Sony Xperia Marketing Plan

The main marketing objective for Sony Mobile is to increase their sales and take a bigger part on a smartphone market after Sony realized a single platform operating structure for its mobile business. (Sony, 2013, STRENGTHENING CORE AREAS)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strategies

Brand Strategy

After the consolidation with Sony Mobile, the company plans and already started the “One Sony” strategy to produce phones that would gain functions from other Sony devices like cameras, TV’s, laptops, pads etc. As a result of these forecasts, Sony plans to achieve target sales of 1.8 trillion yen in FY14 from mobile business and significantly increase their profit. (2012, SONY OUTLINES DETAILS OF “ONE SONY” STRATEGY; CONFIRMS FOCUS ON MOBILE)

 

Company Strategy

After a bad financial year, the company has launched a number of initiatives aimed at revitalizing its business. The strategic plan called «One Sony» is intended to draw attention to the markets of games, mobile technology and digital image processing. As planned by the management of the company, the new plan will allow to profit from these three lines of business in the amount of 70% of the total sales of all goods and services Sony.

In the gaming sector, Sony plans to release new games for PC and PS3 consoles, as well as improve service subscription to PlayStation Network. In addition, Sony is also preparing its best games for the line of tablets and devices Vaio. If all goes well, the gaming segment of the market the Japanese electronics giant hopes to get to the 2014 fiscal year, a profit of $ 12.4 billion.

As for the digital imaging technology, Sony hopes to strengthen its position through the development of new types of image sensors, advanced signal processing technologies, lenses and other key technologies of digital image processing. It is expected that digital cameras and camcorders, created on the basis of new components and technologies will be released to the markets of consumer electronics and professional equipment. (2012, "ONE SONY" INITIATIVE TO FOCUS ON THREE KEY MARKETS TO REVITALIZE BUSINESS)

Segmentation

Bases, Characteristics & measurement

In recent years the mobile phone market rapidly increased. And every year mobile phones get more intelligent. In previous times a cell phone was a device to make calls and SMS; but nowadays phones are mini computers that can store and process information. Moreover modern smartphones can provide the customer with all needed components like email, internet, entertainment and communication. The external design of phones nowadays is also different. They vary from large touch screened to old-style buttoned phones. New types of phones are published every year. It’s happening because of technological progress and customers’ constantly changing demand. Market segmentation is necessary for the producers to make a clear vision on the situation and find needed segment to act.

According to Kotler, there are four main segmentation dimensions that are mostly used:

(KOTLER, 2003, MARKETING MANAGEMENT)

Nowadays smartphones have their own operating system. Most of them work under Android OS. But some of mobile phone producers merged is past with operating system developers. Such companies are Apple with their iOS, Blackberry with their own OS and Nokia with Symbian OS in past and Windows Mobile now. That is why Sony is not segmenting the current smartphone market, because it is already segmented for Android/iPhone/Windows/Blackberry phones. But Sony is not aiming to reach 1^st place on only Android phones segment, the company plans to aim the whole smartphone market, and their current mission is to reach top 3.

Of course some can say that we could segment the mobile smartphone market by their key abilities. We could divide the existing market on subcategories depending on the phones’ primary merit. This kind of segmentation was actual 3 years ago and earlier. At these times marketers could segment the phone market at following sections:

• Camera Phones. The mobile phones that can take high quality pictures and videos.
• Music Phones. Phones that can produce high quality sound. A branded headset is usually an addition to these phones.
• E-mail Phones. Devices that have best encryption system and compatibility to popular mailing systems like Outlook and Lotus.
• Entertainment phones. These phones allow user full access to entertainment like games and internet browsing.
• Fashion phones. The phones with unique design or jewelry incrusted.
• Low-budget Phones. The type of smartphones that have a low price, of course they have worse characteristics than the expensive ones.

All these categories were actual for SonyEricsson at that time. Before 2010 the company targeted different segments using different phone models. For example Walkman phones were their major in Music phones category; Cybershot phones were the major in Camera phones segment.

