Sony's Period Of Establishment The Marketing Approach example essay topic

Morita was born in Nagoya, Japan, in 1921 the son of sake brewers. In 1946, he helped start Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo KK (the Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation) with Ibuka. They had $375 and space in an abandoned department store, shelled by bombs in the war. The company quickly built Japan's first tape recorder, but it was big and bulky -- not a product destined to propel the company into the limelight. Then, in the 1950's, Ibuka and Morita got a license from Bell Labs to build transistors. The Japanese were still hard hit by the war, and couldn't really afford expensive electronics, so Ibuka set his sights on the American market with a brand new idea -- a small, transistorized radio that could fit in your pocket.

As it was, a US company built such a radio first, but more as a gimmick than an actual product. When Sony, as Morita's company was soon renamed, came out with their radio, it quickly took over the market While the Regency sold out everywhere, it didn't stay on the market. Texas Instruments caused the sensation it wanted and then moved on to other things. But over in Japan, a tiny company had other ideas. A tape recorder manufacturer called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo had also decided to make small radios. In fact, they were going to devote their whole company to commercial products like that.

Tsushin Kogyo was close to manufacturing its first radios when it heard that an American company had beaten them to the punch. But they kept up the hard work, eventually producing a radio they named the TR-52. When Regency quit producing the TR 1, in the spring of 1955, the Japanese company was poised to enter the US market. While most American companies researched the transistor for its military applications, Ibuka envisioned using it for communications. While Regency and Texas Instruments in the US may have built a transistor radio first, it was the Tokyo Company that really invested the radio as a viable commercial product. Ibuka's company -- now named Sony, a combination of the Latin word for sound 'so nus' and the chic Japanese boys of the time nicknamed 'sonny' -- quickly took over the market.

The only problem was that the company name was for Americans. They needed a new name. Ibuka and his partner Akio Morita thought and thought. First, they found a Latin word so nus meaning, 'sound. ' That was a good start. At the time, bright young men were referred to as 'sonny boys,' and that was a good image too.

Combining the two concepts, they developed a new name: Sony. Morita's passion was innovation. Sony employees were encouraged to develop new designs and products, and the company held contests to help motivate creativity in product design. Morita's strategies helped steer Japanese industries toward creation of new technologies instead of merely making cheap knock-offs of items developed in the West. In 1963, Morita moved his entire family to the United States as part of a strategy to take his company worldwide. He believed that living in America would give him a better understanding of the marketplace, local regulations, and consumers' wants and needs.

The Walkman, the personal radio or cassette player with headphones, Morita himself came up with the idea of a very portable, high-quality cassette player that allowed the listener to do other things while enjoying music. The Sony Corp. marketed the first transistor television in 1960. In 1966 came a demonstration of the first color home videotape recorder. The 3.5-inch floppy disk was a Sony invention in 1989. Even Sony's failures are successes: Sony's Beta videotape format fell out of favor with the consumer market, but the Betacam system is an industry standard in television broadcasting. Sony is a worldwide leader in technological development.

The electronics firm, Sony, has expanded its operations from its establishment in 1946 in a 'bombed out department store', to become one of the world's largest and most influential electronics firms. Sony, has furthermore, developed a worldwide reputation, as one of the worlds most innovative and technologically advanced firms. Its success can be attributed to several internal factors, which include, the freedom of workers to experiment, the passionate decisions of management, the established corporate culture, and also particularly to the marketing approaches that top management has integrated into the firm since its establishment. The leaders of Sony, from its founders to the present-day management, have encouraged their product designers to express and prove their individual visions about the development of new products to the firm, as with the Sony Walkman. In fact top management has been 'willing to join the creative fray', which has lead to the development of a cohesive firm with a corporate culture. This management style prompted the development of premium quality, unique, and futuristic products, and along with the establishment of a strong corporate culture, formed the basis of the firm's competitive advantage.

These aspects gave rise to adoption of several marketing approaches during the course of Sony's life cycle. During Sony's period of establishment the marketing approach was the key approach, since the initial management of Sony decided that the only way to succeed was to discover a new form of technology and develop a product from it, which would satisfy the wants of customers. This was evidenced by the conception of the tape recorder, and the first pocket-sized radio, developed for changing lifestyles. This approach has continued and still practiced today as signified by the recent development of the following products, the Walkman, the Handycam, the Discman, all of which are regarded by millions of customers as products that represent a way of life. The marketing approach was influential in the marketing of the Walkman, such a concept originated from a want of customers for a small, portable, tape / radio player, to replace the large, inconvenient players of the era. Sony identified this customer-want, and the Walkman was introduced, and heavily marketed, and in turn, became one of the firm's most successful products.

