Project Report On

SUBMITTED BY:Anirudh Mehra 92003 Anish Puri 92004 Ashish Dhawan 92007 Sukul Bali 92038 Vipul Sharma - 92040

The description of Asian Company SONY Group Sony Corporation is the one of the renowned electronic device manufactures from Japan. It started globalization process from overseas sales, and after international manufacturing and financing is followed. Also, from the 1980, Sony started overseas R&D. From the start, Sony strongly pursues internationalization. Mr. Morita, the co-founder serving as a president of Sony America from 1960 to 1971 drove Sony group to be an international group. By the end of this period, more than half of its sales were from overseas.

Promoting a World Class Brand The phenomenal strength of the Sony brand worldwide is surely a testament to the companys reputation for producing innovative products of exceptional quality and value. And while traditional brand theory says brand essence should be narrowed down to one element, Sony celebrates brand diversity -- with the Trinitron, VAIO and Walkman sub-brands, to name just a few, each connecting with consumers across various lifestyle segments. Sony has the brand recognition and marketing savvy to create new product categories and revitalize mature ones. Look no further than what the company did with the Walkman brand and for the MiniDisc format. Sony, the company that changed the way the world listens to music with the introduction of the Walkman personal stereo, again set its sights on transforming the portable music landscape when it kicked off a comprehensive, integrated marketing campaign to relaunch the Walkman brand in June 2000. Titled "The Walkman Has Landed," the marketing campaign, which included broadcast, print and online advertising; Internet and dealer events/promotions; and grassroots consumer and public relations components; strategically communicated the lifestyle attributes of the Sony Walkman line to generation Y, its primary target market. Additionally, the campaign brought together an entirely new product line up comprised of CD Walkman, MD Walkman and Network Walkman personal digital audio players. The company knew that it needed to reinvent the Walkman brand for todays younger, more digitally inclined music lovers. (To many, the brand had become generic, representing "older," analog-based cassette technology.) Sony promoted a new Walkman ideology based on personal freedom, independence, imagination and creativity in a way that appealed to new techno-savvy, style-conscious consumers who favor digital downloading and ripping CDs. The star of the television commercial from the campaign is an alien character

named Plato, who is "quintessentially diverse and knows how to have fun." His persona offers Gen Y a bit of humor and a good dose of enjoyment. Another example of Sonys ability to reposition itself and its products is found in the MiniDisc. A huge success in Japan, where it has become the dominant recording format, MD did not become a success in the U.S. until it was marketed as a digital music player that could record from the Internet. With its inexpensive media and versatility (units are capable of recording Internet music, tracks from personal CD collections and favorite songs off the radio), MD has become a gen Y favorite. U.S. sales have increased by more than 40% since the MD to PC link was introduced. However, the company doesnt just rely on brilliantly executed advertising campaigns to secure consumer attention. The company utilizes world class public relations to enhance Sonys value, reputation and brand image. Communications campaigns are conducted on both an individual product and strategic platform basis. This process ensures exposure for the companys most important products as well as for the companys role in key industry issues that cross multiple product categories and disciplines, including electronic music distribution and digital television.

Brand Values When remarking about the importance of the Sony brand name, consider this quote from Chairman of the Board, Norio Ohga: "In April of every year a large number of new employees join the company. And what I always say to them is that we have many marvelous assets here. The most valuable asset of all are the four letters, S, O, N, Y. I tell them, make sure the basis of your actions is increasing the value of these four letters. In other words, when you consider doing something, you must consider whether your action will increase the value of SONY, or lower its value." In the minds of consumers, Sony is one of the worlds greatest brands -- the company was once again rated the number one brand in the U.S. by the 2000 Harris poll. As noted, much of the brand equity Sony enjoys is rooted in product innovations. However, to ensure the future of its brand, the company recently embarked on an extensive, company-wide initiative in the U.S. designed to foster a common understanding of the Sony brand among employees, customers and consumers. The project, dubbed Being Sony, was necessitated because of expansive company growth, an influx of new employees, and converging business opportunities. Sony executives felt the need to clearly articulate the meaning and values

inherent in the Sony brand (to both internal and external constituencies), while re-examining the unique relationship of the brand in American culture. Despite involvement in disparate businesses, the companys desire is to leverage the brand beyond the products -- the primary touchpoint with consumers, and add to the brands value by re-focusing it to the outside world. In essence, Sony, the box manufacturer, is being replaced by a new Sony a customer-centric entity centered around broadband entertainment, yet driven by the venture spirit of Sonys founding days. Brand Rejuvenation

