MINOR PROJECT REPORT ON

SONY INDIA PVT. LTD.

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirementsfor the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

to

Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi

Under the Guidance of: Submitted byMs. Geetika Shivang GuptaProfessor BBA-III Sem

05080401714

Session 2014 – 17

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTIt is well established fact that behind every achievement lays an unfathomable sea of gratitude to those who have extended their support and without whom the project would never have come into existence.

I express my gratitude to Ms. Geetika for providing me an opportunity to work on this thesis as a part of the curriculum.

(SHIVANG GUPTA)

CONTENTS

Title Page No.

Introduction and Company History

Vision, Mission and objectives of a company

Market Linkages

Financial Linkages

Company Image

Conclusion and Personal Opinion

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION AND COMPANY HISTORY

Introduction

One of the most recognized brand names in the world today, Sony Corporation, Japan,

established its India operations in November 1994, focusing on the sales and marketing

of Sony products in the country. In a span of 12 years Sony India has exemplified the

quest for excellence in the world of digital lifestyle becoming the country’s foremost

consumer electronics brand. With relentless commitment to quality, consistent

dedication to customer satisfaction and unparalleled standards of service, Sony India is

recognized as a benchmark for new age technology, superior quality, digital concepts

and personalized service that has ensured loyal customers and nationwide acclaim in

the industry.

In India, Sony has its footprint across all major towns and cities through a distribution

network comprising of over 7000 channel partners, 215 Sony World and Sony Exclusive

outlets and 21 direct branch locations. Manned by customer friendly and informed sales

persons, Sony’s exclusive stores ‘Sony World’ are fast becoming the most visible face

of the company in India.

Sony India also has a strong service presence across the country with 21 company

owned and 172 authorized service centers. A distinctive feature of Sony’s service is its

highly motivated and well-trained staff that provides the kind of attentive and sensitive

service that is rare today.

Sony is committed to ensuring that both the products and the marketing activities

employed truly make a difference to people’s lifestyles and offer them new dimensions

of enjoyment and an experiences which are ‘like no other’.

Consumer behavior refers to the mental and emotional process and the observable beh

avior of consumers during searching, purchasing and post consumption of a product or

service. Consumer behavior involves study of how people buy, what they buy, when

they buy and why they buy. It blends the elements from psychology, sociology, socio-

psychology ,anthropology and economics. It also tries to assess the influence on the

consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups and society in general.

Buyer behavior has two aspects: the final purchase activity visible to any observer and

the detailed or short decision process that may involve the interplay of a number

of complex variables not visible to anyone.

Consumers are mainly focused on the broad-scale adoption of new technologies that

can empower them in previously unimagined ways. As a result, buying behavior of

consumer is changing to adapting to new technological advances so rapidly that

marketers or the consumer based enterprises sometimes cannot keep pace. To

maintain the pace of consumer for advanced technologies Sony is putting in the effort

over the years in Meerut region and has the limits of possibilities and boggled the mind

with its breakthrough technology. In fact, it won’t be wrong to say that it’s been the soul

of technology for the past few years .Sony cutting-edge digital products have set new

standards in entertainment for Meerut customer. They have enriched and evolved

Meerut people lifestyle. Whether people consider the brilliance of the Sparkling Wage

technology in its color televisions or the incredible color and clarity of BRAVIA in its

LCDs, they are engineering marvels that bring images to life of Meerut people.

HISTORY OF SONY

Sony’s History -- Through The Eyes of the Company’s Leaders

Sony Corporation is one of the best-known names in consumer electronics and ranks

second worldwide in electronics behind Matsushita Electric Corporation. Since it was

established shortly after World War II, Sony has introduced a stream of revolutionary

products, including the transistor radio, the Trinitron television, the Betamax VCR, the

CD player, the Walkman portable cassette player, and the PlayStation game console.

The company's electronics segment--which includes audio and video products,

televisions, personal computers, monitors, computer peripherals, telecommunications

devices, and electronic components (such as semiconductors)--generates about two-

thirds of the overall revenues. Sales of game consoles and software account for about 9

percent of revenues. Another 10 percent of revenues are derived from Sony's music

businesses, which include the Columbia and Epic record labels. About 7 percent of

revenues come from Sony's motion picture and television business, which includes the

Columbia TriStar studio. Sony's other major business segment is insurance, from which

about 6 percent of revenues originate.

Early History: From Tape Recorders to Transistor Radios to the Trinitron

Sony was founded by a former naval lieutenant named Akio Morita and a defense

contractor named Masaru Ibuka. Morita, a weapons researcher, first met Ibuka during

World War II while developing a heat-seeking missile-guidance system and a night-

vision gun scope. After the war Ibuka worked as a radio repairman for a bomb-damaged

Tokyo department store. Morita found him again when he read in a newspaper that

Ibuka had invented a shortwave converter. In May 1946 the two men established a

partnership with $500 in borrowed capital, and registered their company as the Tokyo

Tsushin Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation,

or TTK). Morita and Ibuka moved their company to a crude facility on a hill in southern

Tokyo where they developed their first consumer product: a rice cooker, which failed

commercially. In its first year TTK registered a profit of $300 on sales of less than

$7,000.

The rising popularity of the Sony name led Morita and Ibuka to change the name of their

company to Sony Kabushiki Kaisha (Corporation) in January 1958. The following year

Sony announced that it had developed a transistorized television, which was introduced

in 1960. That same year, after a business dispute with Delmonico International, the

company Morita had appointed to handle international sales, Sony established a trade

office in New York City and another in Switzerland called Sony Overseas.

