Continuing yesterday’s thread, If I may be so bold, some recommendations to senior marketing executives:
Think Tokyo, 1946. Think Walkman, 1979. Think PlayStation across the board. You have nearly perfected distribution, price-value, features, benefits and manufacturing. Now focus on making a more emotional connection … remember your two-guys-in-a-garage roots and make the big corporation a more accessible personal brand across every SKU. Study Apple more closely. R.I.M./Blackberry and Nokia, too. And learn from your own PS2 and the vision behind the new upcoming PS3.
– Keep it authentic and relevant at the consumer level. Truly connect with the Gen-Y’s/Echo Gens. They have been bombarded by advertising messages since they were born, and have their radar up for anything that smells too corporate. Make it real, make it work. Help them be passionate about your brand and inspire them to pass it along.
– You have a great start with your Sony Style website (www.sonystyle.com). Drill this down silos of digital cameras, mobile devices, TV’s and everything else. And remember that tech is totally fashion these days. Also, why don’t you own www.ps2.com? You should build more web communities around your products. Even jump into myspace.com … say hello to Burger King and Cingular when you get there.
– Do more to integrate your media catalogues with your portable devices. Reference, again, the iPod as well as Disney/ABC, HBO On-Demand and, yes, even Microsoft.
– Lastly, “Think Globally, Act Locally†– focus on communities of consumers, at the street-level, with events, promotions, viral and guerilla marketing. You’re not too big to feel conveniently, appropriately, consumer accessibly small.
Posted by: Colin Mangham