How can Sony be influenced by innovation to design the future of their brand?
Innovative Design Element
In the recent past, Sony has lost ground to its competitors at the market scene. In order to regain its position as leader in its industry, the brand has tap into its innovative design element. This is will not only reposition the brand in the market but also secure a successful future for the brand. In the competitive markets of today, there is increased recognition that differentiation that is solely dependent on technological factors is not enough to ensure a dominant position in the market. In order to improve performance and avoid the devastating effects of commoditization, many brands in the competitive markets are turning to design (Hertenstein & Platt, et al. 2005, Pg. 18).
The effectiveness of designs is now viewed as an influencing factor to performance in the market. Innovative design element is crucial to the reposition of Sony in the global market and securing a successful future. Design can be viewed both as a marketing strategy an element of design. Technology based firms like Sony ought to create models that enable them to put emphasis on as an important element of innovation. This is in recognition of the importance of innovation management in order to gain a competitive advantage and sustain a better performance in the marketplace compared to that of their competitors (Gershon, 2013, Pg, 23).
This sustained performance is what helps secure a successful future. Putting emphasis on design as an element of innovation is important for Sony. Through increased emphasis on design, Sony will ensure that its innovations are successful. This is because though increased focus on design, the brand will achieve differentiation in the market effectively cutting itself a niche. Such differentiation will fuels sales and surpass benchmarks. However, this is dependent on designs that are sensitive to the needs of the market. With the increased number of competitors in the market, Sony needs to ensure simplicity while at the same time, ensuring uniqueness (Stuart & Tax, 2004, Pg. 620)
Sony is the manufacturer of the PlayStation gaming console. In the recent past, there has been a stiff competition from other competitors in the market. For instance, Xbox one vended by Microsoft has been performing exponentially in the market. The revolution in the digital world has seen the proliferation of tablets and other hand-held personal computers. The threat of computer games on the future security of the PlayStation cannot also be ruled out. It is for these reasons that Sony should reconsider designs and reinvention or updates in order to ensure sustained profitability of the PlayStation, now and in the future. This is also rationalized by the breach in network security resulting in identity theft as will be espoused later in the paper. This paper will focus on this particular product of Sony Corporation. In order to secure sustained profitability now and in the future, I would alter the design of the product so that it is more appealing aesthetically rather than a black console. Additionally, I would embed more security options in its network in order to keep away hackers. Through these design alteration and updates, the product is bound to perform better than its competitors in the market.
Investigative Study of Sony
History of Sony
Sony was established in 1946 by an engineer and a physicist named Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita respectively. The first few years of the duo were spent repairing electrical equipment. Due to constraints emanating from lack of equipment, the duo concentrated on combining engineering knowhow and innovative desire to create new products. The Sony logo was established in 1955 after recognition that the world was an entire marketplace (Design Council, 2013, Pg. 43). Consequently, the company opened its first oversees design center in USA. The company was renamed Sony Corporation in 1958, giving birth to Sony as a brand. Presently, Sony has design centers in different cities and countries with the most notable being Tokyo, London, Los Angeles, Shanghai and Singapore. Product designers, visual communication designers and human interface designers from diverse backgrounds are employed in these centers. They are tasked with sustaining the innovation revolution of the brand (Luh, 2003, Pg. 17).
Landscape at Sony
The landscape at Sony can be viewed on many perspectives. For instance, the economic landscape at Sony has been gloomy in the recent years following increased competition from other players in the market. Its two main competitors in the market have outperformed the brand in certain sectors. This has resulted in massive losses. For example, Sony Erickson, a mobile phone manufacturer under Sony as a brand stunned the market by posting a 207 million Euros loss in the financial year ending 2013. However, the brand has been posting increased sales from previous financial years and this has lead to increased income. After very many years, the brand will release a new PlayStation that will operate in a landscape that has been recently reshaped by the revolution in personal computers in form of tablets. The new digital era is also advantageous to the operations of the brand because the general direction of the brand is towards digital enhancement of the entertainment industry (Roy & Riedel, 1997, Pg. 89)
Competition of Sony
Being a conglomerate with interests in different sectors, Sony has many competitors. However, since the paper is dealing with the electronics division of Sony, only competitors in the electronics industry will be considered. The main competitors are Samsung electronics and LG electronics in that order. Sony buys some of its products from one of its competitors; Samsung electronics. These products include lithium-ion batteries, chips, semiconductors and hard drives. This particular competitor has dominated the electronic market since 2006 and for some products since 2002. Samsung electronics business model has placed it on a pedestal as the biggest technology company in the world in 2011after displacing Apple Inc. LG electronics is also doing relatively better than Sony in the market. Currently, it takes position two in the list of the most dominant electronic companies after Samsung electronics (Masanori, 2010, Pg. 7).
