Sony’s Marketing Strategy
Sony’s Marketing Strategy
New Product Development and Brand
Sony understood the importance of brand from its inception. The origin of “Sony” shows the global mindset of its founders; who coined the brand name Sony in 1955 because it was easier for Western consumers to pronounce. “Sony” sounded cute, like the pet name Sonny, but it also meant sonus, or “sound,” in Latin. In 1958, the firm adopted this brand name as its corporate name.
When Morita went to the United States with a Sony-branded radio in 1955, a major manufacturer suggested: “the price is right, we will order 100,000 units. But under one condition; these won’t sell in the name Sony. Let’s label them with our brand. No one knows who Sony is in America.”4 At that time, an order of this size was very attractive to Sony. Yet Morita turned the offer down and insisted on maintaining the brand name. With this episode etched in his memory, he returned to Japan firmly resolved to grow Sony into a world-class brand. Sony has managed its brand assiduously since then. For example, when opening Sony shops, Sony even regulates the font sizes of the signboards and the layout of the products to suit the brand image. In TV advertisements, Sony has consistently emphasized its corporate image by inserting the line “It’s a Sony.” Ohga, Sony’s former CEO, also changed the Sony logo several times before the most recent version was officially adopted in 1973.
The essence of Sony’s marketing strategy was to develop new products that consumers truly craved. According to Morita, Sony focused on new products development because its bigger competitors were always right behind, imitating its products. If Sony failed to come up with new products, competitors could overtake it. Morita said that their plan was “to lead the public with new products rather than ask them what kind of products they want. The public does not know what is possible, but we do. So, instead of doing a lot of market research, we refine our thinking on a
New Product Development and Brand
Sony understood the importance of brand from its inception. The origin of “Sony” shows the global mindset of its founders; who coined the brand name Sony in 1955 because it was easier for Western consumers to pronounce. “Sony” sounded cute, like the pet name Sonny, but it also meant sonus, or “sound,” in Latin. In 1958, the firm adopted this brand name as its corporate name.
When Morita went to the United States with a Sony-branded radio in 1955, a major manufacturer suggested: “the price is right, we will order 100,000 units. But under one condition; these won’t sell in the name Sony. Let’s label them with our brand. No one knows who Sony is in America.”4 At that time, an order of this size was very attractive to Sony. Yet Morita turned the offer down and insisted on maintaining the brand name. With this episode etched in his memory, he returned to Japan firmly resolved to grow Sony into a world-class brand. Sony has managed its brand assiduously since then. For example, when opening Sony shops, Sony even regulates the font sizes of the signboards and the layout of the products to suit the brand image. In TV advertisements, Sony has consistently emphasized its corporate image by inserting the line “It’s a Sony.” Ohga, Sony’s former CEO, also changed the Sony logo several times before the most recent version was officially adopted in 1973.
The essence of Sony’s marketing strategy was to develop new products that consumers truly craved. According to Morita, Sony focused on new products development because its bigger competitors were always right behind, imitating its products. If Sony failed to come up with new products, competitors could overtake it. Morita said that their plan was “to lead the public with new products rather than ask them what kind of products they want. The public does not know what is possible, but we do. So, instead of doing a lot of market research, we refine our thinking on a