Week 14 - Segmenting and Targeting Markets

What would any product be worth if there isn't anyone who is going to buy it? When creating a product, the company has to think, what people is going to buy the product and who is going to be the target market. I'm in the target market for the PlayStation 3 and will be in the target market of the PlayStation 4. For example, diapers are a target market for newborns and infants. Another example are Bras. Bras are a target market for females only. If a new product is being developed, the company should know what market that is going to be in. To be on the safe side, they should release not as much of those products because not much people would probably want it or the product is no good. One product that Sony is going to release later on in the future, that will be popular and will need to put a lot of these products out is the PlayStation 4. PlayStation 4 is going to sell quick due to the fact that PlayStation 3 is very popular and they still are selling like crazy till this day. Every single product that is made, you have to think of the gender of the person, the age, and their income. Of course, you have to think of the income. For example, Gucci ( Fashion brand ) is a expensive name clothing design. The target market for Gucci is for people who have money. A lot of music artist and actors wear Gucci because they are in the target market for it.

The PlayStation Phone

Yes.......A PlayStation PHONE. It is a Sony Ericsson phone. It is like a Android phone but this one is costumed by Sony where you can download and play games in the phone like any other PlayStation device. There is not much information about the phone out yet, the phone is still in its being in the making mode. The phone is done but it is very buggy still and still needs work to be done. The Phone will be released in 2011 Sony says.

Details of the Phone

1) 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 (a chip similar to the one found in the 62 Phone, but 200MHz faster),
2) 512MB of RAM
3)1GB of ROM
4) Screen is in the range of 3.7 to 4.1 inches

PlayStation 4? WOW

Here's a interesting article I found and it deals with the PlayStation 4. Are YOU READY?

"PlayStation 4? It's not as crazy as it sounds. But consumers shouldn't expect the console until 2010 at the soonest, said vice president of technology for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Paul Holman. Despite recent rumors that Sony may be preparing to exit the console hardware business given its management shift among top SCEI executives, Holman clarifies with SmartHouse that Sony is indeed planning to launch a PlayStation 4, but no sooner than 2010. "To say that there will be no PS4 because of a management change is a bit far fetched," Holman says." According to Holman, it's too soon to be speaking of the PS4, since game developers are just discovering that the PS3 has "more processing headroom than they initially anticipated and that this was resulting in the development of new gaming capabilities."
What about these "new gaming capabilities?" Holman said that Sony plans to release a series of firmware upgrades, as the company has done with its PSP, to enable the PS3 to become more media center oriented and allow for third-party applications and hardware "such as interactive controllers" like the Nintendo Wii remote.

Week 13 - Developing and Managing Products

"The Design Center (US) is in charge of the North American market as a whole. In addition to proposing product design concepts for this region, the office collaborates mainly with offices in Tokyo and Europe to promote Sony Design in general."


Sony like any other company has to have research and development team, always looking on how to advance and stay on top of technology and their competition. Also have to listen to the consumer on what they want and how through Sony's products make their life more easy and more pleasurable and by managing their products, they need to make sure it has a lot of exposure, being posting in online on popular websites or making sure their products are shown at prime time showing on TV. Every product goes through a life cycle. I thought the PlayStation 2 was going to be forever. But no, I own a PlayStation 3 now. Every product will die out eventually and Sony will need to come up with new ideas to make more money with their new upcoming products.

Week 12 - Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

The most important thing Sony can have in there business is the relationship with there customers. Without the customers how will feedback be given and how will they know if the customers are satisfied enough with the product that Sony released. For example. There was a leap year bug on the Playstation 3, sadly it had happen to me so i looked online what was going on. I see a lot of people complaining about the issue. Sony wrote on the website that there trying to get it done ASAP. An hour or so passed by and it was fixed. Sony always wants feedback on what they put out there on the market. In the Playstation online store, when you buy a game or a avatar to edit your online ID, you can rate the product you have bought. Also, in every ps3 game there is somewhere in the little booklet or of the game where it gives a number where you can call to see how Sony is doing. I was over my friends house and she called Sony because her PlayStation couldn't read none of her discs she put in. When she was on the phone with one of the helpers, they was helping out a lot. Eventually they found out what the problem was and her PlayStation 3 got fixed. When the issue was solved, the person on the phone was asking if she wanted to subscribe to Sony so she can get emails about information about the PS3. They kept asking questions. To me, I could tell Sony would always want feedback to keep the customers happy because of course, they wouldn't want to lose any costumers.