After a long time, a brand other than Apple is creating a global buzz about the impending launch of one its product. Sony with the launch of PlayStation 3 seems to have stuck a chord with consumers once again after a long hiatus. It was high time that one of the worlds iconic brands started reclaiming its rightful position as the leader of the consumer electronics market. Even though PlayStation 3 seems to have brought back some energy and zest for the brand, it is an irony that the life of such a strong global brand has come to depend on a single product. As one of the pre-eminent global consumer electronics brand which has enjoyed unparallel brand equity and loyalty, Sony is surprisingly a classic case study for what a brand should not do to erode its own brand standing in the market place. Over the last couple of years, Sony has been gradually but surely slipping from its ivory tower and failing to keep up with many of its followers turned competitors such as Samsung, LG and others. What did Sony do wrong? How could such an iconic brand get into trouble? This article examines the brand lifecycle of Sony and more specifically address the issue of how Sony can rejuvenate itself and remerge as the global power brand and a force to reckon with. Brand and focus One of the highly discussed topics in branding is the relevance of maintaining consistency for brands in the current market place which is characterized by diverse cultures, increasingly empowered consumers and ever changing trends and consumer preferences. Consistency is often mistaken by brands for complacency or static existence. Consistency in the branding lexicon refers to the ability of the brand to convey to the consumers in a single voice across all

customer touch points, the fundamental building blocks of any brand namely the brand identity, brand image, brand personality, brand essence, key performance indicators such as quality, features, price points and such. But such a consistency should not come at the cost of the brand refusing to constantly adapt to the dynamic market structure. Obviously carrying out these two seemingly contradictory things becomes highly challenging. Such a complex maneuver proves even more difficult for an established brand such as Sony, as it will have entrenched brand structure, and brand management practices. Even though there are many specific reasons for Sonys slide from the top, at a corporate level, Sonys inability to manage consistency while constantly changing appears to be at the root of Sonys decline. Sonys iconic ascent and recent descent An analysis An analysis of Sonys ascent to global prominence and the reasons for its slide from the pinnacle during the last couple of years brings to fore some pressing reasons. Three major factors contributed to Sonys ascent to global supremacy in the consumer electronics sector and they are: 1. Innovation: Innovation, to a great extent, defined the brand character of Sony. Sony grew to global prominence due to its ability to constantly create products even before other companies could conceptualize them. Further, Sony had the ability to sense the hidden consumer demand and create entire product categories through its innovative products. When Walkman was introduced into the market, there was no existing market for portable music. But Sonys innovative product brought about an entire generation of products and created a new category altogether. Such an innovative culture differentiated Sony from the other consumer electronics brands for a very long time. 2. Visionary leadership: Sony is a classic case to prove the strategic importance of a visionary leader in carrying a brand to dizzying heights. Sonys management team along with the CEO was responsible to create an environment that nurtured experimentation, and innovation. Further, Sony was one of the early Asian brands to recognize the importance of branding, which was again supported and lead by the management team. 3. Pioneer advantage: Given the innovative edge, Sony emerged as the pioneer in almost every sector that it was operating in. Being the first mover or in many cases, the inventor of the category, Sony had a great

