Sony Corporation is the leading manufacturer of audio, communications, information technology products and video products. Sony’s motion, television, picture, music and computer entertainment have made Sony one of the premier comprehensive technology and entertainment companies globally. It operates in four primary segments which are electronics, games, financial services and pictures. Television is manufactured under electronics segment together with other audio products like home, portable and car audio in addition to car navigation systems. Audio products under electronics include video and digital camera, digital single lens reflex cameras, blu-ray disc players, and digital versatile disc players. Television products comprise of liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions. Sony’s communication and information products include professional and broadcast audio devices, personal computers, video, monitors and other professional use equipment. These are some of the electronics products manufactured by Sony but the main emphasis in this paper will be on Sony Television.

Marketing strategy

A marketing strategy refers to a summary of a firm’s products and position with reference to its competitors. A marketing strategy is shaped from the objectives of an organization which comprises of business definition, service or product definition, target customers and the role of the organization in relation to competition. The marketing strategies are majorly concerned with the four P’s which are pricing, promotion, place and product strategies. Main focus of a marketing strategy should be on objectives to be achieved by the organization and not the planning process itself (Nash, 2000). The following is the marketing mix used by Sony Corporation in reference to price, promotion, distribution and product strategy used to promote Sony television which is becoming a household name day in day out.

Product strategy: Sony Corporation offers wide variety of televisions which include LCD TVs, projection televisions, CRT-based TVs among others. In addition to this they offer after sales services to their customers’ world wide.  Sony differentiates itself from other companies by offering television sets which are moderately priced and of high quality. The product quality, service and supply chain activities are extensive. Company’s involvement does not end with the client’s purchase of TV but it extends to recycling or complete disposal. As customer’s needs and products features evolve over time, they adjust their communication effectively so as to serve clients best (Sony Corp Info, 2009). Sony offers “a more for more” deal where if a customer expects to get best quality they will have to pay for more. So as to ensure that the company offers products of high quality and are responding to needs of market it has put in place quality control program which allows the company to monitor clients’ response to its products. Technology is used in daily basis to ensure from the retailers of its products to the company itself. In order to track their products, they have used the network and also post their contacts ion website for customers to know about the company products. In technology still, the company manufactures its products in line with latest technological developments. Recently the company engaged in production of BRAVIA.  BRAVIA is expected to be refined annually in response to market trends and to help Sony incorporate technological developments. Sony BRAVIA have features like improved surround sound quality, automatic light sensor, enhanced colour reproduction and high definition display which are in regard to latest developments (Sony, 2010).

Promotion strategy: Promotion strategies aim at creating awareness about the company, services and products. Key elements of promotion strategies include direct marketing, sales promotion, personal selling and publicity. In order to create awareness on Sony TV, Sony Corporation has used all this communication elements. Adverts are mostly used to create awareness. Sony BRAVIA and Sony WEGA are advertised by use of television. Events like Miss India have been used to advertise Sony TV and also programs like sports too and use of Sony channel too. Newspapers like Times of India, Business Week and Times magazine have been used too as means to popularize Sony TV. Direct response advertising has been applied too and this kind of advertising encourages clients to give a feedback to the advertiser about Sony TV. In addition to adverts, sales promotion has been used and here a number of techniques are applied. They include use of free samples, coupons, and scratch cards. Sony BRAVIA was promoted by use of early bid prizes whereby all BRAVIA full HD LCD TVs purchased in July 2008 and registered in a period of two weeks were qualified for a bonus play station. Public relations employ a wide range of communication activities which aim at creating and maintaining favourable relationships with clients, employees of a firm and shareholder. Through the use of website Sony provides information to clients on Sony TV and tries to create mutual relationship with customers. By use of public relations, Sony Corporation is in a position to settle disputes about Sony TV while at the same time maintaining the image of the company (Kundi, 2008).

Place or distribution strategy: decisions on distribution are aimed at making the product available in adequate quantities at locations where clients are expected to shop for them. The idea is to put an extensive network which will cover al the targeted customers. Since Sony televisions are durable products, Sony Corporation uses selective distribution whereby sales are made by selected dealers. In areas like India where there is wide market coverage, they use grey scale marketing and in this case they do not provide benefits that come with purchase of TV like warranty and guarantee.  Sony television sets are distributed through various channels which are zero level, one level and two level channels. In India, one level channel is used where customers buy television sets from recognized Sony retailers who buy the sets from the company directly. The internet too provides information on Sony retailers’ and their location (Kundi, 2008).

