Takayuki Akiyoshi is a man of many contrasts — first of all, his quiet demeanour is a world away from that of his predecessor, Nophawan Choti-phawat, who was once diplomatically described as ‘difficult’.
Then, there’s the the latest campaign for the Sony Walkman A300: bright, boisterous and bold, it stands in marked contrast to the man who signed it off as Sony Electronics’ new regional marketing chief.
Stepping into a role which was vacated 18 months ago, the Sony veteran is joining the company during a slight reprieve from the company’s financial disappointments. Unable to cope with the onslaught of sexier, faster, cheaper electronics makers, such as Apple and Samsung, the traditional Japanese electronics manufacturer has seen both market relevance and sales dwindle among the youth demographic.
In particular, 2005 was an especially low point for the brand, with losses in double-digit percentages, and much of 2006 was spent streamlining operations globally. Fortunately, last month, the electronics division posted a higher-than-expected sales growth of seven per cent over the year before, largely thanks to sales of its LCD screens and cameras.
Still, Akiyoshi is probably seeing the better side of things in his newly-ensconced role, which gives him more room to tackle some of his immediate problems. Chief of these — connecting with youths — might be resolved once he figures out how to re-connect with his 12-year-old son. “We used to communicate a lot, but after he entered secondary school, he doesn’t like to talk to Daddy so much,” Akiyoshi bemoans, in slightly broken English. “And when I try to pick him up from school he tells me to wait over there,” he adds, motioning across the room.
The first regional campaign he signed off, ‘Eyes vs Ears’, is a good starting point. The Y&R-developed creative depicts a tense showdown between two street gangs, ‘Eyes’ and ‘Ears’, symbolising the new Walkman’s addition of a video function.
One might understand the contrast between the boisterous TV spot and the soft-spoken Sony veteran once Akiyoshi’s unusually trusting relationship with his agencies is taken into account. Although he sits in on the initial brainstorming, he says that once the right message has been identified internally, he prefers to give his agencies full creative reign.
“We trust our creative agencies very much,” Akiyoshi states matter-of-factly. “Still, we cannot expect our agency to do it all. If we are not clear with our message to begin with, we cannot expect the output to be clear, either.”
But such a laidback approach might not be as effective in tackling another one of Akiyoshi’s goals, which is to synergise sister properties such as Sony Pictures, Sony BMG and Sony Music. “We have to promote Sony as a total entertainment brand,” Akiyoshi says. “Our recent co-promotion for Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Man’s Chest is an example of this.”
This goal is either brand new or thus far neglected: while thumbing through a recent copy of Media, Akiyoshi pauses over a picture of Sony BMG’s Asia-Pacific CEO, Kelvin Wadsworth. He admits that the name doesn’t ring any bells. The three marketing assistants who accompanied him during the interview also shook their heads.
Perhaps it is just a matter of time for the expat, who most recently split nine years between Sony Australia and Sony Dubai. No doubt the ability to acclimatise to such cultural diversity will come in handy for covering his wide remit: Southeast Asia, Oceania, Middle East and South Africa. “The greatest challenge for us is finding a central strategy for all these different cultures,” he says.
But after the relatively breakthrough output for its new Walkman, many are anxious to see where Akiyoshi will steer the company’s marketing next. His wife especially, who he claims is a member of one of Sony’s emerging consumer targets: “Housewives!” he says, in a rare outburst.
“Actually, just to clarify, Sony targets all women,” one of his assistants quickly interjects.
But despite his choppy English utterances and occasional lapses into Japanese, Akiyoshi clearly knows what he is talking about. “My wife was very happy with the pink Vaio and pink Cybershot I recently gave her. And trust me, housewives are becoming key decision makers,” he says.
Takayuki Akiyoshi’s CV
2007 General manager, marketing communication division, Sony Electronics Asia-Pacific
2003 General manager, consumer AVIT marketing division, Sony Australia
1998 Senior manager, product marketing division, Sony Gulf (Dubai)