A subsidiary called Sony Chemicals was created in 1962 to produce adhesives and

plastics to reduce the company's dependence on outside suppliers. In 1965 a joint

venture with Tektronix was established to produce oscilloscopes in Japan.

1970s: Betamax and the Walkman

After a decade of experience in videotape technology, Sony introduced the U-matic

three-quarter-inch videocassette recorder (VCR) in 1971. Intended for institutions such

as television stations, the U-matic received an Emmy Award for engineering excellence

from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In 1973, the year Sony

Overseas created a French subsidiary, the academy honored the Trinitron series with

another Emmy.

Sony developed its first VCR for the consumer market, the Betamax, in 1975. The

following year the Walt Disney Company and Universal Pictures filed a lawsuit against

Sony, complaining that the new machine would enable widespread copyright

infringement of television programs. A judgment in favor of Sony in 1979 was reversed

two years later. Litigation continued, but by the time the matter reached the U.S.

Supreme Court the plaintiffs' original case had been severely undermined by the

proliferation of VCRs, making any legal restriction on copying television programs for

private use nearly impossible to enforce.

Matsushita Electric (which owned half of JVC) developed a separate VCR format called

VHS (video home system), which permitted as many as three additional hours of

playing time on a tape, but which was incompatible with Sony's Betamax. When the

VHS was introduced in 1977, Morita was reported to have felt betrayed that Sony's

competitors did not adopt the Betamax format. He appealed to 81-year-old Konosuke

Matsushita, in many ways a patriarch of Japanese industry, to discontinue the VHS

format in favor of Betamax. When Matsushita refused, many believed it was because he

felt insulted by Morita's failure to offer earlier collaboration.

1980s: CD Player, Video Cameras, CBS Records, Columbia Pictures

During the 1970s, Masaru Ibuka, 12 years Morita's senior, gradually relinquished many

of his duties to younger managers such as Norio Ohga, who was named president of

Sony in 1982. Ohga became president shortly after a corporate reorganization that split

Sony into five operating groups (marketing and sales, manufacturing, service,

engineering, and diversified operations). While not formally trained in business, Ohga

nonetheless understood that Sony was too dependent on an unstable consumer

electronics market. In one of his first acts, he inaugurated the 50-50 program to

increase sales in institutional markets from 15 to 50 percent by 1990.

During this time, Sony's research and development budget consumed approximately 9

percent of sales (Matsushita budgeted only 4 percent). Another groundbreaking result of

Sony's commitment to research and development was a machine that used a laser to

reproduce music recorded digitally on a small plastic disk. The compact disk (or CD)

player, introduced by Sony in 1982, eliminated much of the noise common to

conventional, analog phonograph records. Sony developed the CD in association with

the Dutch electronics firm Philips, partly in an effort to ensure broad format

standardization. Philips, which had developed the most advanced laser technology, was

an ideal partner for Sony, which led in the pulse-code technology that made digital

sound reproduction possible. Soon the CD format was adopted by competing

manufacturers; by the mid-1990s it had virtually replaced phonograph systems as the

recording medium of choice.

1990s and Beyond: PlayStation, VAIO, and the Networked Future

Sony did deliver, however, posting record earnings in 1990 of ¥58.2 billion ($384

million), a 38.5 percent increase over 1989. In 1992, Columbia Pictures and its

subsidiary TriStar jointly captured 20 percent of the U.S. market share, far above the

shares held by competing studios. By this time the entertainment operation had been

renamed Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc.

The complexities of operating a truly multinational corporation, however, began taking

their toll on Sony. Most of the world's largest economies (Europe, Japan, and the United

States) were experiencing a slowdown in the early 1990s. This factor created what

Sony called 'an unprecedentedly challenging operating environment.' Although sales in

most of Sony's businesses increased in 1992, operating income dropped 44 percent to

¥166 billion ($1.2 billion). Net income increased slightly to ¥120 billion.

Chapter 2

VISION, MISSION AND OBJECTIVES OF A

COMPANY

OBJECTIVES

1. To study the buying pattern of people towards consumer goods.

2. To determine the major factors influencing the buying decision process of the

target group.

3. To set out some basic marketing implications for the marketers to cater to

different needs of the targets group.

4. To have some insights on the relationship between marketing stimuli

and youth responses.

5. To serve as guideline for further research in this area

The objective of the study is to ensure that I as a management student develop in real

life for handling the specific project and also to develop all roundness in various

management activities related to the area of my specialization. This project gives me a

substantial corporate exposure and also serves as a useful tool of interaction with the

corporate sector.

The project has been derived from the field of ‘Marketing’ and is entitled as “Buying

Behavior/Need Analysis & Generation of Prospective Customer List for Sony Products

in Delhi”. The main idea behind this project is.

To get an overall view of the product sale, promotion and problem faced by SONY

Products.

To make a knowledge about the market strategy of SONY in India .

From the viewpoint of objectives, a research can be classified as

-descriptive

-co relational

-explanatory

-exploratory

Descriptive research: It attempts to describe systematically a situation, problem,

phenomenon, service or program, or provides information about , say, living condition of

a community, or describes attitudes towards an issue.

Co relational research: It attempts to discover or establish the existence of a

relationship/ interdependence between two or more aspects of a situation.

Explanatory research: It attempts to clarify why and how there is a relationship

between two or more aspects of a situation or phenomenon.