Week 11 - Integrated Marketing Communications

One game that is already in development that people are speaking about already is Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3. I am a very huge fan of the call of duty series. This game is literally a lot of fun and I enjoy playing it. Its a first person shooting game where you play campaign and online. Call of Duty got very popular when Call of Duty 4 was released. The story line was amazing but what makes the game so popular and why people play it so much?. Its the Online play. With more than one million players on PS3 and Xbox 360 every single day, call of duty is a awesome game. After Call of duty 4 (AKA. COD4), Call of duty world at war was released a year later which made the game more popular. Another year later Call of Duty modern warfare 2 came out. This is when every one went crazy. The online play for this game is too much fun and people claim this as the best Call of duty out yet. The call of duty that recently came out which didn't need no promotion as well is Call Of Duty Black Ops. The game sold 5.6 million copies in 24 hours. All game stores were getting phone calls and all people was asking for was " Do you have black ops?". I waited 6 hours outside in the cold for this game. The lines were too line and it was crazy. People had chairs outside of GameStop and the game came out in the news. The game was released on November 9, 2010 Midnight. People waited outside like nothing. The game is so popular and the wait of the game couldn't wait that the game out in the News. Call of duty Modern Warfare 3 will sell and everyone is waiting for it already. The online play is just too much fun even though a lot of people hate it as well because people hate dying online. Modern warfare 3 will not need to be promoted because it will sell.

Fans waiting for there Black ops copy.

( Check out this video !! )   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8J-5wHQADY&feature=channel

Waiting on Line for Black ops

Week 10 - Product Concepts

Here is a link to the Sony Time line  (Picture was too big to post here)

http://www.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/sony-products.jpg

My PlayStation 3 with the SONY brand next to the Power button.

My PlayStation 3 Remote Controller with SONY brand

My speaker With the SONY brand

My Stereo With SONY brand

Sony has everything Hi-tech that you could possibly want from computers, DVD players, TV's and so much more. My favorite Sony product is the PlayStation System. You cant ask for more when it comes to Sony. If you go to the Sony official website ( http://www.sony.com/index.php ) it will find you specifically what you want. If you click Cameras and camcorders, it you show if you want to shop & compare, or you need help with your product. When you click the shop and compare, it will show you the type of cameras Sony has to offer. There is so much you can buy from Sony. Computers, cameras & camcorders, TV & Home entertainment, MP3 & Portable electronics, Movies & Music, Games, Sony gift cards and more. If you buy a Sony product  of course you will see the Sony brand on there.

Week 9 - Sales Promotion and Personal Selling

PlayStation Move Sports Champions Bundle 320GB.

Sony doesn't need to try hard so people can buy there products because people will buy them regardless. But Sony can't be to sure so they always release a type of bundle with the PlayStation system. Sony has created so many bundles with popular games that came out. For example: The Metal Gear Solid 4 80 GB PS3 model. Also, Little Big Planet.
Surly, I know that if your just getting a PS3, why not get the bundle? You will just get the system itself? No, you would want a free game in the system as well. About last year, the most memory for the PS3 was 80GB. Then everyone got excited when the 120 GB came out. Now Sony has made the most memory so far. The 320GB PS3. A lot of people will buy the 320 GB system itself but of course just to be on the safe side, Sony made around 3 bundles for it. The only bundle I know about is the PlayStation Move Sports Champions Bundle 320GB. Comes with The Playstation move, the ps3 model 320GB and free game. Recently when my friend eddie went to buy a game for his ps3, he saw the PS3 bundle that came with the playstation move. It was only 300 dollars. He payed 400 for his playstation 3only. Sony really knows how to get to peoples head.

