• Participants click on “continue” and are able to view the online claim form
• Participants complete the required information on the claim form:
o Dealer invoice number
o Dealer Invoice date – enter date cannot be more than 60 days after the
invoice date (can click on the calendar to select the date)
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o Dealer name (list automatically populates when name or partial name is
typed in). This list is determined by Sony and updated as necessary.
o Model (from eligible product list provided by Sony and updated as
necessary)
o Quantity
o Unit dollar amount (must be within price range provided by Sony and
updated quarterly)
• Once the information is entered, participants click on the “add” button to add multiple line
items for that invoice
• After all line items for the invoice are added, the participant clicks on the “submit” button
• The participant can then either choose to enter more invoices or view the claim
confirmation page
o If the participant chooses to enter more invoices, they are taken back to the
claim form page
• When the participant chooses to view the claim confirmation page, they will see a page
with all the claims entered for that day
• The participant is required to print the claim confirmation page and mail or fax that in with
their invoice backup for approval
• Participants are sent a Backup Reminder E-mail the 5
th
and 10th days after the invoice is
entered if backup is not received. NOTE: New for 2003, claims will not expire until 30
days after the claim is entered and no backup is received as opposed to the
original 12 days.
• If no backup is received within 30 days from the day the claim is entered, a Claim Status
E-mail is sent notifying the user that the claim will not be paid
• Rewarding Recording® Dollars are not issued until backup is received and approved by
Program Headquarters
• Approved Rewarding Recording® Dollars are issued by MEC via overnight process.
Each night, any claims that are indicated “approved” will change from “pending” to
“approved” and Rewarding Recording® Dollars awarded. Furthermore, any participants
with claims for which no backup has been received within 5 or 10 days will receive a
reminder e-mail via the same overnight process.
• Once Rewarding Recording® Dollars are issued to the participant they are immediately
available for redemption
BEGINNING APRIL 2004 – Ad Hoc Sony Authorized Dealer Participants
• Claims for Newly Authorized Dealer Participants are received via file feed by the 10
th
of
each calendar month on to MECs FTP site
• The file feed for new Dealers must follow the requirements in Appendix VI
• Dealer Sales Files are processed within 48-72 hours of receipt (dependent upon receipt
from Dealer)
• Records matched to existing e-mail addresses in the database will have claims applied to
the account
• Records not matching any existing e-mail addresses in the database are considered new
accounts and are automatically enrolled (see Enrollment Process above)
• Claims on the Dealer Sales Files are assumed to be valid and are not subject to system
validation checks
• Authorized Dealer Participants can also claim sales as Online Participants (see
procedures above)
• As of March 1, 2004, participants are not allowed to claim from dealers Edgewise and
Innovative Business Product. Users will receive the following message when trying to
claim from a dealer that sends files to MEC:
• As of April 1, 2004, participants are not allowed to claim from dealers RM&E and VSA.
Users will receive the following message when trying to claim from a dealer that sends
files to MEC:
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“Thank you for your recent purchase of Sony® media. We are pleased to announce that your purchases of eligible
professional and data media from this authorized Sony Professional Media Dealer have been submitted on your
behalf. To view your sales history, click on Account Summary. If you have any questions, please contact the Sony
Rewarding Recording
®
Headquarters at 866-322-7749.”
Sony Authorized Dealer Participants
• Claims for Authorized Dealer Participants are received via file feed by the 10
th
of each
calendar month on to MECs FTP site
• If Files are not received, MEC will contact Sony to contact dealer
• Dealer Sales Files are processed within 48-72 hours of receipt (dependent upon receipt
from Dealer). Except in the instance of the addition of a new dealer, the first time feed
will take approximately three weeks for the sales to be processed.
• Records matched to existing account numbers in the database will have claims applied
to the account
• Records not matching any existing records in the database are considered new accounts
and are automatically enrolled (see Enrollment Process above)
• Claims on the Dealer Sales Files are assumed to be valid and are not subject to system
validation checks
• Authorized Dealer Participants can also claim sales as Online Participants (see
procedures above)
Sony Direct Sales File (DSF) Participants
Sony Direct Sales File (DSF) is a compiled listing of all Sony direct eligible sales that
occurred for a particular month.
• Claims for DSF Participants are received via file feed on to MECs FTP site
• The DSF is processed after Sony reviews and approves the kickout file and appends the
roll-up guide usually on or before the 10
th
calendar day of each month (see Monthly
Processing for details about this process)
• Accounts appearing on the kickout file are approved/denied by Sony to receive
Rewarding Recording® Dollars
• Records matched to existing Master or Stand Alone account numbers in the database
will have claims applied to that account
• Records identified as Ship-to accounts have purchase information appended to the
existing Master or Stand Alone account indicated on the roll up guide
• Records not matching any existing records in the database that are approved by Sony
are considered new accounts and are automatically enrolled (see Enrollment Process
above)
• Claims on the DSF are assumed to be valid and are not subject to system validation
checks
• Authorized DSF Participants can also claim sales as Online Participants (see procedures
above)
• MEC to provide e-mail notification to Sony that DSF files has been successfully loaded.
Promo Codes
• All participants are eligible for additional Rewarding Recording® Dollars, merchandise or
any other items determined by Sony when claiming selected products using a
predetermined “promo code” when placing a claim
• Dealer Files and DSF can also indicate a promo code on the file feeds for any eligible
product on the file
VII. Audit Process
The audit process is outlined below for each type of program participant:
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Sony Online Participants
• Claims entered via the Rewarding Recording® website are subject to audit for each claim
submitted (100% audit)
• Participants must submit their signed claim confirmation page and invoice backup with
the following information clearly stated on the invoice:
o Invoice date
o Invoice number
o Model number(s)
o Unit price
o Quantity
o Participant/company information
• If any part of the required information above does not match the claim confirmation page
and/or the information is unclear, the claim will not be paid. NOTE: MEC will confer
with Sony on debatable invoice backup. Sony will have the final say in any
questionable situation.
• If all requirements above are met, MEC indicates that the claim is ready to be paid
• All claims ready for payment are processed in an overnight process within MECs internal
database
• If a claim is rejected, a Claim Status E-mail is sent advising of the status. NOTE: MEC to
develop process whereby specific “failed” claim status detail is displayed for My
Account summary on website and in Claim Status E-mail.
Sony Dealer Participants
• Claims entered via the monthly Dealer Sales file feed are assumed valid and require no
invoice backup or validation
• Any purchases the Dealer Participants claim outside of the Dealer Sales file are subject
to the audit processes outlined above
Sony DSF Participants
• Claims entered via the monthly DSF feed are assumed valid and require no invoice
backup or validation
• Any purchases the DSF Participants claim outside of the Dealer Sales file are subject to
the audit processes outlined above
VIII. Monthly File Processing/Layouts
Dealer Files – APPENDIX I
• The Tape Company (TTC)
• Electric Picture Company (EPC)
General File Information
A. Meridian Enterprises Corporation (MEC), in accordance with Sony’s Rewarding
Recording® program currently accepts approved file feeds as following:
a. Text (.txt) - flat file with data stored in tab delimited format
b. See file layout (section II) for specific field limitations and descriptions. File must
be in the exact same order as shown.
B. MEC receives file feeds by way of:
a. Upload via FTP
i. Address is: ftp.meridinet.com
ii. Username/password to be determined by MEC (unique for each dealer)
C. Schedule:
a. Files are due at MEC no later than the fifth (5
will process all files within 48-72 hours of receipt.
D. Naming:
th
) calendar day each month. MEC
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