ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We thank our term paper instructor G.M. Shafayet Ullah, Faculty of East West University for his untiring devotion, noble guidance, valuable suggestions and above all continuous encouragement, which has played an important role in the completion of this term paper.

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INTRODUCTION

Sony Multinational conglomerate corporation. It’s headquarter is in Mintao (Japan). Sony is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders. The company's slogan is “Like No Other”. Sony is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group which is engaged in business through its five operating segments, these make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world.

Background

In 1946, Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita, running a company which was known as

Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation).In

1958, the company name was changed to Sony Corporation and since then, Sony

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has become one of the most recognized brand names in the history of the modern

world. In 1962, Sony Corporation first introduced television which model was

SONY TV5-303.In 2005; Sony Corporation first introduced television with a new

brand name “BRAVIA”. Since enacting the Sony Global Environmental Policy

which is a predecessor of the Sony Group Environmental Vision and the

Environmental Action Program, in 1993, Sony has pursued a broad range of

environmental initiatives. Concurrent with the formulation of its Road to Zero

global environmental plan, in 2010, Sony revised the Sony Group Environmental

Vision.

Marketing Profile

Marketing: Creating and Capturing Customer Value

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In addition, to further heighten Sony's greatest asset, the Sony brand name,

four key words were outlined in the company management philosophy for all

companies in the Sony Group. These words were: "unique," to ensure that Sony

would always be an innovative company; "quality," reflecting emphasis on product

quality; "speed," in the form of a framework that would enable the company to

respond quickly and decisively to new market conditions; and "cost," reflecting the

importance of competitive pricing once the other three conditions were fully met.

For Sony, quality has always been an extremely important element of its business

philosophy. And Sony continues to place increasing emphasis on quality issues

throughout the Group.

At the 1996 Management Conference, Idei stressed that Sony would not only

continue to offer innovative, high quality products, but also increase its role as a

good corporate citizen throughout the world. As a result, he predicted that

consumer trust in the Sony brand would continue to increase. Idei closed his

speech by saying, "If all employees take a positive outlook, together we can make

Sony's next fifty years very bright."

Sony is wholeheartedly committed to improving product and service quality from

the customer's viewpoint with the aim of maintaining and enhancing customers'

satisfaction, reliability, and trust. This reflects Sony's belief that our most

important goal is to remain a highly trusted partner for our customers.

Since the start of its operations, Sony has given top priority to providing customer

oriented, high-quality products and services as an operating foundation.

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Company and Marketing Strategy

The vision statement of sony is “we must seek new approaches to transform our ability to achieve both profitable and sustainable growth”. Their mission statement is “Sony is working to create value for our stake holders, and improve the quality of life for the next generation through our innovations”. TheirPrimary goal was “The promotion of education in science among the general public."

Sony focused towards making a difference in the lifestyles in the market and open up new vistas of entertainment in the country. Sony is broadly divided into 6 SBUs (electronics, game, music, pictures, finance services and communication network), each further divided into smaller business units, and commonly named as divisions. The divisions within each SBU are related in terms of shared products or markets or both, but the divisions of each SBU have little in common with the divisions of the other SBUs.Sony's marketing strategy is to position itself as an innovator and a maker of high quality products which enable it to sell its products at a premium higher than its competitors. To achieve these goals, the company’s innovations are commonly backed by massive and zealous marketing efforts which have had helped to create several successful sub-brands such as Trintron, Walkman, WEGA and BRAVIA. These successes in turn further strengthen the brand “Sony”.

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Sony’s marketing shrewdness has to the No. 1 brand rating. Sony was also named as the world's 21st most valuable brand in 2000. In short, Sony’s possession of a world-class marketing acumen that has made Sony a global mega brand is certainly a strength that is hard to imitate and valuable

STRENGTH : WEAKNESS:

● Has a good brand image & customer loyalty by his service & quality.

● Same price in all over the country.●  Has high market shares.

● As Sony LCD & LED TV is a costly brand and this high price factor is not affordable to all customer.

OPPORTUNITY:

● Sony is leading brand in consumer durable market because of its better service and quality.

● It has a professionalism, good service attitude and knowledgeable staff and employee.

● Because of keen foresightedness of future demand and customer perception, Sony can beat all the competitors.

THREATS: ● There are some major brands like Samsung, LG which are providing the

good quality products at affordable price keeping in view the Bangladeshi consumer and this factor is raising the competitors.

4P 4CProduct Sony Bravia Consumer solutionPrice 50,000 - 1,20,000 Consumer costPlace Official Outlets Convenience

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Promotion Television Channel, Newspaper

Communication

 

The Marketing Environment

Marketers cannot control external environment but they must understand the changes of external environment and the impact on target market. Creating new products Sony's marketing managers should be aware of these external environment factors- social, demographic, economic, technological, political and legal, and competitive. To succeed they need to collect and evaluate environmental information. 

For example, Sony changed the way people think about technology  when it came up with Bravia 3D HD TVs. Creating this product the company had to answer these questions:-are people willing to buy the product? -who's going to buy product? What target market and is it big enough?

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-is economic environment in a god condition? is the economy in recession?- do my competitors have similar products? The target market of  3D TV consumers most likely would consist of young people, rather than seniors. Marketing also depends on lifestyle of people. for example, people who dont spend too much time at home wouldn’t spend money on 3D tv that they will barely watch.Economic factors also influence the external environment. Because Bravia 3D tvs are not cheap not everybody will be afford buying it. People with higher income will be the major consumers of that product.  Also the target market may be reduced during recession, when the prices will go up.Another factor that can influence marketing is competitive environment. There are a lot of different popular similar firms that  will also produce 3Dtvs. So Sony has t work harder to maintain its profits and market share regardless of competitive market.

Consumer Markets and Buyer Behavior

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Sony Bravia falls in Complex Buying for most of the people in Bangladesh.

Customer Driven Marketing Strategy (STP)

Sony’s fortunes since changing strategy have been mixed. The effect of the change on their success so far is difficult to assess as many changes can be attributed to developments predating the announcement of the strategy review.

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The strategy’s focus on innovation seems to have been embraced in Sony’s marketing. Marketing strategy has focused on viral marketing - campaigns encouraging word-of-mouth amplification of the message - with varying success. An advert for the Bravia TV gained a large amount of press coverage and is discussed on various blogs, showing that the campaign is generating word-of-mouth promotion. As they are the market leader they give some reminder advertisement and awareness advertisement.

Product, Service and Branding Strategy

Product Line Width

Series BX CX EX NX

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Product Line DepthAnd

Line Filling

32”320

32”520

32”310520420

32”520

40”420

40”520

40”520720

40”710720

42”410

Sony is very sensitive towards its competitors’ actions and reactions. To ensure that the company solidifies its image and reputation as well as achieves the desired sales and revenues targets, it has no qualms of incurring exorbitant expenses. For instance, the Bravia brand was launched in 2005 at an estimated cost of US$30 million and it was supported by massive broadcast, print and on-line advertising, Internet and dealer events and promotions as well as Grass-roots public-relations campaigns to target the high profile people target market.

Conclusion

● Sony as a brand is so popular in rich class people; they think it is nothing but a status symbol. 

● Sony is facing tough competition with Samsung & LG because of reasonable price & quality.

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● Sony plays a vital role in consumer durable market.

Reference

● www.google.com ● www.rangs.org● www.sony.com● www.wikipedia.org

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