ANALYSIS OF A MANAGERIAL FUNCTION INTRODUCTION : Sony is usually considered one of the most important companies worldwide.

The firm is the frontrunner brand in electronics and spends more than $20 million dollars a year, just in marketing Sony has been ad!ertising it"s products in a hea!y way for a long time and this can be noticed just by watching T#, looking at billboards or reading maga$ines. The company recogni$es the importance of marketing , and not only implements it, but also inno!ates it Sony"s main strategy is to de!elop collaborations between the marketing teams distributed in the !arious sectors of the firm, create an ad!ertisement with an inno!ati!e or deep message and gi!e consumers a !alid reason to buy their product. The main goal of marketing is to sell more products, to much more people, for an always increasing price. The %arketing &unction comprehends strategic marketing plans and operati!e marketing plans. STRATEGIC MARKETING V.S. OPERATIONAL MARKETING : Strategic %arketing regards the plan to align the company"s organi$ation with the outside en!ironment in the long run. 't usually has the objecti!e of identifying problems or finding opportunities which can be e(ploited. Strategic Marketing comprehends: %arket research ) product testing, sur!eys are included. *esearch helps the firm understand which market segment to target. %arketing en!ironment ) regards the marketing"s team ability to create and maintain positi!e relationships with the firm"s targeted customer groups. +onsumer beha!iour) it"s a process buyers use when they purchase a product ,e(. choice-. .2. ) it is a transaction that happens between two businesses sometimes a business pro!ides goods for another business , business to business-. /ositioning) the method marketing teams use to create a distinct impression in the targeted consumer"s mind and can also include S01T analysis. %arket Segmentation ) 0hat part of the market should the company target ,e(. demography social class, low cost , geography differences etc.-. %essaging) what message to con!ey to customers, what consumers percei!e-. 2ifferentiation ) 3ow a firm makes consumers percei!e it"s products as uni4ue. 1perational %arketing is usually !ery tactical and in!ol!es a decision to e(ecute a strategic plan in the short and medium run. Operational marketing comprehends: /roduct ) which items to create, to de!elop and finally to sale. /rice ) the price at which a certain product is sold. /romotion) gi!e popularity to the product with commercials and ad!ertisements. /lace) in which geographical areas should the product be sold5 ,internationally, nationally-. 'nternet) websites which can be accessed to see the firm"s goods and products. SONY MARKETING OBJECTIVE : Sony"s marketing teams are focused on increasing profits and sales of the firm"s electronic products an e(ample can be the recent announcement that the /S6 will cost 700$ less than the 8.18 19:. The marketing teams also want to deli!er as much !alue as possible to customers and partners of Sony. ;n ad!antage The company has is that the electronics industry is in continuous growth and e!olution, infact sales are increasing more and more e!ery year. 'f the firm capitali$es on today"s market, it can capture a huge share, which is !ery hard considering the ongoing crysis plaguing the world"s economy.

