The Modernisation of Brand Identity of Sony Corporation - Research Proposal Example

The Modernisation of Brand Identity of Sony Corporation: A Research Proposal Task One: Research Planning for Decision Making Background Brand identity is defined as ‘that cluster of attributes and associations that consumers connect to the brand name.’ (Woodside & Megehee, 2009, p. 40). Brand identity is different from other aspects of branding in the sense that it emphasizes the personal relationship which the customer perceives has been established between himself/herself and the brand. From the perspective of the company, brand identity provides the vehicle by which the firm projects to the public the image by which it wants to be perceived (Neumeier, 2004). This research is intended to lay the groundwork for enhancing and revitalizing the Sony brand and its sub-brands. The following discussions on the current situation, awareness and attitudes of present consumers, and the desirable attributes or characteristics that current customers see in the brand, shall provide the background information that shall serve as the starting point upon which this research is premised. 1.1. The current brand identity The Sony brand was described as suffering from ‘slippage’ in the eyes of U.S. customers, particularly in 2006 when several of its laptop batters exploded or burst out in flames (Topolsky, 2007). As a result, the company undertook the largest recall in the history of the computer industry to date, involving more than 4 million laptop computers (CBC News, 2006). Another incident that caused the consuming public to relegate the brand to a lower rank had to do with the Sony BMG CD copy protection rootkit. The scandal involved two copy protection measures which Sony BMG installed on its compact discs in 2005. One of these is the Extended Copy Protection, or XCP, which was put on 52 titles; the other is MediaMax CD-3 software, which was put on 50 titles (BBC News, 2006). Without the knowledge of its customers, Sony BMG Music Entertainment distributed music CDs which covertly installed a rootkit on computers. A rootkit is a software tool, often described as stealthy and malicious (i.e., designated as malware), which is designed to conceal certain processes or programs from the usual means of detection, and to facilitate continuous privileged access to a computer. Sony’s intention was to prevent the illegal copying of musical files, by hiding digital rights-management files and processes. While its intention may have been reasonable, the means it sought to achieve this is decidedly harmful, because malware that has the same kernel code as that specified by the rootkit would also be hidden from virus scanners, allowing other unintended and potentially damaging software into the system (McAfee, 2006, pp. 2-4). Although Sony eventually pulled out the copy-infected CDs and offered to replace those bought, in those instances the rootkit had already been installed cannot be remedied; trying to remove it results in damage to Windows. Because of this incident, the perception of the public on the Sony brand is one bad faith, incompetence, and ‘extreme hubris’ due to Sony BMG president Thomas Hesse’s disdainful comment that ‘Most people don’t even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?’. Sony thereafter became the target of class-action lawsuits in several U.S. states (Schneier, 2005). Despite efforts to restore the Sony brand to its former position of industry leadership in digital communication devices and entertainment content, the 2005-06 fiasco had proven detrimental to the brand image. By 2007, Korean company Samsung had already posed a serious threat to Sony’s primacy. Despite its lack of brand heritage, ‘it’s products are superior to Sony’s’ (Lester, 2007, p. 30). This same report observed that BrandIndex puts Samsung ahead of Sony in terms of product quality and customer satisfaction. 1.2. The awareness and attitudes of existing and potential customers towards the current brand identity and those of similar organisations/competitors Vargas (2011) observed that the Sony brand is making inroads in its South American (i.e., Puerto Rico) market by launching its own 32-gigabyte Sony Tablet to compete with Apple’s hugely popular iPad and similar devices. Traditionally, the Sony brand has a strong following in Puerto Rico as far as televisions; however, the company foresees that a change is needed from merely TV to 3D, the Internet, and easy access to local news and the weather (Vargas, 2011, p. 44). Aside from projecting stronger market responsiveness in the field of entertainment, Sony is also enhancing its innovative image with its Vaio laptop brand, now with its Z series, and the new sheet battery that allows charging separately from the PC and battery change without switching off the PC, doubling battery life from 7 to 14 hours. This is a huge innovation, given that other brands offer only four hours of continuous and uninterrupted battery lifespan. The Z series also features the popular Android platform, and incorporates Curiosity, the live-streaming platform which is widely in use in the mainland U.S. (Vargas, 2011, p. 45). The Sony brand is still well received in the market for other devices such as digital cameras (of which there are 19 models), alarm clocks, car radios and monitors, and more notably the Playstation 3 gaming console the price of which has come down to easily affordable levels. The PS3 is already known for its wide range of games; however, more than a gaming console in Puerto Rico, the PS3 is used for other purposes because of its Blu-ray-playing capability and its huge storage capacity. For its Caribbean market, Sony is best known for the creation of actual content for the entertainment industry, such as film and music. Its brand strength stems from its price attractiveness which “represent smaller investments that families and individuals – to are seeking relief from their economic woes – can make” (Vargas, 2011, p. 45). 