Issues and opportunities identified
Executive summary
Table of Contents
ISSUES AND OPPORTUNITIES IDENTIFIED 4
Making innovation as the primary driver to sustain their business. 7
METHODS OF EVALUATION AND MEASUREMENT 10
INTRODUCTION
THE BRAND: Sony
ISSUES AND OPPORTUNITIES IDENTIFIED
Issues with Sony
Sony has followed a path which can be termed as an expensive and complex which has been caused due to their massive unrelated diversification of the products. Due to the diverse brand architecture which has exhausted Sony’s brand resources and has also diverted the attention from its core functionality or product (Leach Waters, 2005). Due to the lack of focus and complex path have given opportunities to younger competitors to take the market, which slowly but gradually took the market from them. This had a direct impact on the profits which were generated by the company as well as it has deteriorated the brand equity (Leach Waters, 2005). One of the major drawbacks which were faced by the Sony is that they were not able to evolve their brand strategy which was required by the new generation, this can be through their inability of catering the demand of the market when their competitors were able to deliver it (Naganathan, 2020). Another drawback the company has faced is that they have also lost track of the major brand element which were the unique design of their product, the highest quality of the product they manufactured, and the price in which they offer their products to their customer (Naganathan, 2020). In the below sections the main issues which were faced by Sony have been highlighted and they are:
Lack of Innovation. Sony was known for their innovation, which was one of the driving characters of the brand, Sony was considered as the company which had the ability to constantly innovate the products over the products and that is how they used them to get an edge over the competitors (RC Group and Sony to collaborate, 2006). Sony was where they could understand the need of the consumer, and this was proved when they launched the Walkman which gave the ultimate power over the competitors but, as the competition became more fierce, Sony was not able to successfully innovate their product which can be seen when the Apple iPad was launched, there was a huge impact on the Sony’s reputation through which they were not able to cope the reason behind was the lack of innovation (RC Group and Sony to collaborate, 2006).
Opportunities for Sony
Beside blockbusters, Sony can advertise their products online. With the release of several online games from Sony, Sony stands more demand from the consumers than X Box’s online games. Since Sony is already successful in creating the brand name, it has a lot of opportunities to raise its product sales through the internet (Blagdon, 2020). Along with the internet, Sony can use its movies and music business to deliver value-added content to advertise its product line. As the company bought off its entire Sony Ericson joint venture, it should provide the opportunity for the company to develop an innovative product to present in the smartphone and tablet market.
POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
Some of the potential solution which can help them in regaining the brand equity and brand image are:
Elevating the marketing/branding to the boardroom: The importance of the innovation has already been highlighted especially when making an impact on the consumer's mind, that is why it is very important for Sony to invest in research and development, making sure that they catering to the consumer demand. Innovation is the key through which they can make there position again but for that, they need to invest in the R&D, so that they could build the relationship between the brand and the end-users (Sony: death or glory? 2006). To achieve this goal, they need to put emphasis on product design and marketing strategies so that they can become customer-centric. Sony needs to improve its marketing and should take a leap to generate a driving business strategy (Tabuchi, 2020). Even though Sony is trying to rebuild this image again as taken initiative such as “one Sony”, through which they want to re-align there brand positioning, then also they need to focus on the measuring and assessing their initiates to have a clarity about where they stand in the consumer's mind (Tabuchi, 2020).
Brand oriented leadership: the segment in which Sony operates have become a battleground as there is so much competition due to the emergence of Asian brands such as Samsung and LG and one wore powerful competitor that is Apple, in such Scenario, it is vital for Sony to have a brand-oriented Leadership through which they can improve their image. The CEO and the Board of directors should understand the importance of the brand and brand image especially in such a dynamic and over competitive industry. The company needs to plan carefully, evaluate, and assess the current scenario so that they can establish the “brand team” which could help them in reaching their desired goals and objectives.
RATIONALE, SUPPORTING ARGUMENTS, ADVANTAGES, AND LIMITATIONS
LIMITATION
METHODS OF EVALUATION AND MEASUREMENT
1D – Forming the Team
In this step it is vital to establish a group which can be termed as cross-functional, the member of the group should be competent and should be aware of the Sony current problems (Chailan, 2009).
4D – Define and Verify the main cause
In this step all the main cause behind the problems are identified, evaluated and explains the reason behind why the problem occurred and then according the method and tool should be used. At the same time, it is important to have an alternate solution (Naganathan, 2020).
7D – Prevent the Recurrence of the problem
This is also one of the most important steps in which all the monitoring the problems for which the actions were taken so that to ensure that there is no Recurrence of the problem and it will also provide the progress report about the impact of action on the root cause
References
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Chailan, C., 2009. Brand architecture and brand portfolio: a clarification. EuroMed Journal of Business, 4(2), pp.173-184.
Naganathan, V., 2020. [online] Ijmbr.srbiau.ac.ir. Available at: <http://ijmbr.srbiau.ac.ir/article_1785_df40e93bdf1b8b86a2c1edc44ea82adf.pdf> [Accessed 20 April 2020].
ROll, M., 2020. Sony – The Battle To Stay Relevant - Martin Roll. [online] Martin Roll. Available at: <https://martinroll.com/resources/articles/strategy/sony-battle-stay-relevant/> [Accessed 20 April 2020].
Uggla, H., and Verick, H., 2008. Strategic brand management decision: the case of Sony Ericsson Walkman. Strategic Direction, 24(9), pp.3-5.
Vossoughi, S., 2020. Strategy, Context, And The Decline Of Sony. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: <https://hbr.org/2012/04/strategy-context-and-the-decli> [Accessed 20 April 2020].