But these days Sony aims the whole market using one brand – Xperia. There is a wide phone lineup in this brand from low-budget phones to the top model Xperia Z, which can be reviewed as a phone to all categories as it contains a superb camera, branded sound, e-mail encryption support, has all the entertainment features and look stylish as well. So there is no any reason to segment the market as the brand meets all the requirement of possible segmentation by category.

Regarding the Kotler’s model of segmentation there is no need to segment the market by geographic location, as the mobile phones are sold everywhere. And there is no need to segment it by demographic, psychographic, behavioral as the lineup fits all the constituent parameters.

 

 

Positioning

Sony Xperia smartphones are positioned as a modern, innovative and high-tech brand. Consumers choose Sony because of their unique design in addition to already acknowledged new technologies implemented in their phones. The most important differences of for example Xperia Z in comparison with top competitors are:

• Waterproof and dustproof case;
• HDR Video camera with 13MP photo camera;
• Durable case and screen.

As it can be seen Sony made a serious attempt to capture more part on the market after creating a phone which is more durable than iPhone, has stylish look, can compete in technical characteristics with Samsung.

In January, Sony presented the new Xperia Z for the first time. Because of the internet, PR, YouTube and social networks, Sony started the domino effect of promoting the product to the public. Different tech sites published their reviews; 2 million people watched the advertisement and discussed it on YouTube. Sony kept promoting their new product via internet during 2 months. Finally after everybody got introduced to the new phone, it was published in the beginning of March. The company launched the process of advertising in internet, now their followers and different tech-sites follow the trend and continue the chain of promotion. Below is describe an example of Xperia positioning on a smartphone market.

Marketing Mix

Product Decisions

In this section we will review the Xperia phones lineup key attributes:

• Xperia L. HDR photo camera with 8MP quality. 4.3 inch display with high resolution. The one touch NFC connection function. The long lasting battery with the “stamina” function.
• Xperia SP. The LED line indicator that is on whenever user missed something. 4.6 inch HD display with Mobile Bravia Engine 2 technology. Ability to connect to any Sony device via WiFi, DLNA or MHL.
• Xperia ZL. 5inch display with full HD resolution. The optimized “Opticontrast” display glass. 13MP Exmor RS camera. The perfectly shaped OmniBalance phone case made of high-quality materials. Quadcore processor with 2GB of RAM memory. Adreno 320 video card for the perfect entertainment. 4G internal modem for a faster internet connection. HD Voice technology decreases the excess noise and increases the sound quality.
• Xperia Z. Same characteristics as Xperia ZL, but this phone has the water/dust proof case. Phone’s width is 7.0mm; that makes him light and stylish. Durable case made of materials that will prevent physical damage.
• Xperia E. Walkman music player with xLoud function.
• Xperia E dual. 2 SIM cards function. Characteristics are same as Xperia E.
• Xperia V. 50Gb cloud storage for private files. PlayStation games certified.
• Xperia J. The unique 4 inch screen and curved phone’s shape. NFC tags function to easily connect phone to any device.
• Xperia miro. 4 different colors available. 3.5 inch display with 5MP camera. Easy connection to a TV-set using DLNA interface.
• Xperia tipo dual. Same specifications as “J” model but the phone can operate with 2 SIM cards.
• Xperia i-on. 12MP ion HSPA camera along with 4.6 inch HD display.
• Xperia SL. Face detection screen locker. Walkman music player with manual equalizer.
• Xperia acro S. Waterproof phone with HD screen and 12MP camera.
• Xperia tipo. Compact sized phone for users that prefer the small sized, but efficient phones.
• Xperia Go. 3.5 inch waterproof and durable phone.
• Xperia U. 4 Colored 3.5 inch display smartphone with easy-replaceable bottom panels. The LED notification indicator flashes depending on the picture color.
• Xperia P. 4 inch display with 8 MP photo camera. Phone’s cover is made of durable aluminum.
• Xperia Sola. “Floating Touch” touchscreen technology that lets user to operate the phone without touching the screen.
• Xperia S. 4.3 inch display with 12MP photo camera. PlayStation games certified.