1.3. The most important characteristics of the brand that should be reflected in the new brand identity The brand identity that should be created is that which enables the brand to gain a placement in the buyers’ usually limited consideration set. There are several aspects in establishing brand identity or image, which the research should focus on as its objectives. These are identified by Pettis (2001, p. 95) as the determination of: (1) The appropriate product and company image. These involve the determination of customer beliefs about the functional and intangible characteristics of the product; the company image affects the product image. (2) The user image, which concerns which types of people are most likely to buy the product, and how customers in the target market respond to the image. (3) The occasion image, which include those impressions and images the customer has about the times or occasions when the brand is used and consumed. (4) Brand personality. This includes assessing that, if the brand were a famous person, animal, or car, which alternative would characterize it best. Also, if the brand were a real person, what personality traits it would possess, as well as how the brand should look like, comparing it to the past, the present and the future. (5) The salience of customer engagement. This refers to how customers see their past, present or anticipated future experiences with the brand, and the strength of their emotion closeness (or, conversely, distance), and their inclination to try the brand. Each of the foregoing aspects must be addressed when a change in brand identity is contemplated. Otubanjo and Lim (2011) undertook a semiotic deconstruction of the statements of Sony Corporations’ executives contained in the annual report to the shareholders. Their analysis highlighted Sony’s intention to highlight the firm’s performance (e.g. rise in sales volume and franchises), innovation (development of hardware and software technologies), and the firm’s spirit of entrepreneurship (fusion of electronics and entertainment). The intended brand image is that of technological innovation and business entrepreneurship. Otubanjo and Lim concluded, that the executives’ statements evoke powerful ‘myths’ on the pillars of Sony’s corporate brand. The ‘myths’ constitute the terms in which performance reports are to be couched, and “influences what senior executives say or how business executives construct or profess reality to stakeholders about their corporate brand” (Bergman & Luckmann, 1966, as cited in Otubanjo & Lim, 2011, p. 68). The set of associations and myths positions the audience as stakeholders with active interest in the company’s performance. 2. Research Objectives The proposed research has a threefold purpose: (1) To determine the current brand identity of Sony in the minds of consumers; (2) To describe the level of awareness and attitudes of existing and potential customers towards Sony’s current brand identity and those of its competitors and other similar organizations; (3) To establish the most important characteristics of the new brand identity to be created for Sony The existing literature on the above objectives had been discussed in the preceding chapter, comprising the background for the research to be conducted. The three objectives stated above pertain to primary data that this research intends to gather from consumers at the present time. Information to be obtained will be employed in the design of Sony’s new brand identity which is intended to position the company for growth and leadership. The desired output of the research effort is the set of recommendations to define the new brand identity. The recommendations will describe important attributes of the three components of brand images, namely Brand Graphics, Brand Content, and Brand Style. Brand Graphics encompasses the visual appearance of the brand; it includes the colours, graphics, typography, logos, symbols, design, photography, and online dynamics that will characterize the brand. Brand Content, the second component, includes the concepts, ideas, messages and themes to be delivered to the market through the brand. Incorporated herein are the company’s ethos or values, its philosophy and beliefs. Finally, the Brand Style includes the language, style, and tone of voice of the brand. Also included in this component are the vocabulary, IQ, sense of humor, age, character, and personality with is sought to be projected through the brand (Latham & Co., 2010). 