Executive summary
Sony has enacted marketing strategies through the development of effective strategic marketing plan. It is a detailed process that consists of analyzing environmental, market competitive and business factors affecting the firm and the strategic business units. This can be done by identifying market opportunities and threats and forecasting future trends in business areas of interest for the enterprise and anticipating in setting objectives and formulating corporate and business unit strategies. Ability to developing, maintaining and managing the marketing program positioning strategies in order to achieve the stipulated goals requires an effective and efficient team work. It separates and differentiates mainly from the normal operative marketing by focusing on achievement of long term objectives. In the market programs of the firm some key aspects should be held in to account in relation to strategic planning programs. These aspects define a unique feature under which the management focuses on. It offers guidelines through which the firm can follow to enact and implement the strategies. Some of the aspects that the marketing program must address on the initial planning include; delimitating the relevant market, developing market segmentation, evaluating the segments (size, growth of demand ) plus aiming at budding a competitive analysis based in the competitive positioning. Conducting a deep analysis to separate and identify the tangibles and intangible factors and resources needed. These ensure that the form effectively satisfies consumer need by offering products and service based on an efficient research on their trends.
Introduction
Sony Company traces its roots years ago when some family members contributed funds to form one of the world’s largest Company’s. The first production of the company was the first Japanese tape recorder produced in 1950. Since then the company has developed to one of the largest corporations in the world. The founders of the company were Akio Morita, Masaru Ibuka and Tamon Maeda who was Ibuka’s father in law in 1946 in Tokyo (Mike 2007. The company is credited for offering the telecommunication appliances with some of the finest and best products such as televisions, video recorders and almost every telecommunication products. The pressure attributed by currency rates and competition propelled the company to diverge and diversify their market. They used their technology on products offered to their consumers to produce in other countries such as Japan, US and Europe. The company has also merged with other companies such as Philips and Sun Microsystems Sony (2008). These were based on the competition, aim of increasing efficiency in production and increasing consumer satisfaction by offering effective products. The company has enacted various strategic marketing plans aimed at ensuring and creating a competitive advantage in the market. The results have been segmentation of the market and creating strategic business units to offer products and services of the firm.
- Organization Mission, Vision and Values (make. Believe)
The founder of the company Ibuka in 1946 developed the Founding Prospects Sony (2000). This is a document that outlines missions and values that he wanted adopted by the young company. Some of the aspects entailed in the documents which define the company are analyzed in the preceding preview.
- Establishment of factory advocating of spirit of freedom credited with open-mindedness of the engineers where they could be easily motivated and offer their high technological skills in relation to individual benefits and organizations objectives
- Promote education of science among the general public
- Offer high-quality electronic products for the upcoming generation especially radios
- Offer the much needed technological aid on the war-damaged telecommunication industry
- Commercialize technological superiority through encouraging research in the universities and research centers
- Reconstruct Japan and elevate the nation culture based on dynamic technological activities
- Offer and apply highly advanced technologies introduced during the world war
The stipulated values and missions enacted during the foundation of the company continue to be utilized to date by the company. The company concentrates mostly on telecommunication and home electronic appliances. Their service delivery is normally focused on their suppliers to ensure quality.
The company Vision is to be a “broadband entertainment company,” especially by utilizing the opportunities presented in the internet.
- Sony objectives
In reference to Sony’s official statement, it is “dedicated to producing and developing a wide range of innovative products and multimedia services that challenge the way consumers’ access and enjoy digital entertainment” Sony (2000). Sony is developing plans to make efforts in ensuring synergy between businesses within the organization, strengthening its electronics business, and maintaining market leadership in high profit areas.
- Competitive advantage on market
Sony identified that setting up a business has more than the usual goal or motive of increasing sales and making profits. The result of achieving customer satisfaction on products and services offered has implications on every sector within the firm such as reduction on the sales if violated, disruption on our production and dismissal of various workers. Sony Company discovers this through offering of products that meet consumer satisfaction rate. The satisfaction yearned by the customers on the value of the product is what defines Sony. Their products are not only branded efficiently but reliable hence proffering their success. To provide permanent solutions the firm had to put various factors in to account by laying out strategic measures to curb that occurrence ever happening. According to (Kotler 2004) a customer makes the business running and there is no particular firm that can chase away customers willingly but the simple mistakes that various firms normally make may be acts of chasing away customers in disguise. In every firm as people ways put it the “customer is the king” but maybe this is what our firm didn’t establish or didn’t have established strategic policies aimed at ensuring that customers are fully satisfied with our products and services. For every firm to be successful the needs and wants of the customers should be given the first priority, he analyzes the vast importance’s of customers satisfaction such as a positive or a negative in the organizations’’ profitability. According to Nina (2010) he termed “Customers are the main purpose of the running a firm and rather than them depending on the firm the firm depends on them”. Though customer satisfaction is not a guarantee of a later repurchase, it still plays an important role towards achieving customer loyalty and retention. As indicated by Steve, (2010) customer satisfaction is a direct determinant on the customer loyalty and retention. Every firm should always but strategic measures striving to achieve customer satisfaction. Failure to enact these measures results to damages that may cause long-term repercussions to the firm increasing their operational cost to win back the customers trust hence reduction in profit.
- Strategic business Unit Analysis
Sony offers diverse products aimed at achieving customer satisfaction as far as the entertainment industry is concerned. These products include; from 1 April 2012, Sony had structured into the following business units: Imaging Products & Solutions (IP&S), Game, Mobile Products & Communications (MP&C), Home Entertainment & Sound (HE&S), Devices, Pictures, Music, Financial Services and other products in medical areas. These products are spread everywhere in the world.