SONY MARKETING ISSUES : 1ne of the marketing problems for Sony is customer satisfacion because nowadays consumers are becoming more spoiled with so many different and inno!ati!e products being brought in the market e!ery day. ;nother marketing problem Sony had recently was that the 8.18 <=0 was outselling the /S< in the >S fortunately for the firm, the console"s lifetime sales beat %icrosoft"s in october. The last issue regards operational marketing e!en though Sony"s /layStation franchise is performing !ery well, there are sale declines in then firm"s general consumers electronics. The company had to eliminate more than 7=000 jobs and shut down = production bases. &or this reason Sony is currently using an aggressi!e price-cutting strategy to beat ri!als and competitors. SONY STRATEGIC MARKETING 'n general this function creates strategies to bring growth, competi!eness and fa!orable relationships to the company. Sony"s main objecti!e is to generate profits using resources and capabilities and satisfy customers needs and wants. The strategic marketing function manages new product de!elopment and identifies or e(ploits trends, intellectual property and commercial ad!antages. This function also e(ploits and regards competiti!e intelligence and research of the market. 7. %arket research ) The objecti!e of market research is to confirm the company"s ideas about it"s target market. &irm wants to know the profile of it"s demand, how many people will acti!ely search and buy a certain item. .y carrying out some primary market research, the company will understand which people can be considered as potential customers. 0hen Sony de!elops a project, before said project is released on the market, a limited number of them are sent to testers around the world to !erify the capabilities, enhancements or problems that a certain new product can ha!e. 'f any problems or issues arise,Sony usually uses sur!eys for options or help regarding potential future action. 2. %arket en!ironment) The marketing en!ironment includes a macro side and a micro side. The macro side of the market en!ironment is di!ided in political,economical,social and technological factors. - /olitical factors ) Sony has business operations which span all o!er the world. :!ery country has it"s own set of rules and regulations so it is !ery important for the company to understand and oblige to these limitations. ; complication is that rules can change at any time so Sony must be focused and concentrated or risks to be damaged by saide rules -:conomical factors ) Sony analy$es economic situation, inflation, labor and material re4uirments. The company must also think that if a certain economic condition is good, competitors can also take ad!antage of it. - Social &actors ) Sony has a well established brand image globally so it does not ha!e many problems regarding it"s reputation. 1ne issue could be that Sony"s products are some of the most e(pensi!e on the market, so the company could make some price cuts. *ecently Sony has used this strategy especially in the !ideogame market with price cuts of the /s< and /S #ita. - Technological factors ) Sony spends alot on *?2 for inno!ation purposes. This helps the company ha!e an edge against the many competititors in the different indstries. Sony is also learning from past mistakes and is starting to listen to their user base much more. The micro side of the market en!ironment regards key partnerships and alliances that benefit Sony. The company"s major global partners are /ottermore and &'&; The partnership with &'&; is especially important because Sony is one of only si( official &'&; partners. 1ther key partnerships are with :;,>bisoft,%edia %olecule and 9aughty 2og but these in!ol!e the !ideogame and mo!ie market.

<. +onsumer beha!iour ) it is the study of how to con!ince potential customers to buy a firm"s product. There are different steps to understand consumer beha!iour. These are di!ided in ) 9eed recognition, information search, e!aluation of alternati!es, decision making and post purchase beha!iour. &or an e(ample, consider a Sony 9otebook /c like #aio 9eed recognition ) ; potential customer must feel like something is missing in his life a laptop could be!ery useful for a student or an office worker, so the company must find ways to create an ""arousal"" of the product in the consumer. 'nformation search ) The customer can ask friends or family about this specific laptop and Sony can con!ince him to buy their product by lea!ing additional info and perks online, which can be accessed easily by any user. :!aluation of ;lternati!es ) 0ith all the information colected, now it"s time for the consumer to llok at other similiar products. The way Sony can attract customers is by enhancing it"s laptop with new features or by making product prices more con!enient ,price cuts, discounts-. 2ecision %aking ) This segment is not really up to Sony the consumer decides what brand to buy. The choice can be influenced by salesmen or situational !ariables which can"t be anticipated. /ost purchase beha!iour ) ;fter buying a certain product, the customer can be satisfied or dissatisfied,dissonant- with it. This is why Sony has a !ery efficient customer ser!ice team which call consumers and asks them about any problems arising with the product. 