3. Approach and Method The research will employ the hybrid research methodology, and as such shall combine quantitative and qualitative research techniques. It intends to create a new brand identity for Sony which shall be culled from information to be sourced from consumers, therefore the inductive approach will be applied in the gathering and analysis of data. Task Two: Questionnaire and Field/Operational Guidelines 1. Suitable questionnaire for quantitative research8-A4/500 Marketing research differs from academic research, in that it is not research undertaken for research’s sake, but to find ways of improving customer satisfaction, increase the probability that new products will succeed, determining the reasons customers buy the company’s products, gathering timely and relevant information on the competition, and measure how effective are the marketing and communications effort of the firm (Pettis, 2001, p. 85). This underscores the importance of obtaining primary information from the principal target beneficiaries of the Sony brand and its products and services. The degree to which a brand image is received and its identity established is a matter of individual perception and cannot be directly measured or rationalized. Gathering indepth information in the form of interviews and face-to-face discussions will therefore be necessary at some point. However, since the Sony brand is a consumer product that ultimately caters to the retail buyer, it is likewise important to gather as wide a feedback as possible from a great number of respondents of various backgrounds, and a broad geographical area. The need to gather a large amount of information within a relatively short time from so many people over a wide area coverage necessitates the use of a survey questionnaire (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2007). On the pages following a draft Consumer Survey Questionnaire has been prepared by which data on customer profile, perceptions, and experiences may be gathered. The questionnaire employs both close-ended and open-ended questions in order to obtain data susceptible of mass collation and indepth information about consumer sentiment relating to the Sony brand. The survey questionnaire will ultimately be formatted according to SurveyMonkey or whichever online survey facility will eventually be used for this purpose. Consumer Survey Questionnaire Thank you for participating in this survey, which is being undertaken to better satisfy your Sony experience. Kindly mark your answer from among the choices in each item. Rest assured your responses will be kept in strictest confidence. A. Your Profile 1. What is your age? 15 to 25 years 46 to 55 years 26 to 35 years 56 to 65 years 36 to 45 years Above 65 years 2. What is your gender? Male Female 3. What is your marital status? Single, divorced or widowed Married or living with partner 4. How many children do you have? None 1 or 2 3 or more 5. What is the highest educational program you attended? None Elementary High school Vocational/crafts/skilled College Graduate school 6. What is your present occupation? Student Office worker Professional Manager or supervisor Skilled labourer or craftsman Entrepreneur/ businessman Artist, author, musician, etc. Other: Please specify on the line below ________________________________________________ 7. Which of the following Sony products or services have you availed of, and how satisfied have you been with the brand? Sony Audio equipment Very satisfied Satisfied Unsatisfied Very unsatisfied Vaio Computers and Sony Tablets Very satisfied Satisfied Unsatisfied Very unsatisfied Cameras (Cyber-shot, Alpha) Very satisfied Satisfied Unsatisfied Very unsatisfied Video (Wega, Bravia) Very satisfied Satisfied Unsatisfied Very unsatisfied Mobile communications (Sony Ericsson/Sony Mobile) Very satisfied Satisfied Unsatisfied Very unsatisfied Gaming (PlayStation, PlayStation Vita) Very satisfied Satisfied Unsatisfied Very unsatisfied Music Entertainment (Sony BMG) Very satisfied Satisfied Unsatisfied Very unsatisfied B. Your perception of Sony’s Brand Rate the following visual aspects of the Sony brands, with 5 denoting highest level of satisfaction and 1 denoting lowest level of satisfaction. 5 4 3 2 1 8. Colours 9. Graphics/ Visual effects 10. Lettering/ font 11. Logos 12. Symbols 13. Design 14. Online dynamics/ effects 15. Overall visual impact On the space below, please provide your comments concerning the visual aspects of any of the Sony brands. Which brand/s would you want to comment on, and what do you find pleasing or displeasing about it/them? Rate the following items on brand content (5 denoting the highest, 1 the lowest, satisfaction level). Brand content includes those themes, values and philosophies with which the brand associates itself, directly or indirectly. 5 4 3 2 1 16. Concepts 17. Ideas conveyed 18. Verbal messages/ slogans 19. Themes 20. Catchphrases 21. Celebrity endorsements 22. Affiliated causes 23. Advocacies/ endorsements On the space below, please provide your comments concerning the content aspects of any of the Sony brands. Which brand/s would you want to comment on, and what do you find pleasing or displeasing about it/them? Rate the following items on brand style (5 denoting the highest, 1 the lowest, satisfaction level). Brand style includes the nuances and character that define the brand’s approach. 5 4 3 2 1 24. Language/ vocabulary 25. Tone 26. Voice 27. Sense of humor 28. Age-appeal 29. Character 30. Class 31. Overall style On the space below, please provide your comments concerning the brand style aspects of any of the Sony brands. Which brand/s would you want to comment on, and what do you find pleasing or displeasing about it/them? Brand personality: Imagine that Sony, or one of its brands, were represented by a person. Please describe in the space below the looks and character of that person you feel embodies the Sony brand. (If it is a specific product brand, please specify.) On the space below, please feel free to comment or to relate any significant experience you have experienced with the Sony brand. Thank you for your time and your comments. 