Exploratory research: It is undertaken to explore an area where little is known or to

investigate the possibilities of undertaking a particular research study (feasibility study /

pilot study).

In practice most studies are a combination of the first three categories.

Inquiry Mode:

From the process adopted to find answer to research questions – the two approaches

are:

Structured approach

Unstructured approach

Structured approach:

The structured approach to inquiry is usually classified as quantitative research.

Here everything that forms the research process- objectives, design, sample, and the

questions that you plan to ask of respondents- is predetermined. It is more appropriate

to determine the extent of a problem, issue or phenomenon by quantifying the variation,

e.g. how many people have a particular problem? How many people hold a particular

attitude?

Unstructured approach:

The unstructured approach to inquiry is usually classified as qualitative research.

This approach allows flexibility in all aspects of the research process. It is more

appropriate to explore the nature of a problem, issue or phenomenon without

quantifying it. Main objective is to describe the variation in a phenomenon, situation or

attitude. e,g, description of an observed situation, the historical enumeration of events,

an account of different opinions different people have about an issue, description of

working condition in a particular industry.

Both approaches have their place in research. Both have their strengths and

weaknesses.

In many studies you have to combine both qualitative and quantitative approaches. For

example, suppose you have to find the types of cuisine / accommodation available in a

city and the extent of their popularity.

VISION

“We invite new thinking, so even more fantastic ideas can evolve. We take chances. We exceed expectations. We help dreamers dream.”

“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision,

passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to

completion.” Jack Welch, Chairman, General Electric.

Without a strong, defined vision, most businesses usually fail because

the challenges got too tough – the business fundamentals outweighed

the ‘passion’ and drive. The vision therefore drives the company

through good and bad times. The vision is the purpose and ‘soul’ of

the business.

MISSION

At Sony, our mission is to be a company that inspires and fulfills

your curiosity.

Our unlimited passion for technology, content and services, 

and relentless pursuit of innovation, drives us to deliver 

ground-breaking new excitement and entertainment in ways that

only Sony can.

Creating unique new cultures and experiences.

Everything we do, is to move you emotionally.

BE MOVED

SONY’S PREFERENCE AMONG ITS COMPETITORS

BUYINGROLES

For many products, it is fairly easy to identify the buyer. Many other products involve a

decision making unit consisting of more than one person. Five roles people might play

in a buying decision.

1. Initiator: A person who first suggests the idea of buying the particular product or

service.

2. Influencer: A person whose views or advice carries some weight in making the final

decision.

3. Decider: A person who decides on any component of a buying decision. Whether to

buy, what to buy, how to buy,or where to buy.

4. Buyer: The person who makes the actual purchase.

5. User: A person who consumes or uses the product or service.

A company needs to identify these roles because they have implication for designing

the product, determining and allocating the promotional budget.

PURCHASE DECISION

In evaluation stage, the consumer forms preferences among the brands the choice set.

The consumer may also form a purchase intension to busy the most preferred brand.

The research process is similar to undertaking a journey. For a research journey there

are two important decisions to make-

1) What you want to find out about or what research questions (problems) you want to

find answers to;

2) How to go about finding their answers. There are practical steps through which you

must pass in your research journey in order to find answers to your research questions.

The path to finding answers to your research questions constitutes research

methodology.At each operational step in the research process you are required to

choose from a multiplicity of methods, procedures and models of research methodology

which will help you to best achieve your objectives.

CHAPTER III

MARKET LINKAGES

Sony story

It was in 1946 that Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita together with a small team of

passionate and committed group of employees started to build “Tokyo Tsushin

Kenkyujo” (Totsuko) or “Tokyo Telecommunications Research Institute” into the billion

dollar global conglomerate that it is today. The main objective of the company was to

design and create innovative products which would benefit the people.From early

attempts at creating products like the rice-cooker to the later success of creating

Japan’s first magnetic recorder, the innovative company went on to create other hit

products which won the company widespread recognition and international acclaim as a

truly global company known for its quality and innovative products. Significant product

milestones included Japan’s first transistor radio (1955), Trinitron colour television

(1968), Walkman personal stereo (1979), Handycam video camera (1989), PlayStation

(1994), Blu-ray Disc recorder (2003) and PlayStation 3 (2006).The company name of

Sony was created by combining two words of “sonus” and “sonny”. The word “sonus” in

Latin represents words like sonic sound. The other word “sonny” means little son. Used

in combination, Sony is supposed to represent a very small group of young people who

have the energy and passion towards unlimited creations and innovative ideas. With the

far-sight of expanding worldwide, it was in 1958 that the company formally adopted

“Sony Corporation” as its corporate name. Easy to pronounce and read in any

language, the name Sony, which has a lively ring to it, fits comfortably with the spirit of

freedom and open-mindedness.

List of SONY Products

      BRAVIA

 The era of High Definition has arrived and Sony’s Bravia LCD TVs are here to help you

fully enjoy its advantages. Innovation, creativity and technology come into play in the

creation of our LCD TVs, bringing an unprecedented level of realism and stunning

clarity to your movies, both visually and aurally. With slim and stylish designs, Bravia

LCDs can fit anywhere in your home. Additional features like faster response time and

PC connectivity help create the full entertainment experience.

X Series

Precision colour reproduction and high quality screen resolution are the key factors

when creating the Bravia X-Series. Including features like a Full HD (1920 x 1080) LCD

panel, Live Colour Creation and Sony’s intelligent picture enhancement technology- the

Bravia Engine, your movies will come alive. The X-Series also offers astounding stereo

sound to match the spectacular visuals, providing you a wholesome entertainment

experience. Watching movies at home is never the same again.