6. .2. ) 't is !ery hard to ha!e efficient .usiness to .usiness, and like other companies, Sony does not ha!e much planned in this sector. ; recent choice sony made does, howe!er, regard .2.. Sony %usic @icensing un!eiled a business-to-business website in 2006 this website was planned to make music searching easier and more accessible for e!eryone. Sony%[Link] launched in ;pril 2A, 2006 the website includes the whole Sony %usic library and e!ery song can be heard complete instead of <0 second samples. 9owadays, with programmes such as Spotifiy or Boutube, this may not seem !ery important, but in 2006 there weren"t many music sharing sites. C. /ositioning ) Sony is considered as a company characteri$ed by !ery high 4uality products. The firm pro!ides items with capabilities which are often un-matched by fellow ri!als and competitors. Sony :ricsson is also promoting campaigns defining it"s smartphones as the best items for entertainment. Sony e!en made a partnership with :S/9 to show the most important higlights of sports on the company"s phones, free of additional charges or fees. Sony is considered by consumers as a firm which pro!ides all types of products, ranging from music and mo!ies, to simple electronics, laptops and gaming consoles. 'n 2077 the company globally launched a campaign to promote it"s latest smart T#, internally capable of pro!iding capabilities and ser!ices compatible with the internet. Sony e(tends it"s market share by inno!ating products and in!esting on *?2 to ha!e the latest technology a!ailable for implementation in their newest products. =. %arket segmentation ) usually Sony focuses on the upper middle and upper social strata because their products are not !ery cheap, so aren"t affordable by e!eryone. Sony makes music,mo!ies,games and electronics. These howe!er, are not just for one standardi$ed group of people. The demographic Sony targets is all, because there is no target age group for watching T#, listening to music, or playing games. &or e(ample, in the early ages, !ideo games were considered to be useful only to children with Sony"s /layStation franchise, there are more adults than teens and children that own a console. This because the gaming system is not cheap and usually cannot be afforded by teenagers. Technically speaking, Sony"s marketing segmentation consists of four lines) Sony %usic and Sony/ictures, Sony :lectronics, Sony 2igital :ntertainment and

finally Sony %obile /hones. A. %essaging ) Sony"s old motto was ""like no other"" the company used this catchphrase to make customers belie!e that their products are original and differentiated. Sony"s actual motto is ""%ake .elie!e"" this brand message e(plains the company"s spirit in a complete way. This message signifies that Sony represents creati!e power and the important ability to transform great and inno!ati!e ideas into reality in short Sony says that if a person belie!es in what he can do, he can achie!e such a thing. D. 2ifferentiation ) Sony"s differentiation marketing strategy can be e(plained in < points E>;@'TB ) Sony tries to create highly ambitious and inno!ati!e products using the best technologies a!ailable. %;*F:T @:;2:* ) Sony is the leader for market share in the tele!ision market and electronics market. Sony is also highly regarded in the music and !ideogames industry. /1S'T'19'9G ) Sony is percei!ed by consumers as one of the most trustworthy brands found in the market. +urrent culture embraces Sony"s high degree of technological inno!ation. SONY OPERATIONAL MARKETING The objecti!e 1perational %arketing is to optimi$e number of sales and build a profitable long termi future for a company. The firm in 4uestion must con!ey the right messages and methods to con!ince a potential consumer to buy their product. /rice, /lace, /roduct, /romotion are called the 6 critical /"s of a marketing strategy. /roduct ) The products Sony offers are many and can be di!ersified in categories there are audio products which include na!igation systems for cars or indi!idual use. #ideo products can include digital and !ideo cameras, .lu*ay players, 2#2 players and !ideo recorders. Sony also makes tele!isions like @+2 T#, projection T# and the recently announced 6F T#. There also is the mobile phone market and finally the computer and information market which include /cs , printers , and the firm"s gaming console. /rice ) The marketing strategy that regards price is affected by different !ariable such as discounts, offers and dealer price and these can be adjusted in accord with the marketing teams. 