leeway in defining the rules of the game as it were. It set the expectations for the other companies that entered the category. Also, the brand image was enhanced every time a competitor imitated Sony as it became an indirect way to accept Sonys leadership position. Being the pioneer also offered Sony an opportunity to make more mistakes, test new ideas, and experiment with innovative concepts. As can be seen, each of these three factors lead into each other thereby creating a virtuous circle. The combination of these factor pushed Sony into the exclusive club of iconic brands. But over the last decade, Sony seems to have lost the magic formula. It has been gradually sliding down from its high seat. Many reasons have contributed to Sonys decline: 1. Unrelated diversification: An important and unique factor that has distinguished several Asian businesses from other Western business is the extent of diversification. Controlled and managed largely by business families, companies blow up into conglomerates that does business in very diverse and unrelated industries. Many Asian companies such as Samsung and LG that have become global forces to reckon with also started as bloated conglomerates. But these companies seem to have learnt the importance of focusing on core competence. As such, Samsung trimmed down its organization, came out of unrelated industries and channeled its resources around one or two dominant businesses. But Sony still seems to have stuck up in multiple businesses. This sort of unrelated diversification not only drains the brand's resources to a great extent but also diverts the brand focus from the core of the brand. 2. Innovation dearth: Case of Apples iPod explains this point very well. Walkman made Sony the undisputed leader in portable music player category. As is the usual case, success breeds corporate complacency. As such, Sony did not follow up with any outstanding and innovative product line to sustain the initial success. Apple came out with iPod that appealed to the younger generation worldwide and also established its standard iTunes from where consumers could download songs for a nominal payment. This not only established Apple as the undisputed leader in mobile music market but also helped Apple to establish the industry standard. This dented Sonys brand reputation. Sony has suffered similar challenges from many brands such as Samsung, Nokia, LG and others in different product categories. Sonys lack of consumer oriented innovation has contributed greatly to its decline in recent years.

3. Lack brand evolution: Sonys past surely contributes an enormous amount of of heritage, history and achievements into the brand identity. But for a brand to be successful in the current ultra competitive globalized market place, it has to make itself very relevant to the current customer segments. Harping back on past laurels and expecting the customers to still support the brand due to its past glory will be a grave mistake as has turned out in Sonys case. Sony has not been very successful in evolving as the brand 4. for the new masses of the twenty first century. Apple, Samsung and a few others have hijacked that from Sony. As such, the brand has not been in with the times as it were and that has contributed to its slide from the top. Brand Rejuvenation - Guidelines From the discussion so far, it is clear that Sony has not been very prudent in managing its brand and its components very well over the last few years. But even then, Sony still continues to be one of the most valuable brands in the world. What should Sony do to regain its lost brand supremacy? It seems ironic that for a solution Sony may want to look at a brand that prides itself on structuring its brand plan based on Sony's - Samsung Electronics. Samsung Electronics has been hugely successful in creating a brand from scratch and making the brand one of the top consumer electronics brand in the world. If Sony has to regain its lost brand supremacy, then it may want to follow some of the fundamental steps discussed below: 1. Regain focus: Effects of unrelated diversification has been very pronounced for many family owned Asian conglomerates. Operating in a number of unrelated businesses is often justified on the logic of scale and scope economies. But from a brand perspective, such diversification will be more detrimental than helpful. Sony, like Samsung, should conduct a due diligence to evaluate the financial and brand worth of its different business units. Before the unrelated business units erode the equity of the core Sony brand, it would benefit Sony to come out of such businesses. Regaining focus and investing in nurturing and enhancing its core competence will be the first necessary step towards regaining brand leadership. 2. Elevate marketing/branding to the boardroom: Sony should revamp its departments that have a direct impact on creating strong

customer perception for the brand - R&D, design, and marketing. For innovation to make any brand sense, it has to reflect consumer preferences. Innovation has to lead to products and services that would enhance the relationship between the brand and the consumer. For this to happen, R&D, design and marketing have to become more customercentric. In other words, Sony needs to elevate the marketing function to the boardroom and enable marketing to take a lead of the business and the strategy. Marketing and branding can no longer be relegated to a tactical level handled by marketing managers who hardly have an appreciation of the larger picture. 3. Brand oriented leadership: Over the last couple of years, many brands have emerged from Asia that provide tough competition to Sony. Further, with the resurgence of many American brands, the market place has become extremely competitive. In such a scenario, Sonys path back to brand supremacy can happen only if it is guided by a brand oriented leadership. The CEO and the top management team at Sony should evaluate the meaning and identity of the Sony brand to its customers in these changing times and enable the brand team to innovate and lead the industries in which Sony operates in. 4. Design, features and the cool factor: Given the aggressive strategies of Apple, Nokia, Samsung and others along with their superiority in design, customer oriented features and the loyal following of cool customers, it becomes very important for Sony to regain the cool factor and beef up its designs and features. Relevance to current customers and the ability to morph into a brand that can reflect customer needs prove very crucial for Sony as it charts its path back to the top position. SONY-ERICSON From the Sony website, Sony group describes itself, Sony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, communication, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and online business, Sony is uniquely positioned as a leading personal broadband entertainment company in the world . For the mobile handset industry, Sony group started its business in 1990s. Because Sony did not have valid technologies, Sony Group first entered a soft strategic alliance with Qualcomm in US to access to technologies. Sony Group entered another soft strategic alliance with Siemens till 1998. However, both alliances ended with separation . In 2001, Sony announced a major organization reform from its earlier strategic business to Global Hub. Global Hub is consisted of 6 cores, digital telecommunications, semiconductor, display, home electronics,