Pricing strategy:  price is said to be the only marketing mix strategy that can be altered fast. Dealer price, retail price, discounts and other price variables influence how marketing strategies are developed as price is used to determine value of product obtained by a client. Sony continuously revises its prices from time to time so as to make them affordable to the customers. An example is increase in LCD television production is seen as a measure to reduce costs which translate to low prices in the near future hence narrowing the gap with plasma and former. 32 inch will cost ,797 and 42 inch plasma will be about ,416. In 2009, there was price erosion which made Sony use pricing schemes and promotions to reduce effect of the prices. Sony sold BRAVIA TV and PS3 Sonystyle for a great price enabling it move three times more television sets than previous year. All this reviews are aimed at ensuring that Sony provides TVs at prices which can be afforded by clients while still meeting costs of operations and customer needs (MacManus, 2010).

Importance and use of information in marketing strategy

Marketing department is the one concerned with developing marketing strategy of a firm. Information from marketing department will be used by other departments to guide their actions. On ascertaining latest market requirements, the marketing department should report this to the production department so that they can incorporate them into the product being produced.  On being told what to include, the finance department will be informed so that funds can be released to cater for the developments, production and its distribution. Purpose of Sony’s marketing plan is to know latest market trends so that they can be incorporated into TVs produced by Sony like BRAVIA TV which is latest with clear picture among other features which are requirements of the market. When this is communicated to production department, finance department will be approached so that it can allocate funds for development, production and sale of TVs. This helps in proper Cordiant ion and hence need for information.

Relation of overall organisational goal to marketing strategy

A marketing strategy should be shaped from the objectives of the company with regard to business definition, service or product definition, target customers and the role of organization in relation to competition. In developing marketing strategy for Sony television, Sony has ensured that the strategies are in line to company’s objectives. Examples include:

Sony brand:  Sony’s goal is to capture imagination which will enhance peoples’ lives. Ibuka, who was a founding partner in Sony was a visionary and could be in a position to foretell products and technologies that could be applied to every day life. He inspired his engineers to have a spirit of innovation and reach beyond their expectations. This is what has made Sony be what it is today and over the years they have led in innovations. It has continued to fuel the industry with innovative ideas. In regard to TV developments have been made over the years staring from small screen with limited technology to more advanced TVs with bigger screens and incorporating technology. Recently, Sony discovered BRAVIA TVs which have fantastic looks and great features. A new 3D TV campaign was launched for world cup purposes and this has high intelligent processors. LCD panels too are being produced in line to 7th generation so as to meet demands of customers (Sony, 2010).

Environmental responsibility: being a climate saver company, its corporate commitment is to cut carbon dioxide emission in all of its sites, extending to manufacturing facilities and offices. Sony has over the years focused on improving efficiency of TVs in regard to reducing carbon emissions. To do this, the company has combined sophiscated technology with simple features which make it easy for clients to save on energy and this has helped it sustain its reduction of carbon footprint. Some of the steps taken include increased use of renewable energy, lowering emissions of per fluorocarbons and other green house gases utilized in production and improving energy efficiency. A good example is the presence sensor in BRAVIA model eliminates unnecessary consumption of power hence conserving the environment (Braga, 2009).

Supply chain: over the last few years, Sony has fallen from being the leader of flat panel television producer. In 2008, Visio was ahead of Sony because of the price conscious consumers (Sony, 2008). Currently Sony has 13.5% of LCD market. Due to this the company has plans to sack over 16,000 workers and raise prices of its products so as to combat lessening consumer spending. This will involve company restructuring, closure of two factories and slashing of managerial bonuses. In doing all this, the management has not touched on any business process. In addition to this, the company will use an aggressive mode in order to recapture on the lost market of television to its competitors. It wants to gain an upper hand in 3D TV segment and so will increase its production (Sony, 2008).

Incorporation of global context into Sony’s marketing strategy

Globalization process is reshaping the world’s political, social and cultural aspects of society. Globalization refers to social processes where constraints of geography on cultural and social arrangements are eliminated and people become increasingly aware that they are receding. Traditional constructs of time and space are eliminated in globalization process (Waters, 1995). Sony Corporation too is integrating globalization in its operations in following ways

Sony Pictures entertainment: in order to distribute its content world wide, Sony Pictures Television has united with international television divisions as a part of its strategy to produce and distribute content globally. The main aim is to create movies and produce television programmes which will have a world wide appeal. This is because of global changes on the way people are experiencing to entertainment making it necessary for them to consider these new market demands (Sony Pictures Entertainment, 2009).