Consumers of Sony Products
Sony has a wide range of consumers for the many products under the brand. As espoused earlier, the brand has different interests in various sectors of the economy. As a television manufacturer, Sony counts on many households to purchase its products for its home entertainment needs. Different media houses rely on the innovative products manufactured by Sony for their broadcasting needs. These range from digital voice recorders, digital cameras, digital camcorders and other cutting edge technologies that enable the dissemination of news. Sony as a brand also has interests in music recording with a fully fledged recording label where established and upcoming artists can express their creativity through the aid of state-of-the-art music recording equipment (Kearney, 2008, Pg. 12).
Culture at Sony
The organizational culture at Sony allows diversity to flourish. This is cognizant of the fact that diversity is the fodder on which innovation feeds. To this effect, Sony employs people from diverse backgrounds. The vision of the company is to create new digital entertainment experiences that are exciting to its customers through coalescing latest generation services and contents with cutting edge products. The mission of the brand is commitment to developing innovative products of a wide range and various multimedia services that enhance the acquisition of digital entertainment. By synergizing the businesses in the organization, Sony strives to offer unrivalled digital entertainment through many products (Candi, 2005, Pg. 15).
Ethos at Sony
The disposition and character of Sony as a brand envisages the highest ideals of corporate responsibility. The brand in acknowledgement of its impact o the environment and the society in both direct and indirect ways, has formulated policies that are aimed in enhancing sustainability. These policies govern the production of its various products to ensure that safety is guaranteed. Additionally, the brand is involved in projects that promote the health of the global environment and offering support to local communities (FlüGge, 2008, Pg. 60).
Values at Sony
The value system at Sony puts its client at the heart of its business. The following are the values at Sony: -
- Deliver Excellence: Deliver exceptional services and quality products that surpass the client expectations.
- Work together: maximize the opportunities brought about by diversity through collaboration with an aim of inspiring others to excellence and creating a culture of joy.
- Embrace change: this is in order to remain agile enough, and being adaptable to the future while generating and seizing new opportunities.
- Integrity and Ethics: having the courage to do right things for both the brand and its consumers and taking responsibility for their actions.
- Empowerment: the brand hopes to empower others by proactively delegating responsibility for decisions to those, whose work the decisions affect.
- Making a difference: this is through value addition, taking risks, creating and innovating.
Brand Perception of Sony
The brand perception of Sony is slowly improving again after suffering reputation damage and battering at the market level. After the PlayStation Network Security Breach, the users of the product vacated significantly. However, the users of the network have retracted and come back. Despite the attacks on the network, the brand has maintained its online services both as a network and an engine of growth. This has emerged after an identity-theft insurance policy worth over one million dollars was instituted by Sony to cushion any victims of future security breaches. This proactive move has brought back the confidence n the brand.
Ethical Stance at Sony
Sony as a brand recognizes the importance of ethics in its business operations. In order to strengthen its compliance systems, the group has a code of conduct that outlines the systems and mechanisms for compliance and the mandate of all its partners and employees in meeting ethical standards. The brand also has regulations and applicable laws that are enforced by a Global Compliance Network that is headed by a Compliance Division that is situated at the headquarters.
References
Candi, M. (2005). Design as an Element of Innovation: Evaluating Design Emphasis and Focus in New Technology-Based Firms. Pg. 1-15.
Design Council, (2013). Eleven lessons: managing design in eleven global brands A study of the design process. London. Design Council. Pg: 1-144. Available at> http://www.design council.org.uk/documents/documents/publications/eleven%20lessons/elevenlessons_desi gn_council.pdf
FlüGge, J. (2008). Sony - a Japanese company going global Stand 2002. München, GRIN Verlag GmbH.
Gershon, R. A. (2013). The transnational media corporation: global messages and free market competition. New York: Routledge.
Hertenstein, J. H., M. B. Platt, et al. (2005). "The Impact of Industrial Design Effectiveness on Corporate Financial Performance." The Journal of Product Innovation Management 22: 3-21.
Kearney, A.T. (2008).Innovation Management. Strategies for success and leadership. Chicago. Kearny inc. Pg. 1-16.
Luh, S. S. (2003). Business the Sony way: secrets of the world's most innovative company. Oxford, Capstone.
Masanori, H. (2010) Historical review of Sony's innovations and future steps. Boston. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Roy, R. and Riedel, J.C.K.H. (1997) “Design and Innovation in Successful Product Competition.”Technovation17 (10), pages 537-548.
Stuart, F. I. and S. Tax (2004). "Toward an integrative approach to designing service experiences. Lessons learned from the theatre." Journal of Operations Management22(6): 609-627.