In addition Sony has realized that consumer-want for electronics is apparent in all age groups and as such, it has developed several products for different markets, for example, 'My First Sony' was introduced for a younger target market. Another essential marketing approach for Sony has been the product approach, unlike other firms in Japan; Sony prides itself in producing products, which have incorporated unique plastic appearance and futuristic features with superior quality, and affordability of price. These concepts have ensured that Sony's sales have outstripped both domestic and foreign, including Western, competitors. In fact, Sony has upheld these concepts, in regards to their products, to the extent that they cancelled the production of a new television, simply because a rival had placed a similar product on the market. Coupled with the product marketing approach has been the design of products, which is a major feature in the marketing strategy of Sony, this is evident with the Sony Playstation, which has been carefully designed and uniquely developed for the younger target market. In the future, with the dawn of the digital age, Sony must place greater emphasis on the product marketing approach, to achieve sales, if it wishes to maintain its market edge.

This requires, Sony, embracing advanced technology in the manufacturing of its products. The managers of Sony have realized the dilemma, that due to the speed of technological advancements, the products Sony releases today will become obsolete rapidly. Therefore, Sony is continually, incorporating innovation achieved via extensive research and development, to improve and expand upon its products to make them superior to competitors. This approach has lead to the development of several 21st century products to be used to dominate the future electronics market; these products include a portable head-mounted video player, a DVD player, and a new-generation computer. The final approach to marketing by Sony has been the selling approach, Sony, as a multinational firm, has earned a reputation worldwide as being a superior producer market leader, in regards to electronics products. The size of the company allows it to promote its product on a larger scale than that of many of its competitors.

Potential customers are enticed to purchase the firm's product, even if they do not need it, by the array of commercials, catalogues, and other methods, which portray Sony products as being superior. Further, the appearance of Sony's products is heavily marketed as being state of the art, everyone is aware of the black, sleek, elegant, and futuristic appearance of the Sony the products. Sony is a successful international business as it has grown to become one of the world's largest and most influential electronics firms, due to its ability to meet consumer-wants worldwide. This influence over the market is evident as domestic and international competitors wait for Sony to initiate a market trend via the introduction of a product, and then duplicate this, so as to benefit from Sony's success. Furthermore, Sony has come to possess a worldwide reputation, which rivals those of the other multinationals, like Nike and others, a reputation which has made Sony and its products synonymous with quality and superiority in electronics. Sony's is also seen as internationally successful as it has entered many export markets in the world, including Australia, Sony also has established several headquarters in different parts of the world, including America and Europe, which is a testament to its international success.

This worldwide status has enabled Sony to discover changes in consumer wants, new product ideas, and the success of different marketing approaches worldwide. Sony's international success can be attributed to several internal factors, these in the passionate decisions of management, in that they allow the product designers the freedom to experiment and develop the ideas that may lead to a breakthrough for the firm. Further, Sony's success can be attributed to the establishment of a strong corporate culture in the firm, which allows the goals of the firm to be achieved, as managers have ensured everyone is able to focus on the overall picture of the firm. Sony's integration of marketing approaches is another keystone to the firm's international success, as the simultaneous use of the strategies has allowed the firm to better satisfy customer wants, and in turn better achieve its own goals. This success can be attributed, largely, to the role of product marketing in the business, the attitude that 'product is king' has allowed Sony to develop a general direction in which the firm is headed. The use of product marketing has resulted in Sony being able to, use different methods, such as market research and R&D, to discover the wants of customers, and in turn develop products to satisfy these wants, all of which has enabled Sony to gain sales and become successful, internationally.

Product marketing has also allowed Sony to maintain its edge in the electronics market. As Sony's designers are using the market approach to continually develop, improve, and expand upon their products to meet the changing customer needs, this coupled with large-scale promotion of the product, itself, has allowed Sony to maintain its competitive advantage. This approach has also meant that any perceived problems with the products can be easily identified and corrected. Finally, the emphasis on product marketing has allowed Sony to develop products which are encompassing the 'technology of tomorrow today' allowing, Sony to maintain its success well into the future.