Vous êtes sur la page 1sur 5

Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning

1. Brand: Sony PlayStation

2. Background of the product and maker:


Sony PlayStation is a gaming brand that consists of four home video game consoles, as well
as a media centre, an online service, a line of controllers, two handhelds and a phone, as well
as multiple magazines. It is created and owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment since
December 3, 1994, with the launch of the original PlayStation console in Japan.
3. Product Life-cycle and Market Performance:
The original console in the series was the first video game console to ship 100 million units,
9 years and 6 months after its initial launch. Its successor, the PlayStation 2, was released in
2000. The PlayStation 2 is the best-selling home console to date, having reached over 155
million units sold as of December 28, 2012. Sony's next console, the PlayStation 3, was
released in 2006 and has sold over 80 million consoles worldwide as of November 2013. Sony's
latest console, the PlayStation 4, was released in 2013, selling 1 million consoles in its first 24
hours on sale, becoming the fastest selling console in history.
Product life cycle of Sony PlayStation consoles is 10 years based on their online
community. But due to the speed of improvement in both technology and game platform which
was preferred by many serious gamers who actually are fond of immersive experience, the life
cycle just got short from 10 years to around average of 6 years.

4. Market Segment, Target and Position:

I. Market Segment and Target:


Sony PlayStation market segment are gamers. When it comes to demographic
segmentation, age, gender and income are taken into consideration. According to
Sony, the main geographic segments of the PlayStation 4 which is the latest product of
the long line of PlayStation consist of the Northern America market, Japanese Market
and the European market. Sonys demographic segmentation divides the market of the
PS4 in male and female, old and young players and expands its business to a wider
mainstream of entertainment. Such example includes most first person shooter games
are rated M for mature which means that you have to be 17+ to purchase the game in
store. Other games are labelled E for everyone, T for teen and E+10 for everybody
over 10 years old. Gender also comes into play when new apps are added to the
console. Most cultural distinctions, different needs and demands of individuals and
diversities in customers buying behaviors require market segmentation of companies
to satisfy their customers effectively.

II. Market Position:


Sony has positioned the PlayStation 4 (newly released console) as the hardcore
gamers console of choice. It is the next generation console with high quality graphics and
an immersive gaming experience.

5. Marketing Insight:

Sony PlayStation is a video game console that was created by


the international company Sony Computer Entertainment. The name PlayStation has
been officially shortened to PS and the Japanese company Sony who owns it and holds
its distribution rights introduced this game series in the games market in the year 1994.
The main customers for Sony PlayStation units are the hard-core gamers and they belong
to the age group of fifteen to thirty.

Place in the Marketing mix of Sony Playstation

The brand name Sony PlayStation includes a media center; number of home
consoles is four, a controller line, online services, multiple magazines, a phone and two
handhelds.

The crux of the playstation is high end graphics and processing power which allows it
to play games which are beyond imagination. Thus this makes Sony Playstation a favorite
with hard-core gamers. All the PlayStations have wonderful graphics and besides
PlayStation I, the rest have the Blue-ray play back that allows watching of movies.

The dual facility of a gaming system and super HD movie watching has helped in an
increase number of sales. The PS network also allows downloading of games and even
allows online gaming as well as multiplayer which is the main attraction of gaming for most
hard-core gamers.

Place in the Marketing mix of Sony Playstation

Sony is dependent upon its suppliers largely as they provide the raw materials and
valuable parts to the company. These pre-constructed parts are a necessity for the
company as they are very important in the development and production of the soft wares
and hard wares in the games. Sony has a very good and long lasting relationship with its
suppliers and some of them are NVidia for Graphic Cards, Terra Soft Solutions for
Operating System and IBM for Processors. The company utilizes online market and a large
part of their sales figure is due to their online and offline distributors like Amazon, GameStop
and Wal-Mart as the PlayStations are distributed at numerous entertainment stores. Due
to its high price, playstation is expected to sell at premium outlets only.

Thus, in general, Sony playstation can be found at exclusive Sony stores and at
electronic chains/ Sonys worldwide market consists of nearly 120 countries including India,
USA, Oceania and South Korea. The distribution of Sony playstation is far and wide and
the fan following is even wider.

Price in the Marketing mix of Sony Playstation

Sony has kept a premium pricing policy with respect to its high technology background
and equally breath taking features. The company is also known to use skimming price and
generally the prices are high when the product is introduced because the anticipation from
gaming fans are also high and the company can skim prices at such times.

However, schemes have a tendency to go erratic as the high and premium-pricing policy
resulted in low sales. Thus, later on within a span of 6 months, we can see the pricing of
the latest playstation tumbling down whenever a competitor launches a product or the
novelty factor has faded.

The company has recently reduced the hardware prices in order to capture the
customers from the rival market. This surely has led to an increase in the sales of Sony
PlayStations, as their prices currently are comparatively lower than the products of the
rival companies.

Promotion in the Marketing mix of Playstation

The features of the Sony PlayStation games are such that they in turn are a promotion
in itself. Sony has used the Umbrella Branding Strategy to launch its Play Stations and
under this concept, they have placed the name of the product alongside the corporate name
for promotions as well as sales.

