Sony playing catch-up as Samsung soars

For today's youth, however, the above must read like a history lesson. Sony's brand is no longer viewed as being in touch; at least not by the people who have made Apple and Samsung such roaring successes in recent years.

InterBrand's 2005 global brand report sums up Sony's problems deftly. The Japanese electronics giant has failed to move swiftly into new areas such as digital music, and has become preoccupied with its PlayStation franchise. InterBrand points to Samsung, which ranked 20th in the report, eight places ahead of its Japanese arch-rival.

Diagnosis 1

In 2000 and 2001, Sony spent US$2.5 billion trying to position an extensive and diverse range of products and convince consumers worldwide to buy those products. The result? The first three months of 2003 saw a 25 per cent slide in the company's share price in just two days and layoffs of more than 20,000 workers worldwide. In September 2005, a further 10,000 layoffs were announced.

Brands fail when they try to be all things to all people. The survival of Sony depends not on what it promises, but on the value it delivers. Sony needs to start communicating with customers and listening to what they say before developing products.

If it continues to use outdated marketing tactics, it will end up in the brand graveyard.

Marcus Osborne, managing director, FusionBrand

Diagnosis 2

"I've heard the Bravia is great," I said to the salesman in the shopping mall. He cheerfully informed me that this was not true: "For flatscreen TVs, better to buy a Hitachi, as Sony sources its screens from Korea." The same message from the digital camera section. "Is Sony the best?" The man said no, because they are not the best at night-time recording.

These examples illustrate the problem: Sony has lost its strength in innovation and secondly, sub-brands are not feeding back to the mother brand. It's a Bravia, it's a Handycam, it's a Walkman, it's a PlayStation... when it should always be 'It's a Sony'. What to do? Communicate leadership in innovation from the retail level up. Dial up 'Sony' and dial down the sub-brands.

Matthew Godfrey, chief operating officer, Publicis Asia-Pacific