2. Set of field/operational guidelines, explaining how questionnaire should be administered 2.1. Qualification and quantity of respondents 2.1.1. Who is being surveyed The research aims to create a brand image that is responsive to consumer perception; for this reason, it should elicit the views and reactions from this target market and use these findings as basis for defining the parameters of the new brand image. The survey will be disseminated among respondents of age 15 and higher, both male and female, and from all walks of life since Sony products cater to a broad range of consumers and businesses. Respondents shall be selected by means of random sampling, targeting 1,000 individuals from England and continental Europe (a similar study may be conducted for other regions, since consumer perception is as much influenced by culture and geography as other demographic factors). The respondents shall be identified as to whether or not they own a Sony product, according to which reply they shall be distinguished and grouped. Aside from dissemination of the survey, data shall also be gathered through interviews and panel discussions. These shall employ both random and targeted sampling – random sampling of individuals to gather their narratives about their experiences with the brand as it currently is, and targeted sampling to source insights and opinions among individuals who are considered to have a more thorough knowledge or extraordinary perspective of customer perception of the Sony brand. Such individuals may include dealers in Sony products or their competitors, electronics professionals, and marketing practitioners. 2.1.2. What they are being asked about The respondents shall be asked about their reactions concerning the present components of Sony’s brand image – i.e., brand graphics, content and style – as well as those of its competitors as identified by analysts or stated in the equities analyst reports, investment advisories, and listed in the report. They shall also be asked about what they would prefer to encounter in these components. 2.1.3. When the survey is being administered The survey shall be administered as soon as possible, at such time the management would have perused this research proposal, revised and added to it, and after it shall have been approved. 2.1.4. The methods for implementing the questionnaire Data shall be gathered not only through the quantitative questionnaire, but also and more importantly through qualitative methods including panel discussion and narrative interviews. This is an inductive research intended to arrive at the creation of a new brand identity and to launch it with a comprehensive plan that is consistent with and integral to the marketing strategy of the company. The narratives and qualitative opinions will therefore be crucial inputs. The quantitative and qualitative questionnaires will be created and sent through online survey services such as SurveyMonkey, which automatically collates the data and summarizes the findings. Panel discussions and interviews may be conducted either face-to-face or, where this may not be feasible, through Skype and teleconferencing. Written and personal interviews will be obtained from identified targeted respondents based on qualification, authority and knowledge about the topic of branding and/or the Sony brand and its competitors. 2.1.5 Information for interviewees (assurances of confidentiality, data protection) Incorporated in the questionnaire is an invitation to the respondent, together with a brief statement of the purpose of the survey and the assurance that information provided shall remain confidential. The same statement of purpose and assurance of confidentiality shall be given to interviewees and panel discussion participants. A policy of transparency shall govern the relationship between researchers and respondents, and should they ask, respondents shall be informed of the processes through which the data they provide shall be coursed. Respondents shall also be informed that information that they would provide would be withdrawn upon the individual respondent’s request, with regard to his own responses. 2.1.6 Procedure for recording the results and returning the questionnaire Accomplished questionnaires or questionnaire results, once turned in, shall comprise the property of the firm and shall be turned over to the company after they had been collated and summarized. The results are recorded electronically by the online survey service and scores and frequencies shall be summed, averaged, and interpreted according to the appropriate statistical procedure. Correlations shall be derived linking demographic information to responses, while answers to open-ended questionnaires will be textually analysed for their narrative content. 2.2. Maximising response rates Fielding the questionnaire through online service is desirable because it ensures reach, security and confidentiality, however response rates can be poor. Response rates may be maximized by resorting to a network of research aides and correspondents to push the questionnaire among their own acquaintances. Affiliates and dealers, suppliers and other contacts of the corporation may also provide assistance in directing their customers and associates to answer the questionnaire which can be accessed by web link. Sony shall also send the web link to the customers in its database for them to accomplish the questionnaire, although this should not comprise the entire set of respondents since the responses may be skewed. It is important to gather information from non-customers as well as customers. 