Week 8 - Advertising and Public Relations

The Ps3. It gets advertised as " It Only Does Everything". Before the PS3 came out, Sony made powerful Videos for the ps3. These were the "Play Beyond" Commercials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qamwVJaYW8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyFrekxy7wg&feature=related


Most of the PS3 commercials now are the "Dear PlayStation" Commercials. These commercials are the funny ones with the main character Kevin Butler. He is a character that Sony Computer Entertainment made up. He plays as the Vice president of Sony answering to the "Dear Playstation" videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkvAZ3dn-jQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0q3qcLkw1A

The way Sony is advertising the PS3 is very great. The videos are funny and friendly. Not so long ago, Sony made a video advertising the PS3 move. The commercial started off from Kevin Butler saying that people were thinking the PS3 was not family orientated. Another video were he said " Dear world, barely people think that motion gaming is for little kids. The way Sony are making these videos and the way they are putting the words together, they will be getting more family's to get them and people who never really liked the PS3 will start buying. It's getting hard to resist the PS3 now with all the high-tech and cool things they are making.

Week 7 - Retailing

I went downtown to buy a game for my playstation 3. On my way home, i decided to stop by the Sony Style store that's on 550 Madison Avenue at 55th Street. This place can really catch someone's attention even if your not a Sony fan. One side of the store is just for the games and the other side is TV's, stereos, CD's and laptops. There is also a part of the store which is a home theater showroom. Everywhere I walked the workers there kept asking me for help. It got kind of annoying but they were very helpful and they would definitely help someone. I spoke one of the workers there. I asked him if the store is busy most of the time. He said " I'll put it this way, the store would never run slow".  I laughed and said wow. As I walked away from him and kept looking around, I started to believe more why he said that because everything surrounded was perfectly organized and it felt like I wanted to buy something even though I had only 4 dollars on me.

Even if you aren't a sony fan, everyone should check out the store. They are open from
Mon-Sat : 10am-7pm... Sun : 11am-6am

Week 6 - Consumer Decision Making

PS2

PS3

PS3 SLIM

Sony has made many products and most were the same but with different adjustments. For example, the ps3 to the ps3 slim. The PS3 sold big time but the PS3 sold much more. Over the years, of course every company wants to find a way to make there product better. Sony went from cheap graphics from the Playstation 1 and 2 to Playstation realistic graphics, the TV's to HD, and the wired playstation remote controllers to wireless controllers. Even with the hugest or slightest fix to there products, sony always find a way to keep us happy in what we buy from them.

Week 5 - Developing a Global Vision

Of course every company has to keep every costumer they have happy. Companies love the feedback they get from costumers they have to see if they did a good job or to see if they have to fix the product in a type of way. The Sony company is originally from Japan. America also runs the company. Of course if the original company  is from japan and America is also running it, the products the sell have to be in both languages to keep the buyers happy. Games that sell have to have different languages in it of course. Sony will continue to implement measures as required to help assure both short and longer-term profitability and growth. In a commercial of the ps3, they stated that parents said that the ps3 wasn't family orientated like the wii. After these statements were heard that's when the created the playstation move.


"3D world created by Sony will exhibit a complete end-to-end lineup of 3D products and its supporting technologies provided by Sony Group ranging from the 'Lens to the Living Room' including contents creation. It will also introduce a variety of ways for customers to enjoy 3D movies, music videos, games, and photographs."

Resident evil 5 in Japan

Resident evil 5 in America

Silent  Hill Homecoming In Japan

Corporate irresponsibility

Legionella at the Melbourne Aquarium
 

(Legionella is a Gram negative Bacteria)

The multi-million dollar Melbourne aquarium opened in the beginning of 2000 and grew to be one of the most popular tourist spots in Melbourne. In the April of that year, Legionnaire’s Disease hit the aquarium. Three people died and seven ended up in the hospital. In total, 93 people had caught the disease. This was supposedly the "safest place in Melbourne" to visit. After the accident, visitors dropped almost 50 percent even after replacement of the water-based air conditioning system with a non-water based one and a health official declaring the aquarium. The aquarium also faces a class-action lawsuit seeking unspecified compensation for those who became infected. In response to the incident, the Victorian Government quickly moved to upgrade regulatory standards, establish a comprehensive registry of cooling towers, and require implementation of risk management programs with annual audits.