- External market place
Sony is among the leading producers of electronic products based on their consumers and professional markets preferences. It was ranked among 100 on 2012 list on Fortune Global 500 where it was ranked 87th. It also enjoys a position between global top 20 semiconductor leaders and the third largest manufacturer in the world. This is after Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.
- Growth strategy
Market penetration
Sony given the variety of the products that it offers to their consumers who are the vast, they have embraced the need for segmentation of their market. Sony has also developed market penetration strategies where they have developed strategies aimed at increasing sales of some of their existing products to their existing markets through; maximizing their market share of their current products, increasing usage of some of their products and securing dominance in some of the growth markets such as Europe and Africa.
Market development
The other concept developed by the Company is market development strategy where the company has enacted plans aimed at developing new markets for their existing products. These include instances where the Company has invested in countries especially less developed or developing such as in Africa. This has been through creation of new distribution channels, expending by creating new geographical markets and segmenting the market.
Product development
Product development has been consistent policy and concept utilized by the Company. This is where the company develops new products for the existing markets. Sony has to keep up with the technological trend and changes; they have to keep developing products that are within the technological dynamism such as Smart phones.
Diversification
The company also embraces diversification where it develops new electronic appliances for new markets. To be able to clearly define a strategic marketing strategy marketing researchers recommend segmentation of the market. Sony Company has embraced these by basing their market growth on product-market growth matrix by diversification through segmentation and other strategies embarked by the concept. According to LaValle, (2010) this refers to the act of defining heterogeneous markets it to small distinctive homogenous markets. The segmentation of these heterogeneous markets to homogeneous market is based on the products or services offered by the firm. The products or service are normally divided into several segments holding some aspects about the market, the product, the consumers and the firm’s objectives. According to Fred, (2011) market segmentation is a defined and structured act of dividing an existing market under where the firm operates or aims at operating to distinct group of buyers in relation to their requirements if the products or services or the marketing mixes
- Financial analysis
Based on their 2012 financial report on the fourth quarter Sony recorded $22,000 million in sales. The operating income was quoted at $534 million with a net loss of $ 124 million. The outcomes led to development of strategic plans to increase sales on their products such as increasing the penetration of PlayStation Vita among other products.
- Boston consulting Group
- Marketing strategy elements
Market
Effective market strategy developed by Sony entails specifics aspects aimed at offering the anticipated objectives. The process of enacting and developing strategic marketing the following strategic perspectives forms the baselines for marketing management.
- Empathizing on the long term implications
- Corporate or the firms input which are basically corporate culture, corporate publics and corporate resources
- Premising on the varying roles for different products or markets offered by the firm
- Organizational level
- Relationship to finance
Price
Sony believes that price is as essential consideration factor in their market offerings. This is in reference to competition and to offer and avail effective products to the consumers. Based on the fact that they offer wide range of products that differ in size, Sony prices based on this notion. Their geographical distribution based on the production cost also leads to differing prices offered in various locations
Distribution
Sony is a worldwide company offering their products in every corner of the world. Their distribution channels are effectively managed all over the world with every continent hosting a number of these channels. This ensures that the products are availed to the consumers at the specified period with optimum quality maintained.
Promotion
Sony utilize diverse amount of its financial allocations on advertisement as entailed in their financial reports. This is to ensure that the company maintains and increases market growth which is quite competitive. Through their slogan; make. Believe is common along every advertisement media.
- Elements of marketing plan
Opportunities
Some of the opportunities that the company enjoys include; a good public image where almost every household holds a positive reputation of the company product’s effectiveness, the E-commerce offers a promising benefit for the Company is effectively developed and utilized. The companies tow largest Japanese electronic manufactures Sony and Matsushita are both in the verge of implementing effective e-commerce strategies. Sony developed and launched their e-commerce site in 2000. Other current trends embraced by the company that offers vast opportunities include; Car-navigation system markets which is booming, Video-game machines and Console Software such as the (PS2). The company main aim is to reduce the number of middlemen integrated in their production and distribution of their products. This reduces the costs and chances of fraud to the consumers and counterfeit products which is one of the main challenges facing the company.
Threats
Some of the challenges that the company faces include, competition from rival companies offering similar products and services such as Microsoft and Saga on PS2 and big data which is normally unstructured customer data. When the information is structured it can drastically improve the organizations performance. Organizations have discovered the benefits attached on analysing the big data and implementing the information extracted. This has helped the organizations improve their consumer satisfaction rate. There are numerous benefits that are attached on big data however; various challenges may hinder the effectiveness of an organization to utilize the data. Technology advancement provides various solutions on organizations interaction with the consumers but failure or mismanagement of the data can cause damages to the firm and consumer.
References
- Sony Corporation, 2012/2008. Annual Report.
- Kotler, P., Armstrong, G. (2004). Principles of Marketing. New Jersey: Pearson Education
- Fred Balboni, (2011), Business Analytics and Optimization, IBM Global Business Services
- LaValle, S., Michael, H., Eric, L., Rebecca, S., and Nina, K., (2010) “Analytics: The new path to value: How the smartest organizations are embedding analytics to transform insights into action.” IBM Institute for Business Value in collaboration with MIT Sloan Management Review
- Seim, K., (2002), An Empirical Model of Firm Entry with Endogenous Product-Type Choices, mimeo, GSB Stanford.
Nagle, Mike. (2007) “Sony PS3 Powers Alzheimer's Research.” Labtechnologist.com