broadband solutions, and mobile telecommunication. For the Mobile communication, Sony group needed to find a solicit partner for new business context, GSM and WCDMA instead of soft alliance which ended with separation. Therefore, Sony group signed 50:50 Joint Venture contract with Ericsson in October 2001. The aim of SONY and Ericsson Co-Branding Sony wants to build a global brand by co-branding: the criteria from Lee Lun Chang. By cooperating with Ericsson which has strengths in technological aspects, Sony intends to compensate its weakness and goes into the global market. This co-branding makes possible for Sony to contend with competitors because Sony can have competitiveness in technologies as long as traditional strong points: designing and planning. Sony group has strong brand identity for international consumers for their main products, electronics and entertainment products, game, picture and music. Sony is a global company from a long time ago, from 1st generation of Sony. More than half of its sales come from overseas (Sony, 2008). However when it comes to mobile handset, Sony group has the lack of technologies and brand power. In order to overcome this shortage, Sony group tried to cooperate with partners having advanced technology, Qualcomm and Siemens. Especially, with Qualcomm, Sony developed a handset model (Jon Sigurdson, 2004). Also, Sony mobile handset had a good domestic market but for the global scale, it had only one percent of market share. Sony Group board suggested Sonys market share should be 10% of all, and should be 20-30% after 6-7 years under the condition which Samsung, the late competitor, surpasses Sony mobile. Form this context, Sony decided to establish Co-branding with Ericsson to compensate its lack of technology and brand identity and to build global brand to compete with its competitors, Motorola, Nokia and Samsung. The category of Co-branding Approach From fast changing business contexts, Sony Group find a more solid partner: Sony in the early 2000 needed a partner for GSM and W-CDMA technologies after having failed in its earlier relations with Qualcomm in developing CDMA business (Jon Sigurdson, 2004). Thereby, Ericsson becomes an alternative because Sony has excellences in AV technology, product planning and designing and possesses brand expertise, while Ericsson brought excellences in mobile telecommunications, operation relations, and infrastructure business (Jon Sigurdson, 2004). Therefore, Ericsson and Sony established a joint venture, Sony Ericsson Mobile communication. Both Sony and Ericsson have 50 shares each. The effects of Co-branding Before establishing Sony and Ericsson, Sonys market share was only 2%, and it would be difficult to expand its market although the company has excellences in design. For Ericsson, handset business was losing money and the market share kept going down. Sony was not a top leading company such as Motorola, Nokia and Samsung . Two years after co-branding, Sony and

Ericsson turned to be profitable and reported profits 62 million Euros, the third quarter of 2003. Also, Sony and Ericsson stands up the top 4th in terms of market share. Although its position stayed 4th, it shows dramatic market growth rates). This positive results based on both companies compensate brand awareness to customers, Sony is famous for innovative design and technology, and Ericsson is renowned for its advanced technologies in mobile communication industry.

Things You Didnt Know About Sony

Sonys first product was a rice cooker Sony establishes its first major overseas operation in New York City (514 Broadway) in 1960 with a capital investment of $500,000 Sony becomes the first Japanese company in the United States to make a public offering of 2 million shares of common stock in the form of American Depository Receipts (ADRs) in 1961. In 1986, Walkman was included in the Oxford English Dictionary Before the Walkman personal stereo became a worldwide brand name, it was introduced under a variety of names, including the Soundabout in the U.S., the Stowaway in the UK and the Freestyle in Australia.