.

Week 4 - How did the Recession affect Sony

 ( Picture above - Workers leaving Sony )




“These initiatives are in response to the sudden and rapid changes in the global economic environment"  - SONY

While the recession was taking place, Sony planned to eliminate 16,000 jobs. Since December 9, 2008 Sony curbed investments, outsourced production and moved away from unprofitable businesses till March 2010. Doing so, they saved more than 100 billion dollars a year. The cuts in jobs included 16,000 full-time employees ( 5 percent of the company's electronics workforce) and 8,000 part time and seasonal workers. “The reason for this move is the deterioration of the economy, which was much larger than we expected,” Said senior vice president Naofuami Hara. Sony said on October 23, 2009 that net income will probably drop 59 percent in the year ending March 31 2010 , reducing the outlook by 38 percent. Sony said it will invest 30 percent less in its electronics business than planned under its mid-term strategy without giving figures. Sony also stated that they will cut the number of manufacturing sites by 10 percent.

Country Of Origin

Shirt - Honduras

Under Shirt - Bangladesh

Jeans - China

Boxers - Bangladesh

Socks - Unlabeled

Week 3 - Ethics & Social Responsibility

Sony joined Climate Savers in July 2006. Sony has signed a contract in a committed effort to prevent global warming. Since Sony has joined this group, Sony has been focusing on 4 targets which are;

1) The greenhouse gases emitted by Sony Group as a whole will be reduced by fiscal 2010 to a level 7% lower than in fiscal 2000.

2)  The annual consumption of electric power by Sony products will be reduced, thus reducing the amount of CO₂ emitted when consumers use the products.

3) Communications regarding prevention of global warming will be established with consumers.

4) Support the WWF's view that the atmospheric temperature increase should be kept to less than 2°C.

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Also, in this year, Sony created a 5-year environmental targets under Green Management 2015. These targets are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at factories and offices by 30% and lower every product’s power consumption by 30 percent.

Sony is focused on four key areas:

• Global warming and the reduction of greenhouse gases
• Conservation and effective use of natural resources
• Preservation of our natural environment
• Reducing CO2 emissions from product use by introducing more
  energy efficient products
  

Week 2 - Strategic Planning

Same PlayStation, Different Look. I was not surprised when the ps3 slim was released. A slimmer version of the PlayStation 2 was also released when the PlayStation 2 was popular. This PS3 is a upgraded version as the say. This models only have 120GB, 160GB, 250GB and 320GB of memory. The model is 33% smaller, 36% lighter and consumes 45% less power. The PS3 slim was released on September 1, 2009 in North America. In its first week, the model has sold one million models in its first week. The bad about this new model is there is no fan in the back which might cause this new model to get overheated quickly. The good, is the model only cost 300 dollars.

Week 1 - Brief History Of The PlayStation 3

The PlayStation 3 first came out on November 11, 2006. Released in November 11, 2006 in Japan and November 17 for North America and Europe. As of November 11, 2006, the PS3 has sold 38.1 million units as of June 30, 2010. The first PS3's that were released had two HDMI ports, three Ethernet cable ports, and six USB ports. A year later, new PS3 models were made having only one HDMI port, one Ethernet port and four USB ports.When the PlayStation's were first released, the cost of it was 600 dollars to 700 dollars. Now, the models cost about 300 dollars. The first models of the PS3 are now discontinued. The first models only had 20GB, 40GB and 60GB of memory. The 60GB model was the only one that had an HDMI port, Wi-Fi internet, and was the only one that was chrome silver instead of black.