'n general Sony"s prices are from moderately high to high because their products are percei!ed as high 4uality by consumers. >sually customers see Sony as a lu(ury brand. The company has the belief that 4uality and price go hand-in-hand, so their products are especially sold in japan to keep 4uality and process high since labor is e(pensi!e. Sony"s prices change from country to country depending on current economics conditions this is also caused by e(change rates. &or e(ample /S6 cost 600$ in the >S, while it costs 600 euro in european countries. /lace ) Sony operates globally with it"s head4uarters located in Tokyo,Hapan. :!ery year the company opens in new territories in 2076 3awaii will also be a location. Sony corporation can also be found online with sites such as [Link] these sites pro!ide information about product listings and prices. The principal distributors of Sony corporation also operate globally with the major one being Humbo 'T 2istribution. Humbo is the major distributor of Sony electronics in the world and has more than 60 retail outlets spanned around the globe. /romotion ) Sony usually offers gift point strategies to complement the purchase of a product for e(ample , buying /S cards or Sony cards can gain points which add o!er time and can be used to gain a free of charge product. The company also offer fa!orable warranties or refunds. *ecently many /S6s ha!e had hardware problems, so Sony offered a free game to apologi$e, plus assuring a replacement of the product itself. /romotion includes ad!ertising, +*% and sales promotions. Advertisi ! : The company ad!ertises it"s products with many different channels usually Sony

ad!ertises it"s products during famous T# shows or sports games. 2uring big time e!ents such as the [Link], the firm usually makes a new announcement to create hype in the consumers. Sony also promotes it"s products on maga$ines, posters or newspapers. The company e!en has it"s own T# channel, S19B T#, with which it promotes it"s best prices and newest products. Sony also promotes +o-operati!e ad!ertising, pro!iding help and guidelines to their dealers on how to de!elop ad!ertisement to be used in print media or radio commercials. CRM : +*% is the acronym of customer relationship management to create relations with customers, Sony belie!es personal interaction is !ery important, because it creates loyalty and trust. The company does this by letting customers pro!ide feedback,issues or complaints in the >S, Sony workers also make telephone calls to their consumers to create a sense of ""friendship"" between the firm and the people. :!en if Sony has a positi!e image, it slipped in 200C when it released an add called derogatory towards christians. The add portrayed a young man with a crown of !ines designes as /laystation buttons and under the motto read) ""Sony, 70 years of passion"". This immediately created scandal so Sony listened to it"s supporters and users and discontinued the airing of this ad. S"#es $r%&%ti% s : The way Sony usually promotes it"s sales is by creating contests to gi!e away free pri$es, or by pro!iding free coupans, gift cards, sweepstakes, free sampling or discounts. *ecently in the >S, .lack &riday passed it is the friday before Thanksgi!ing, in which many companies make discounts on their products. Sony decided to discount !ideocameras, @:2 T!s, the 8/:*'; tablet and phone and ultimately, the /S<. 'nternet ) The feature which dominates Sony"s operation is web marketing. The company supplies consumers with different !ideos and tutorials e(plaining to them how a certain product works or which capabilities it has. Sony"s internet marketing can be categori$ed ijn :-.usiness and :-+ommerce program. E-Business : Sony communicates with customers, pro!iders and resellers through the internet the company communicates so much because it"s objecti!e is to maintain high 4uality and performance, but also be able to recei!e feedback to enhance future products. 1n the corporate le!el, Sony uses the web to keep track and history of all transactions, performances and stores. E-Commerce program : this program was created for the sole purpose of gi!ing birth to a customi$able and super efficient internet platform, de!oted to direct sales of electronics. Thanks to this /rogram, Sony brought itself inno!ation and gained a new !iew and direction nowadays more than =0I of the company"s sales are online. This program also heled the firm enter new segments, by pro!iding to small and large businesses, go!ernments and schools. CONCLUSION AND FINAL T'OUG'TS ;s seen, Sony is referred to as a brand with a !ery famous logo and competiti!e image :!en if is a !ery profitable company, it has had !arious issues and setbacks in recent years such as the economic crysis which plagues today"s economy, the loss in market share due to hard to beat ri!als like ;pple and Samsung, the high costs of production and the problems in supply chain managment due to the difficulties in the procurement of raw materials. *ecommendations for the company can be to rely more on ad!ertising campaigns and create partnerships with important wireless technologies companies to better e(pand the Sony e(perience. ;nother strategy Sony could follow is ;pple"s partnership with %icrosoft e!en though %S is a ri!al, this does not mean the two companies cannot find a compromise to benefit eachother"s moti!ations and objecti!es. The last thing Sony should do is to strenghten their manufacturing structure to maintain high 4uality products and ha!e less problems in the raw materials area.