2.3. Maximising accuracy of data Accuracy of the data gathered online shall be assured by the electronic survey service, and aside from the collated reports, the raw data (response level) shall also be retrieved and double-checked. Accuracy of the data and the analysis drawn from it shall be verified by spreadsheet for quantitative data, and qualitative data by research team collaboration. Prior to distribution, the reliability of the survey questionnaire shall be established by Cronbach-Alpha. The survey instrument shall also be subjected to face and content validity by the research team with a test survey to be conducted among 20 eligible respondents who shall not form part of the live survey. Research method is triangulated to enhance the accuracy of the findings. Data gathered by survey, interviews, and panel discussion shall be compared for corroboration prior to the formulation of the findings. 2.4. Adherence to professional codes of conduct and ethical research The research shall comply with the principles of professional codes of conduct and ethical research. Dealings with respondents shall be in good faith and with transparency. The researchers shall submit periodic reports of activities and partial results to create a paper trail or journal of activities; this historic account shall preclude end-of-research data manipulation and window dressing. The final report shall include an account of the partial and final results, and discrepancies between them shall be explained. Task Three: Customer databases Discussion paper on the potential role of the organisation’s customer database 1. How customer database could be used to monitor customer response to the newly launched brand identity There are several advantages of using customer databases to monitor and forecast likely reactions of customers to the launching of a new brand identity. Customer databases may reduce data redundancy, enabling managers to more accurately arrive at reliable information on customer statistics. Customer databases also enable the firm to reduce errors in updating and thereby improve in consistency; greater data integrity is promoted without the need of replicating information for the various application programs. A centralized database system increases the accuracy, comprehensiveness and flexibility of customer profiling programs that help predict customer response to various events including brand development initiatives. The establishment of multiple data access points and channels increases the sharing of information throughout the organization which is benefitted by a closer orientation to the market. Centralizing data storage enhances data security and reduces the need for resources and equipment for multiple data storage, repeated data entry and retrieval costs (SQA, 2012). Setting aside the technical limitations of computerized customer database systems, there is the innate shortcoming of all non-human information systems – the inability to devise creative solutions to problems. Brand identity is essentially the relationship a company forges between itself and its customers, conveyed by the symbol (brand) of its products. Even the most advanced database management system can only provide information which application programs may identify as relevant, but could not carry this information forward to yield a cogent plan to relate individuals to a brand. ‘The relationships between brands and customers cannot be forged using ‘mass’ communications’ (Upshaw, 1995, p. 282). Understanding individuals’ motivations is a matter of human insight. The value of the brand is dependent upon the brand’s identity or image in the mind of its customers (Brotherton, 2012, p. 175). This value is enhanced by the information contained in massive stores of information because of the ability to correlate and cross-correlate variables which had previously been unexamined in order to establish new paradigms or concepts, and the findings can be applied to target individuals and build new brand linkages. The absence of an organized database system would make such an exercise difficult if not impossible, and obtaining results would be much delayed to be of use to the firm’s marketing effort. The key in building brand identity is to find commonalities in the manner people form perceptions and choose products. This research on perception leads to the definition of brand identity, which in turn motivates customer choice, and finally the development of brand equity, schematically depicted by Pettis (2001, p. 24) as: The following table outlines the differences between consumer brand building and technology brand building. Sony is both consumer brand and technology brand, but because of the highly competitive nature of the industry and its extreme reliance on innovation, considerations of technology branding would play a vital role in the brand identity formulation of Sony. Differences between consumer and technology brand values (Pettis, 2001, p. 49) Consumer Brand Building Technology Brand Building Tend to be consistent over time May have to take into account values that changes as the market evolves Quality of life Performance Lifestyle benefits important Audience looking for competitive edge Familiarity and reliability important Run on investment, ongoing costs, and price/performance important I can count on this product I need to make sure that this purchase decision is the right one and won’t cost me my job Self-image Image at work Largely built on emotional values Usually incorporates rational values as well As far as technology products are concerned, ‘brand identity can make buyers feel good about their purchase and relieve any doubts or fears’ about making the decision to purchase, but ‘brand identity will not cover up for a deficient product with inadequate performance’ (Pettis, 2001, p. 50). 