W Series

The era of High Definition has arrived and Sony’s Bravia LCD TVs are here to help you

fully enjoy its advantages. Innovation, creativity and technology come into play in the

creation of our LCD TVs, bringing an unprecedented level of realism and stunning

clarity to your movies, both visually and aurally. With slim and stylish designs, Bravia

LCDs can fit anywhere in your home. Additional features like faster response time and

PC connectivity help create the full entertainment experience.

V Series

Enjoy stunning image quality and convenience with Sony’s LCD Bravia V-Series, which

on top of an unprecedented degree of detail, also provides high connectivity, thanks to

the HDMI input that allows you to link up to any other HD sources like Blu-ray players,

PlayStation 3 gaming console and HD camcorders. It delivers an uncompressed, all

digital audio/ video interface between your Bravia TV and any HDMI-equipped

audio/video components. Turn your viewing into an incredible experience now. 

S Series

The Sony Bravia LCD S-Series follows in the Sony Bravia line of high performance and

stylish LCD TVs. Thanks to Sony’s unique S-PVA technology; you can now enjoy vivid

colours, wide viewing angles and quick response time. Designed to be versatile, the S-

Series is equipped with an extensive range of input interfaces; the PC input allows your

TV to double up as a computer monitor; while with HDMI, you can hook your TV up with

other compatible players. Experience the world of high definition now.

G Series

With Sony’s Bravia LCD G series, you get to enjoy stylish design and superior image

and sound quality. Be it for home or office use, you will find the G-series a great

addition. The TVs come with user-friendly navigation, convenient front mounted

controls, and an easily comprehensible remote control. You can also adjust the angle of

the TV to suit viewers’ position with the base stand that can tilt, or choose to mount it on

the wall with the Sony wall mounting bracket.

      Home Theatre System

Combining the latest in video and audio technologies, Sony has developed a series of

Home Theatre Systems that provides you with an enhanced home theatre experience.

Our up scaling DVD players ensure the delivery of the best in video performance while

our Digital Signal Processing guarantees a surround sound environment. Some are

even compatible with the latest digital television and have dedicated audio input for

connecting to your portable digital music players.

      Cyber-shot (Digital Camera)

Everyone can be a photographer with the wide range of Cyber-shot cameras of Sony

that aim to provide you utmost satisfaction. Packed with plentiful features like Super

Steady Shot, High Sensitivity and Real Imaging Processor, you can be sure that each of

our Cyber-shot cameras delivers a superior performance. To complement their

functions, Sony has also developed a series of accessories that specifically caters to

the Cyber-shot range.

      Handycam (Video Camera)

It doesn’t matter if you are making family videos, filming documentaries or developing

feature films. Whatever the purpose, we have the right kind of camcorder you need and

can afford. Sony’s Handycam® Camcorders have a variety of different features and

functions that help deliver spectacular video performances of stunning clarity.

      VAIO

Combining form, function and the latest in technology, Sony provides a range of IT and

computing devices, storage media, accessories and peripherals to better serve all your

IT needs.

      PlayStation

Gaming would not be the same without the invention of the Sony PlayStation series. In

addition to the highly popular PlayStation 2, there’s the handy PlayStation Portable and

next-generation console PLAYSTATION 3. Powerful consoles must be accompanied

with compelling games, and Sony offers games of all genres to match your gaming

preference.

      X-plod

If you spend long hours in your car everyday, it’s important to equip it with enough

entertainment so that you’ll never have a dull moment. Car audio entertainment need

not be limited to just your favorite radio stations or CDs. Thanks to Sony Xplod mobile

entertainment technology, you can enjoy music from more sources. You now can even

experience visual entertainment with our innovative Touch-Screen Multimedia Centre

receiver. Riding the car is never the same experience again.

      Hi-Fi System

Audiophiles need look no further than Sony’s selection of high-power Hi-Fi Systems that

can fill your whole room with high quality stereo sounds, thanks to superb speakers and

powerful components.

      Sony Ericsson

With Sony Ericsson’s colourful and innovative collection of mobile phones, you can

definitely find one that will fit into your lifestyle, budget and shows off your character.

We’ve also created a series of handy mobile phone accessories so you can spruce up

your mobile phone’s appearance, prevent it from damage, or enhance its usage

      WEGA (CRT) TV

It’s all about features, quality, style and price with Sony’s CRT TVs. Our range of CRT

TVs offer analog and digital high-definition inputs, superior audio features and picture-

enhancing technologies for superior visual and aural results.

CHAPTER IV

FINANCIAL LINKAGES

The complexities of operating a truly multinational corporation, however, began taking

their toll on Sony. Most of the world's largest economies (Europe, Japan, and the United

States) were experiencing a slowdown in the early 1990s. This factor created what

Sony called 'an unprecedentedly challenging operating environment.' Although sales in

most of Sony's businesses increased in 1992, operating income dropped 44 percent to

¥166 billion ($1.2 billion). Net income increased slightly to ¥120 billion.

The ongoing appreciation of the yen against most major currencies had an even more

adverse effect on Sony's bottom line in 1993: net income fell a dramatic 70 percent to

¥36 billion ($313 million) on sales of ¥3.99 trillion ($34.4 billion). Had the yen's value

held steady at 1992 figures, Sony's net income would have totaled about ¥190 billion

($1.3 billion).

During that year, Ohga assumed the duties of chief executive in addition to his role as

president. He and Morita responded to Sony's tough economic situation by bolstering

marketing, reducing inventory levels, streamlining operations, and keeping a watchful

control of capital investments. The company also embarked on an extensive

reorganization effort with the goal of decentralizing operations and reducing

unnecessary management. Despite these measures, Sony was unable to stem the

slide. Net income plummeted another 50 percent in 1994 to ¥15 billion, on sales of

¥3.73 trillion.

By this time Morita had relinquished virtually all his duties in the company, having

suffered a stroke in late 1993. In Sony's 1994 annual report, his picture and signature

were conspicuously absent from the letter to shareholders, implicitly announcing Ohga's

new leadership position. Under Morita's leadership, Sony's rise to preeminence in the

world consumer electronics market was almost entirely self-achieved; Sony

outperformed not only its Japanese rivals, among them associates of the

former zaibatsu (conglomerate) companies, but also larger American firms, which by

1995 had all but abandoned the consumer electronics market.

Immediate among Idei's concerns were helping Sony become an integral player in the

information highway industry. He also hoped to help the company establish an industry

standard for DVDs, or digital videodisks, CD-like disks capable of holding full-length

films for play on television screens via players. Once again, Sony had teamed up with

Philips to develop a DVD format, but the partners quickly discovered they were facing a

rival format developed by Toshiba and Time Warner. This rival format quickly gained the

support of a number of the world's consumer electronics powerhouses. Rather than face

a replay of the bloody battle between the Betamax and VHS formats, Sony and Philips

in late 1995 agreed to support the DVD format developed by Toshiba and Time Warner.

Sony subsequently introduced its first DVD player in March 1997.

Meanwhile, Sony unexpectedly entered the video game market in the mid-1990s,

making an immediate splash. The development of the Sony PlayStation had actually

begun in the late 1980s as a joint project with game giant Nintendo Co., Ltd. Nintendo

had agreed to help develop a new game console that would combine the graphic

capabilities of a computer workstation with Sony's CD-ROM drive, but then pulled out of

the project in 1992. Sony decided to develop the new machine solo, introducing the 32-

bit PlayStation to the Japanese market in 1994 and the U.S. market one year later. It

was an immediate and huge success, in part because of the hundreds of software titles

that were quickly available for the console thanks to Sony's ability to entice top

Japanese and U.S. developers to create games for the PlayStation. By 1998, the

PlayStation had grabbed about 40 percent of the worldwide game market, and Sony's

game unit, Sony Computer Entertainment, accounted for 10 percent of the company's

worldwide revenue and a whopping 22.5 percent of its operating income.

During 1999, a year that saw the passing of company cofounder Morita (the other

founder, Ibuka, died in 1997), Idei launched a sweeping reorganization to position the

company for the future--in Sony's vision, 'the network era of the 21st century.' In March

1999 Sony announced that it planned to cut its workforce by 10 percent and its

manufacturing capacity by one-third before 2003. The cutbacks were slated for areas

where growth had been slowing: analog televisions, VCRs, and Walkmans. The

company planned to increase the amount of resources committed to such hot areas as

digital products and the PlayStation, as well as placing increased emphasis on

developing software, hardware, and services for the new networks that were beginning

to emerge at the end of the 20th century--home networks, broadband networks,

wireless networks. For Idei, the key for Sony was a historic shift in focus: hardware had

traditionally driven product development, but Idei instead wanted software development

and services to drive hardware design.

Perhaps the first example of such an approach came with the 2000 introduction of the

Sony PlayStation 2. Although it was a technical marvel featuring high-end 3-D graphics

and more processing power than most desktop PCs, the 128-bit PlayStation 2 was

much more than a souped-up version of the original. It was of course designed for game

software but it was not just a game console, having been conceived as a home

entertainment center. Its DVD drive not only played game software but also audio CDs

and DVD movies. It had the capability of connecting to the Internet and as such could

be used as a broadband device controlling an Internet-connected home network.

Despite manufacturing difficulties that limited production during the first year, the

PlayStation 2 had a stellar debut, with about nine million units sold in the first 12

months. The high costs associated with developing and manufacturing the machines,

however, depressed profits at Sony for the 2001 fiscal year. Also in the wake of its

debut came rival Sega's exit from the game console business in favor of concentrating

on developing game titles for other companies' machines, including the PlayStation 2.

Sony continued to face competition in the game field from Nintendo, which planned to

release a new machine in the fall of 2001, and faced the prospect of a new competitor,

Microsoft Corporation, which was also planning a fall 2001 release of its XBox machine.

In June 2000 Idei was named chairman and CEO of Sony, while Kunitake Ando, who

had headed the VAIO unit, was named president and COO. Rounding out the new

management team was Teruhisa Tokunaka, a former head of the PlayStation unit, who

was named deputy president and CFO. The new team faced a myriad of challenges in

the rapidly changing high-tech world of the early 21st century. One example was in

Sony's music business, which was being rocked by the industry-wide threat of the

rampant and unauthorized downloading of digital music files over the Internet. Sony

joined other music giants in suing Napster, the most obvious threat to their hegemony.

The company also entered into a joint venture with Vivendi Universal S.A. to develop an

online subscription service that would allow music downloads through what was called a

'virtual jukebox.' Such a service was part of a new push by Sony into broadband

delivery of the audio and video material owned by its content arms. With its aggressive

moves in the areas of games, networking, and delivery of digital content, Sony was

almost certain to remain a frontrunner in the ever broadening field of consumer

electronics and related platforms and services.