 

Pricing Decisions

Because of Xperia wide model lineup; the prices for Xperia phones vary from 500RM for Xperia E to 2200RM for Xperia Z. In order to increase the market shares, Sony can adapt and use different appropriate pricing strategies to different target audiences.

Psychological pricing strategy is currently in use by Sony. According to the company’s official stores the prices for their phones are always with 89 or 99 in the end. For example price for Xperia Z is 1999RM. This trick is used by many companies as it visually decreases unit’s price in the consumers’ minds.  

The next strategy which can be used by Sony is bundling price strategy. For example, when customer buys an expensive phone, they will get free gift, such as NFC tags or additional case. Additionally, it can be another example; “Buy Xperia phone and Xperia Speaker” for price lower than these two items combined.

Prices for top models of Sony Xperia are quite high. But in comparison with top phones from Apple, Samsung and HTC, Xperia prices are competitive and usually are less.

Distribution Decisions

The company is currently operating by Manufacturer-Retailer-Consumer channel or straight Manufacturer-Consumer. Sony has their own online store where all their products can be ordered. Plus the company has a list of their certified retailers, who are allowed to sell Sony products in their stores. Usually the retail partners are well prepared, trained and have required knowledge of the products. The last option of company’s distribution is mobile operators that sell Sony phones with mobile operator service contracts.

Promotion Decisions

The Promotional activities are mainly done through advertising. Sony Ericsson has been sponsoring WTA tours. The Brand Ambassadors of the company include many tennis stars such as Maria Sharapova, pop stars and actors in different countries. The company has also adopted the method of Sales Promotion by giving free gifts or use of “Scratch Card”.

As described earlier, Sony started to promote their new Xperia Z 2 months before the official release date. The company made 1 presentation and published a video promotion on youtube and social networks. The rest of the work did chain reaction of observers, specialists and possible customers.

Another promotional activity is the deals with local mobile providers. For example DiGi offer Sony Xperia Z for 1029RM; but you have to sign a two year contract and use one of the offered DiGi mobile plans.

Below is displayed the Gantt chart which shows company’s main activities on Xperia brand during 2013:

Subject

Quarter 1

Quarter 2

Quarter 3

Quarter 4

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Advert

Retailers' training

Mobile operators' training

New phone development

New sponsorship

Budgets

Below is shown an income statement table for the past 5 years of Sony Corporation (in USD):

As we can see on table the company’s total revenue bounced every year and there was no any constant growth in sales as it were always ups and downs. Let’s try to calculate the average growth in sales for the last 5 years = ⁴√(Sales 2012/Sales 2008)-1

Sales in 2008 = $ 88 700 000 000

Sales in 2012 = $ 78 400 000 000

Average annual growth in sales = ⁴√(78 400 000 000/88 700 000 000)-1 = -3.03%

As we can see the average annual growth in sales is negative. So there’s no possibility to forecast the sales for the next years using this method. (2013, SONY INCOME STATEMENT)

Sales Forecasts and Budgets

As it was mentioned earlier, Sony plans to significantly increase their revenue and net profit for the financial year 2014; especially after publishing Xperia Z. Below is the table for the possible net profit for the next 3 years for Sony. Also the company is in process of selling several of their buildings in USA and Japan that will add a huge value into their annual profit for 2014. Sony plans to reach $400 million of net income by the end of 2013 fiscal year. (2013, SONY DOUBLES FULL-YEAR PROFIT FORECAST TO $400 MILLION)

The official earnings announcement will be made on May 9.

 

- Periods 1-5 Years, Costs

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=SNE+Income+Statement&annual

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GROSS,1989, P43]