2. The tasks involved in maintaining a customer database Database configurations can be different for each company, and would therefore involve different processes for their upkeep and maintenance. Pettis (2001, p. 85) states the most important activities in developing a customer database as follows: (1) Building the customer database and mailing list, and maximizing on this database for selling upgrades and cross-selling other related products; (2) Gathering customer segmentation and demographic data, which includes customers’ company Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code, their title, function, age, income and location, and other data that might prove relevant; (3) Inquiring from customers as to their reasons for deciding to purchase the product, where they made their purchase (i.e. store location), and the customer’s recommendations for improving the product or service they purchased; (4) Discovering, possibly by interview, why the customer bought the product, as well as their level of satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) with it; and (5) Following up with a customer’s satisfaction survey to determine the factors that act as drivers, and their relative effectiveness. Some factors will be more relevant than others in influencing a customer to buy, and will therefore provide a better focus for the messages on which marketing communications will be sending to its customers. Maintaining a customer database requires stringent measures to ensure that the data contained therein is secure from loss or theft. Since customer information contains sensitive data including their identification, accounts, and records access, breach of this security may result in irreparable harm to the company’s customers. Sony had the unfortunate experience in April 2011 of completely losing all its customer records from its two largest international databases, namely the PlayStation Network (PSN) database and the Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) database. That episode was followed by another two instances of breach of Sony’s databases, the last being the user database from Sony BMG in Greece involving 8,385 records (Mick, 2011). The earlier theft (of the PN database) involved anywhere from 25 million gamers (BBC News, 2011), while the SOE database breach at 77 million users (Martinez, 2011), bringing the total to more than 100 million customers. Contents of the databases are the account numbers, usernames, real names, and email addresses of Sony’s customers, and their credit card details in the case of the Playstation Network breach (Martinez, 2011; BBC News, 2011). As a result, and despite an official apology issued by the company, Sony is facing multiple class action suits from former customers in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world for the failure to secure their databases that led to the theft of customer information (Mick, 2011; BBC News, 2011). 3. Limitations of using customer database information to assist in marketing decision-making There are several limitations to the use of database management systems which may compromise its usefulness as a marketing decision-making tool. Much of the shortcomings are related to technical limitations, but as a result of these limitations the customer information contained in these databases are put in precarious situations or may create misleading premises because of poor handling. First, database systems are complex and take a long time to design. It is difficult to assess in the early stages how reliable of efficient such systems design shall be. Second, there are substantial hardware and software start-up costs and periodic expenses of updating. Third, databases are prone to damage which has the potential to affect all applications programs which it serves. Fourth, there are extensive conversion costs involved in the process of moving from a file-based system to a database system. Finally, there is the need to conduct employee training programs – for programmers and users – during the early stages and for each time a significant system update is conducted. These training sessions may potential cause disruptions in the regular operations of the firm (SQA, 2012). Any of these limitations, when not promptly addressed, may lead to inadequate or inappropriate maintenance of the database from what was intended, which could produce the wrong information that compromises sound decision-making. Marketing decision-making support systems must always be presumed accurate and timely, since marketing decisions must sometimes be swiftly made with little time to verify the information. Bibliography Abadi, D J 2009 ‘Data Management in the Cloud: Limitations and Opportunities.’ Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. 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Retrieved 4 October 2012 from https://www.ihsinfo.org/ihsv2/Ceus/pdf/july2012/Modernizing%20Your%20Marketing_July%20Soundboard.pdf Vargas, A 2011, A keen awareness of consumer demand keeps Sony strong in P.R, Caribbean Business, 39, 33, pp. 44-45, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 2 October 2012. Appendices Read More