Sony has always handled the media with the right attitude, as they are aware of medias
contribution in any success and failure of a product. Their promotional activities are
executed after a detailed and thorough research.

The promotions consist of commercials and advertisement that are aired online on
websites and on televisions. The ads are also printed in newspapers and magazines so
that awareness about the products is created. Important promotional strategies include
displays in the stores that can be tested by the customers directly.

Most importantly, Sony playstation is one brand which is using online advertising at its
best. Whenever launching a new product, you will find the internet filled with ads about the
sony playstation because most gamers are tech savvy and the attention will be higher when
they are online.

Sony also has its own exclusive line of games which are exclusive for the playstation
thereby showcasing another tactic to overcome rivalry. Many people buy a playstation
because they want access to exclusive games. The same tactic was later on adopted by
Microsoft as well for Xbox 360. Thus in terms of promotions, Microsofts xbox and Sonys
playstation are known to be at loggerheads at all times.
Key Driver for Sonys Success:

The Customer Is Key

PlayStation knows its audience. It may seem basic, it may also seem trivial, but its a
point that cannot be emphasized enough. PlayStation knows its audience, inside and out.

Take a look at PlayStations UK TV advert to see what Im talking about and let us know
if you disagree. The advert showcases PlayStations evolution and the impact the brand
has had upon a young man and his friends. It is a message that we can all relate to, having
grown up alongside PlayStations evolution. PlayStation really has hit the nail on the head.

So far, PlayStation has shown us that we need to not only know our customer, but know
our brand and the relationship that the two hold, encompassed in the importance of brand
communication. Now ask yourself: how has your brand had an impact on your customers
life? How can you communicate this?

History and the Future

PlayStation has used history to its advantage. The global conglomerate has successfully
captured the past 19 years in gripping detail. In doing so, Sony is speaking to its original
audience, the people who grew up with PlayStation and those who want to continue
growing with the brand. But they havent left out the younger audience either; theyve
included enough graphical improvements and video game software of the new PlayStation
4 so much so that the latest practically sells itself, to the point that the younger audience
can be a part of the journey, too.

In this modern day and age, this is an aspect of marketing that is either overlooked or
done to death. On the one hand, some marketers think that by looking back in time, youre
ignoring the present and potentially missing out on opportunities to showcase your newest
innovation. This just isnt true. PlayStation has, if anything, highlighted its innovation by
looking back in time. Sony has shown its progress and evolution through pioneering their
biggest consoles and Sony has done it well.

On the other hand, solely focusing on history is not enough. Marketers cannot depend
exclusively on the prestige, heritage and historical reputation of a brand to maintain its
customer outreach. A historical approach has to be coupled with evolution, to emphasize
how you are still at the forefront of your industry and how your innovation will continue to
make a change to peoples lives. PlayStation does this consistently throughout their social
media.

Social Media

Alongside Sony's TV ad, PlayStation has an immaculate social media coverage. Again,
knowing its customer, audience and fan-base, PlayStation has successfully covered all
bases in the social media world. This endeavour started back in 1997, when Sony released
PlayStation Underground as a means of creating a gaming community. PlayStation was
way ahead of its time knowing that it could cultivate its audience and make regular gamers
feel special by being a part of an inclusive community.

Fast forward to 2013, and what we can see is this same community spread across
Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Google+ (not to mention Instagram and Pinterest).
PlayStation has a mass following of over 35 million people. Thats right, 35 million. That
kind of traction does not happen overnight. Throughout PlayStations existence, it has been
creating a community of fans and PlayStation has been able to fully utilise this in a day and
age where communities exist on a multitude of platforms.

But how do they maintain engagement?

Well, PlayStation doesnt only post about its consoles, PlayStation also post about
games and offers. It helps that PlayStation has its own ecommerce platform, PlayStation
Store, which means it can promote games and films that PlayStation has on offer, rather
than rely on second or third party vendors. Furthermore, PlayStation hasnt segmented its
customers by product, so customers can see whats happening across the PlayStation
system family and are aware of promotions across the board - a great way of improving
sales.

PlayStation includes its fans in its posts, encouraging them to take part in polls and
surveys that will result in promotions and offers. To top it all off, PlayStation syndicates its
social media platforms. On PlayStations Facebook page youll see cross-links to Twitter,
Youtube and Google+, all with a combined community of over 7 million people. One of
PlayStations most prominent cross links has been the use of #PlayStationMemories and
#4ThePlayer, which has been trending across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. So it
works. Encouraging the use of a captivating hashtag-line through an emotive advert will
trend the product and creates links across all of their platforms. Again, its through this that
we can see PlayStations concise knowledge of its customer and fan base. Its really is an
incredible campaign.

Below are the lessons from Sony:

1. Knowing your audience, customers and fan-base is key; dont be set back because you
didnt fully utilize your audience.

2. Use history as a source of nostalgia, evolution and innovation; dont get caught up in
promoting the past, but equally dont forget that it happened.

3. Integrate social media everywhere; Cross link, reference and engage so that your online
presence reaches every corner of your audience.

Its clear that PlayStation has moulded and adapted its approach to customers, growing
alongside them and recognizing the trends that the audience adheres to. Sony is focused
on brand image and company history, which has resulted in a customer-orientated
campaign, where the audience is all that matters. Bravo Sony, bravo.

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi