Marketing Plan for Sony Company Limited

The Sony Company’s limited core objective is to benefit and facilitate entertainment to everyone whom its products reach. The company which has been operational for years is the world leader in manufacturing, marketing and distribution of electronic products which are used by over 500,000 million consumers, and this makes it one of the companies that have a larger market share of the electronic goods such as video games, television, and refrigerators among other popular electronic brands. The company’s corporate headquarters are located in USA and it has other regional and operational centers in over 200 countries around the globe. The company’s brand of products covers all areas of the entertainment products. The company is third leading player in producing entertainment products such as radios. The company’s products are ranked number one as being the products that have high quality in comparison with other electronic products.

 Description of the new innovative product and its strategic role in the future prospects of the company

The new TV and game console brand will be packed in unique packs and positioned as the only unique entertainment product, which the user has the ability to use his/her voice to activate the video game by switching it on or off by usage of one’s voice, that is available in the entertainment industry market. This product will open a new dimension in the entertainment sector of any given region in the world. The product will present itself as a new and alternative to traditional TV and game console that have always been operated by use of remotes or manually. This product opens a new age of innovation in the world of video games.

The strategic role of the new innovative TV and game console for the Sony Company limited is built around three objectives;

v  To provide avenue for strengthening and satisfying growing needs of a generation that is adventurous, with product that catches the eyes of the consumers.

v  To be a leader in marketing and manufacturing and successful launcher of innovative products in the entertainment industry.

v  To grow and become a leader in the market segment of entertainment products by increasing its current shares of the market.

 Situational analysis

Analysis of the industry

Consumption - the sale revenues realized from the sales of the current company products in the segment of video games in UK has managed to reach $ 500 million in 2009 for a volume of about 100million video game placed for sale in the UK market. This segment of the entertainment products has shown a desirable growth since 2000 with a reflection of an increase of 14% for a period of over 9 years. Per capita consumption in 2009 managed to 100 million sales volumes for video games, and this reflects a 5% increase in comparison with 2000. There is a likely situation where particular market segments are going to slow due to the slowing shift in various consumer trends.

Reviewing the trends in the early 1980s, video games were very popular with Sony in the mind of many customers. In the late 1990s and early 2000, however, this situation changed after video games from other companies, became more popular among the consumers. The Sony TVs and radios responded through expansion of the products that they have placed in the market through various alliances by other companies that were producing electronic products in various regions of the world, as well as in the area of acquisition. The company also placed a lot of emphasis on diversification of its portfolio of products. Currently, while the demand for entertainment products has increased in 2009, the sales volume for video games is declining due to the shift in the large proportion of customers who have opted to other means of entertainment, such as online games.

Sony Company limited has been involved in designing and development of new TV games to counter the growing concerns over the shift recorded which are likely to have a negative impact on the sales volume of the company in the nearest future. The entertainment segment of the market is expected to indicate growth and future consumer interests by shifting their consumption in innovative TV and game console video games.

Future growth potentials and profitability, with the promising growth that have been recorded in the company’s sales volume of the video games for the last 9 years, there is a high probability of the company realizing notable increases in sales volumes in future. With introduction of this new product, TV and game console video product will greatly transform the company’s market share. The company has a high potential of beating the current giants in production of video games within the next 2 years.                                 

SWOT Analysis

          Strengths

1. Results from earlier operations.
2. Existence of strong and outstanding distribution channels.
3. Effective strides in the new product markets.
4. Strong company’s brand.

            Weaknesses

1. Over reliance upon line extension.
2. Dilution of the brand.
3. Over reliance on some electronic products.
4. Entering into complicated non-core categories.
5. Over saturation of the entertainment market segment.

            Opportunities

1. Introduction of the new brand
2. Global attractiveness of the brand to various partners around the globe

            Threats

1. Existence of free trade.
2. Strong competition.
3. Potential health complications.

Competition

Sony’s top competitors for electronic goods, especially game products, are LG which is 32.7% and Wega star which is 17.3 % of the market share; these, when combined, constitute 50% of the total market share for electronic goods. Sony is the market leader with a market share of 40.8% of the total electronic entertainment products market.

In the video games segment of the market, Phillips Company are the market leader with 70% of the overall market share in 2009, while Sony co ltd is the second company with a market of 29.3%.  TV and game console brand will launch in the market, and it is currently unavailable in the market; this creates a potential of exploiting the existing market, as well as the new market that has not yet been reached by the company.

The market that is in existence for traditional TV games is somehow fragmented, this is because distribution has been restricted to selling points and local outlets only, such as electronic shops in various scattered localities across UK. However, no direct competition is expected, especially from local players, since the roll out of the market is initially going to emphasize on the product awareness and the sale channels do not reach or serve the very same market.

The company is also in a good position as it has a strong and outstanding distribution system is in place. This will help in ensuring that the new product reaches it target market.

Barriers to Entry

          As a result of business practices

1. Due to the large number of competitors in this sector, it will not be an easy task to prevent imitation behaviors from the competitors.
2. There is high risk of competing in future with emergent private labels.
3. Given the current situation where there is wide variety of TV games, it will be a challenge for the Sony game console to stand out as a brand.

            As a result of manufacturing barrier

1. The marketing campaign required to promote this new product, which is unpopular, will need grater promotional expenditures compared to the traditional brand extensions.
2. Producing TV game console needs a sizeable amount of capital to meet the specific needs in the manufacturing chain.

Target Market

Identification of the segment

ready to purchase TV console game to be established within the entertainment sector

Needs of the segment - the new product will cater to meet the physical and social needs of the consumers. This will be in terms of perception of the society.

Trends of the segment - the trend that is in existence includes a shift away from traditional video games to modern video games.

Segment growth potentials - the statistical data collected shows an anticipation of growth in the market segment of about4.5% for the next 5 years.

Expected segment population size -the expected target market will be 1 billion people.

Positioning strategy - the only ready to purchase TV game console, has been designed and packed in the unique way, very different from the earlier packaging of the company’s products. This packaging caught the eye of the customers, thus, making them have an interest in buying the company’s new product.