Company Case Sony: Battling the Marketing Environment’s “Perfect Storm”
With all the hype these days about companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, and Samsung,
it’s hard to remember that companies like Sony once ruled. In fact, not all that long ago, Sony
was a high-tech rock star, a veritable merchant of cool. Not only was it the world’s largest
consumer electronics company, its history of innovative products—such as Trinitron TVs,
Walkman portable music players, Handycam video recorders, and PlayStation video game
consoles—had revolutionized entire industries. Sony’s innovations drove pop culture, earned
the adoration of the masses, and made money for the company. The Sony brand was revered
as a symbol of innovation, style, and high quality.
Today, however, Sony is more a relic than a rock star, lost in the shadows of today’s
high-fliers. While Sony is still an enormous company with extensive global reach, Samsung
overtook the former market leader as the world’s largest consumer electronics company a
decade ago and has been pulling away ever since. Likewise, Apple has pounded Sony with
one new product after another. “When I was young, I had to have a Sony product,”
summarizes one analyst, “but for the younger generation today it’s Apple.” All of this has
turned Sony’s current “Make. Believe.” brand promise into one that is more “make-believe.”
Sony’s declining popularity among consumers is reflected in its financial situation. For the
most recent year, Samsung and Apple each tallied revenues exceeding $170 billion—more