Chronology

Key Dates:

1946: Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka found Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo Kabushiki

Kaisha (TTK).

1950: TTK introduces the first Japanese tape recorder.

1955: TTK begins selling Japan's first transistor radio; company goes public.

1958: Company's name is changed to Sony Corporation.

1960: Sony introduces the world's first transistor television.

1968: The revolutionary Sony Trinitron color television debuts; Sony enters the

record business through a joint venture with CBS Inc.

1975: Company launches the Betamax VCR.

1979: The Sony Walkman is introduced.

1982: Sony introduces the first CD player.

1985: Company introduces its first 8mm video camera.

1987: CBS Records, and its Epic and Columbia labels, is acquired for $2 billion.

1989: Columbia Pictures is acquired for $3.4 billion.

1994: The Sony PlayStation debuts.

1997: The VAIO line of PCs for the home market is launched.

2000: The PlayStation 2, featuring enhanced graphics, processing power, and

DVD and broadband capabilities, is released.

CHAPTER V

COMPANY IMAGE

Company Perspectives:

Recognizing that environmental protection is one of the most pressing issues facing

mankind today, Sony incorporates a sound respect for nature in all of its business

activities. With this philosophy, Sony has defined environmental conservation as an

important part of its management strategy. The Sony Group has created a global action

plan and conducts environmental preservation programs. This program has five core

components: reducing the environmental impact of business activities and production

processes; designing environmentally sensitive products and promoting recycling;

developing environmental technologies; promoting the environmental education and full

participation of Sony employees; and disclosing environmental information to the public.

Sony: The Leader in Product Innovation

The new millennium is here and Sony has plenty to celebrate. The company’s approach

– doing what others don’t – has paid off, in the form of great products that people covet.

Throughout its history, Sony has demonstrated an ability to capture the imagination and

enhance people’s lives. The company has been at the cutting edge of technology for

more than 50 years, positively impacting the way we live. Further, few companies are as

well positioned to drive the digital age into homes and businesses around the world for

the next 50 years and beyond.

Sony innovations have become part of mainstream culture, including: the first magnetic

tape and tape recorder in 1950; the transistor radio in 1955; the world’s first all-

transistor TV set in 1960; the world’s first color video cassette recorder in 1971; the

Walkman personal stereo in 1979; the Compact Disc (CD) in 1982; the first 8mm

camcorder in 1985; the MiniDisc (MD) player in 1992; the PlayStation game system in

1995; Digital Mavica camera in 1997; Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) player in 1998; and

the Network Walkman digital music player in 1999.

Today, Sony continues to fuel industry growth with the sales of innovative Sony

products, as well as with the company’s convergence strategy. Examples include: VAIO

notebooks that raise the bar in both form and function; digital cameras that capture

pictures on a floppy disk, CD-R or Memory Stick; a handheld device that lets you store

and view photos as well as moving photo; MiniDisc recorders with a digital PC Link to

marry high quality digital audio with downloadable music; DVD/CD multi-disc changers

that playback both audio and video; digital network recorders that pause, rewind and

fast-forward "live" television using a hard-disc drive; and Hi-Scan flat screen TVs that

deliver near HDTV picture quality through Digital Reality Creation (DRC) circuitry.

But Sony is not just the market leader in consumer electronics.

Through research and development, the company has made considerable inroads in

the areas of professional broadcasting (with the creation of the Betacam, DVCAM,

HDCAM and 24P formats); mobile communications (with digital phones and the CLIE

handheld); PCs (with VAIO notebook and desktop computers); storage and media (with

the invention of the floppy disk, AIT and DTF drives, and the Memory Stick) and, now,

the Internet.

Sony’s future brand success will be determined by how the company meets the

challenges of change. Sony has always led the market in terms of innovation. But in a

digital networked world, products will no longer be developed with just hardware in

mind. The convergence of technologies – consumer electronics, computing and

telecommunications – is a reality, with new competitors forming and consumer

mindshare up for grabs.

SONY EMERGED AS THE MOST FAVORITE BRAND OF CONSUMERS

Broadband Network Era

Sony is a corporation with convergence at its very heart. Driven by an integrated

business model, the company is well positioned to bring new benefits to consumers by

combining hardware, software, content and services.

Sony’s approach is to make it possible for consumers to enjoy various forms of content

on both "home networks," consisting of connected electronic devices, and "mobile

networks" that are accessible through mobile terminals.

Products such as the i.LINK® interface and Memory Stick® digital storage media

provide greater connectivity between digital devices and will help create seamless home

and personal networks.

From a hardware perspective, Sony’s strategy is focused on four gateways to the

networked world: 1) Digital televisions and set-top boxes; 2) VAIO personal computers;

3) Mobile devices, such as the CLIE handheld devices and digital phones; and 4)

PlayStation2 game consoles.

The company’s software strategy includes the development of new audio-visual

applications designed to personalize technology. Recent examples include updated

Open MG Jukebox music management software, and digital video editing products,

such as PictureGear, MovieShaker and DVGate.

Sony’s vision is to give consumers easy, ubiquitous access to entertainment and

information anytime, anywhere – no matter whether the content comes from cable,

satellite, terrestrial, packaged media or the Internet.

In the company’s view, the Internet is an "e.Playground" where consumers can collect,

share and manage everything from data and text information, to digital images, movie

clips and music. The result: New ways to enjoy Sony products.

Sony is also giving consumers new reasons to visit the Internet, including the recent

launch of SonyStyle.com, a new information rich, e-commerce site for everything Sony.

Designed to build a closer relationship between Sony and its customers, the site will

offer a variety of commerce, content, community and connectivity options planned for

the near future.

Other new service offerings include www.ImageStation.com and www.eMarker.com.

ImageStation.com helps consumers create, share and enjoy digital pictures and video.

The service offers free online albums and eCards, and members can share their favorite

pictures as gifts, keepsakes and high-quality prints in a variety of sizes. Select Sony

hardware and accessories are also available for purchase in the ImageStation.com

store.

eMarker.com is an online service that puts an end to the most frustrating part of hearing

a song on the radio -- not knowing the title or the artist’s name. By pressing the button

on the tiny eMarker device, people can "eMark" songs they hear on the radio and locate

the information through the site.

Sony has been at the forefront of the movement to help consumers adopt digital

lifestyles, which, in a broadband network era, means helping them maximize the power

and control found within digital technology.

However, even in this broadband network era, one fact about Sony remains the same:

the company’s fundamental philosophy of providing products that are fun to use.

Sony’s vision is not necessarily about refrigerators talking to toasters. It’s about bringing

to market products that capture the imaginations of consumers and enhance their lives

in the process.

In the future, look for Sony to create entirely new forms of entertainment, blending

movies, computer generated worlds, games and music. Sony has the vision, technology

and content to forge a direction in consumer entertainment that no other company can

match.

Promoting a World Class Brand

The phenomenal strength of the Sony brand worldwide is surely a testament to the

company’s reputation for producing innovative products of exceptional quality and

value. And while traditional brand theory says brand essence should be narrowed down

to one element, Sony celebrates brand diversity -- with the Trinitron, VAIO and

Walkman sub-brands, to name just a few, each connecting with consumers across

various lifestyle segments.

Sony has the brand recognition and marketing savvy to create new product categories

and revitalize mature ones. Look no further than what the company did with the

Walkman brand and for the MiniDisc format.Sony, the company that changed the way

the world listens to music with the introduction of the Walkman personal stereo, again

set its sights on transforming the portable music landscape when it kicked off a

comprehensive, integrated marketing campaign to relaunch the Walkman brand in June

2000.

Titled "The Walkman Has Landed," the marketing campaign, which included broadcast,

print and online advertising; Internet and dealer events/promotions; and grassroots

consumer and public relations components; strategically communicated the lifestyle

attributes of the Sony Walkman line to generation Y, its primary target market.

Additionally, the campaign brought together an entirely new product line up comprised

of CD Walkman, MD Walkman and Network Walkman personal digital audio players.

The company knew that it needed to reinvent the Walkman brand for today’s younger,

more digitally inclined music lovers. (To many, the brand had become generic,

representing "older," analog-based cassette technology.) Sony promoted a new

Walkman ideology based on personal freedom, independence, imagination and

creativity in a way that appealed to new techno-savvy, style-conscious consumers who

favor digital downloading and ripping CDs.

The star of the television commercial from the campaign is an alien character named

Plato, who is "quintessentially diverse and knows how to have fun." His persona offers

Gen Y a bit of humor and a good dose of enjoyment.

Another example of Sony’s ability to reposition itself and its products is found in the

MiniDisc. A huge success in Japan, where it has become the dominant recording

format, MD did not become a success in the U.S. until it was marketed as a digital

music player that could record from the Internet. With its inexpensive media and

versatility (units are capable of recording Internet music, tracks from personal CD

collections and favorite songs off the radio), MD has become a gen Y favorite. U.S.

sales have increased by more than 40% since the MD to PC link was introduced.

However, the company doesn’t just rely on brilliantly executed advertising campaigns to

secure consumer attention. The company utilizes world class public relations to

enhance Sony’s value, reputation and brand image. Communications campaigns are

conducted on both an individual product and strategic platform basis. This process

ensures exposure for the company’s most important products as well as for the

company’s role in key industry issues that cross multiple product categories and

disciplines, including electronic music distribution and digital television

Brand Values

When remarking about the importance of the Sony brand name, consider this quote

from Chairman of the Board, Norio Ohga: "In April of every year a large number of new

employees join the company. And what I always say to them is that we have many

marvelous assets here. The most valuable asset of all are the four letters, S, O, N, Y. I

tell them, make sure the basis of your actions is increasing the value of these four

letters. In other words, when you consider doing something, you must consider whether

your action will increase the value of SONY, or lower its value."

In the minds of consumers, Sony is one of the world’s greatest brands -- the company

was once again rated the number one brand in the U.S. by the 2000 Harris poll. As

noted, much of the brand equity Sony enjoys is rooted in product innovations.

However, to ensure the future of its brand, the company recently embarked on an

extensive, company-wide initiative in the U.S. designed to foster a common

understanding of the Sony brand among employees, customers and consumers. The

project, dubbed Being Sony, was necessitated because of expansive company growth,

an influx of new employees, and converging business opportunities.

Sony executives felt the need to clearly articulate the meaning and values inherent in

the Sony brand (to both internal and external constituencies), while re-examining the

unique relationship of the brand in American culture.

Despite involvement in disparate businesses, the company’s desire is to leverage the

brand beyond the products -- the primary touchpoint with consumers, and add to the

brand’s value by re-focusing it to the outside world.

In essence, Sony, the box manufacturer, is being replaced by a new Sony – a

customer-centric entity centered around broadband entertainment, yet driven by the

venture spirit of Sony’s founding days.

We Help Dreamers Dream

Sony is a company devoted to the CELEBRATION of life. We create things for every

kind of IMAGINATION. Products that stimulate the SENSES and refresh the spirit. Ideas

that always surprise and never disappoint. INNOVATIONS that are easy to love, and

EFFORTLESS to use, things that are not essential, yet hard to live without.

We are not here to be logical. Or predictable. We’re here to pursue INFINITE

possibilities. We allow the BRIGHTEST minds to interact freely, so the UNEXPECTED

can emerge. We invite new THINKING so even more fantastic ideas can evolve.

CREATIVITY is our essence. We take chances. We EXCEED expectations. We help

dreamers DREAM.

Things You Didn’t Know About Sony

Sony’s first product was a rice cooker

Sony establishes its first major overseas operation in New York City (514 Broadway) in

1960 with a capital investment of $500,000. Sony becomes the first Japanese company

in the United States to make a public offering of 2 million shares of common stock in the

form of American Depository Receipts (ADRs) in 1961.

In 1986, Walkman was included in the Oxford English DictionaryBefore the Walkman personal stereo became a worldwide brand name, it was introduced under a variety of names, including the Soundabout in the U.S., the Stowaway in the UK and the Freestyle in Australia.

CONCLUSIONS

AND

PERSONAL OPINIONS

CONCLUSION

Before taking up the aspect of respondents buying behavior, few points about the

sample are to be considered.

      The sample size was 100, consisting the SHASTRI Nagar, Sectors and malls

of Meerut.

      Respondents mainly belong to the age groups 20 to 30 years.

      Respondents mainly belong to the Monthly income group of 10,000 – 15,000.

      Most of the respondents are Graduates and Post Graduates.

      All respondents are resident of Meerut.

      Sample consists of youth belonging to different socio-economic group. But a

majority of respondents belonged to the middle class.

The study is in limited sample.

People working there are not interested in filling the questionnaires.

It was the tough time to get response from the customers.

Time was a limitation with the quantum of data collected, hence analysis became

difficult.

The nature of project, which sometimes entered into personal zones like age,

income etc. created some difficulties during data collection.

There could have been efforts on a much detailed scale, but since time was

limited, the scope got limited.

As simple random sampling methods was adopted, the responders

(units) selected by simple random sampling method was from different places,

this causes a great deal of inconvenience.

Over all analysis :

60 % says that SONY is the favourite brand of electronic products.

30 % says that SAMSUNG is the favourite brand of electronic products.

8 % says that LG is the favourite brand of electronic products.

15 % says that they know about the HANDYCAM.

5 % says that they know about the PLAY STATION.

they know about the SONY ERICSSON.

5 % says that they have buyed BRAVIA or having interested to buy.

10 % says that they have buyed CYBER SHOT or having interested to buy.

15 % says that they have buyed VAIO or having interested to buy.

2 % says that they have buyed X-PLOD or having interested to buy.

8 % says that they have buyed HANDYCAM or having interested to buy.

5 % says that they have buyed PLAY STATION or having interested to buy.

10 % says that they have buyed WALK MAN or having interested to buy.

20 % says that they have buyed SONY ERICSSON MOBILE or having

interested to buy.

56 % like to buy the sony products from SONY WORLD.

26 % like to buy the sony products from SONY EXCLUSIVE.

18 % like to buy the sony products from MULTI BRAND COUNTER.

50 % are SATISFIED with the PRICE RANGE of sony.

50 % are NOT SATISFIED with the PRICE RANGE of sony.

18 % are HIGHLY SATISFIED with the QUALITY of the sony products.

68 % are SATISFIED with the QUALITY of the sony products.

8 % are INDIFFERENT with the QUALITY of the sony products.

PERSONAL OPINION

Only 60 % says that SONY is the favourite brand of electronic products.So they

have to create the awareness of their product to the other 40% people.

Marketers should have innovate new products with unique features having some

multipurpose utility which could create an appeal to the customers, for example,

company can manufacture those Cyber-Shot cameras having the capacity of 30

to 40 GB hard Disk memory which record up to 20Hrs to 27Hrs of video

Recording as Hard Disk Drive Handy-cam can do.

In case of price, price of products should not be too high. Marketer should follow

the strategy of ‘Good quality and services in fewer prices’. That can attract

customers.

It was seen that generally customers like to visits those outlets which are

frequently visited by other customers, customers generally prefer Multibrands

counters because lots of products can be seen at on place (including Sony

products), so Sony Exclusive have to sharp look on the updated version Sony

products at there showroom.

Regarding promotion marketers Sony Exclusive must build up unique

imageryappeal for their Sony products through advertisement (For example like

Sony has an imagery of quality).

More intense research works should be initiated, studying the specific needs and

attributes sorted by the customer for different kinds of product categories.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://yanyong91.blogspot.in/2011/02/introduction-of-sony-company.html

https://news.sel.sony.com/en/corporate_information/sony_brand

http://compareindia.in.com/companyprofile.php?id=51

http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/61/Sony-Corporation.html

http://www.echeat.com/free-essay/Sony-Company-Profile-History-and-Culture-

and-SWOT-27662.aspx

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/History/history.html#page_body_hp

http://www.sony.co.in/article/212772/section/sonysstory

http://www.sony.co.in/article/342596/section/sonysstory

http://www.sony.co.in/article/211979/section/overview