Supply chain globalization: Electronic consumer goods industry is relatively new and in its early stages of development in many parts of the world. However, it has shown rapid growth meaning that more electronic goods like television will be shipped within the year. This will in turn necessitate developments in electronic markets to meet market demands. Continued growth and development will make it possible for localization to occur in electronic consumer goods like TVs. Sony has partnered with local companies to ship products which have devices. Lack of experience when dealing with electronic products is high in regional markets hence lack of knowledge on where to get troubleshooting tips. This will necessitate knowledge base to deal with problems of using televisions. All this shows need of Sony Corporation to cooperate with other local companies. In order to do this Sony has used subscription business model. In this model, it does not sell the products directly but does the process of selling the monthly or yearly access to television. As a result, Sony is in a position to convert a one time sale of product to recurring sale of services. This has greatly benefited its clients as they are able to buy Sony TVs regularly. Customers make one purchase decision and then product arrives. This will help clients looking for constancy and structure in their lives.

Generic strategy:  generic strategy of Sony lies in product differentiation. There are a wide range of televisions provided by Sony including Sony BRAVIA, LCD TVs and projection TVs. This has allowed the company to desensitize its prices and in turn focusing on value that generates comparatively higher price in addition to a better margin (Sony Corp. Info, 2010).

Embracing of e-business strategy into Sony’s marketing

E-business refers to business that is run on the internet. It can also be business which utilizes internet technologies to improve on its productivity or profits of the company. A company can carry out e- business to acquire or sell products, handling of traditional business aspects like technical and customer support, and dispensing of internal memos and white sheets (Jackson, Harris & Eckersley, 2003). Sony Corporation has embraced e-business in its marketing in following ways:

Web TV:  in the next few months, Sony is expected to introduce a new generation of web connected television services. The main idea is to make it easier for consumers to bypass cable and so as to effectively create individual personal TV channels. This revolves around Sony providing its products or services over internet and in line to technological developments. Sony will use advertising dollars, subscription revenues and pay per view fees. Rather than using computers and mobile devices for free television, clients will pay Sony so as to watch on more expensive equipment. Sony will utilize new product. Early this year, BRAVIA TVs and Blu-ray players were connected to the web to offer video streaming services (Edward & Grover, 2010).

Promotion:  Sony advertises television through direct mail hence utilizing the internet. Advertisements are placed in daily mails. Further to this, Sony has developed communications by use of personal interaction with customer care representatives (Contact Support, 2009). Marketing strategies and research are done by use of customer feedbacks. Customers are given the right to give a feedback on purchase of Sony television in their website whereby a client has to answer a number if questions in regard to services and products offered by Sony. Compliments, complains, suggestions and reports of malfunctions are accurately evaluated by customer care team and later disseminated to planning and designing team (Sony Global, 2008).Web marketing too is used to promote Sony TV online. Videos and PDF documents aimed at helping customers understand television business are offered. Different features of TV are shown. On Sony.com they offer rewards where customers can get credit cards, win prizes, participating in games used for entertaining, save on products by Sony and participate in activities that earn points on sweepstakes (Sony Rewards, 2009).

Retailer distribution channels network: the network is used to increase consumer awareness of the retailers and distributors dealing in Sony television and either make clients purchase from retailers directly or from the distributors. The online retailer network is used by Sony retailers in their points of sale. These way clients have the best experience while buying Sony TV and other products. Retailers and distributors in Sony retail network get training from Sony, offer promotions by Sony, and share in commitment by Sony to offer quality services (Sony, 2009).

Marketing plan

Marketing plan refers to market or product specific or company wide pan describing activities to be undertaken so as to achieve specific marketing goals within a predetermined period of time.  It begins with identifying needs of clients and how the firm will fulfil them while generating a substantial level of return. It will involve analysis of current market trends and detailed action program, sales forecast, strategies, budgets and projected financial statements (Luther, 2001). The following is a marketing plan for Sony steam iron which will be manufactured by electronics segment of Sony Corporation.

2.0 Marketing Plan
Introduction

Sony Corporation deals in development, design, production and sale of a wide variety of electronics, devices and instruments. Sony Corporation operates under five segments which include electronics to deal in design, manufacture and sale of electronics, devices and instruments; games where play stations are developed, produced and sold by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.; pictures which deals in production, distribution and sale of digital content; financial services which concentrates in financial holdings and all other which comprises of Sony Music entertainment (GlobalData, 2010).

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