Sony VIAO - Dilemma of Richard Lopez. Richard Lopez: Product manager of Sony Corp, Hong Kong has a problem. He Has to create a Marketing Plan for VAIO laptop in China But that is not the main problem. The problem is too much data. Initially Lopez was working with three MR reports. Then he got another corporate study that segmented consumers at global level. Now his problem is that which combination he should choose

1. Group 6

2. Group 6
Ankit Uttam
Anjali
Jerin
Ayush
Lizzi
Divya
Jaskaran

3. Dilemma of Richard Lopez
SEGMENT GLOBAL OR
LOCAL

5. • Established as Tokyo Telecommunication in 1946.
• Manufacturer of telecommunication and
measurement equipment.
• Rechristened as Sony in 1958.
• Sony in 2010
– 171000 employees
– $89 bn in sales
– Past Leaders: Walkman
– Current Leaders: Handycam camcorder

6. • Introduced in mid 1996.
• Debut with desktops
• Laptops launch one year hence
• Differentiation strategy for Vaio
– High end
– Stylish
– Designer
– Colour options
– Statement
– Iconic
– Sleek
– Software

8. • Aversion for mass market
• Premium offering
• High ASP
• Sony’s unusual focus on Laptop
manufacturing, marketing and sales that reaped
return in 2000

9. Limitations
• Mass Market
• Statement computer
• Good for individual use
• Enterprise use is limited
• Standard software in office laptops

10. Vaio in China
• Premium positioning
• Moderate success
• Aesthetics
• Customers with high intangible focus
• Japanese Brand Image
• High resistance against knockoff products

11. Comparison between CLUES
report and Consumer interview

12. • Consumer Interviews : Around 40 people were
interviewed between the age group of 21 to 35.
• Asked about how they researched, shopped for
,set up and used their laptops. The interviews
revealed three key themes related to purchase.

13. • Brands are an extension of who I am.
• Asking for product advice is one way I connect
with others
• Just give me what I want

14. • CLUES Report :Chinese Laptop Users Survey
• Conducted 760 surveys of Chinese consumers
between 18 - 55 years. The respondents were asked to
rate the laptops on specific characteristics such as
coolness, simplicity and productivity. A statistical
analysis if the report yielded six user segments. These
were :
• Entertainment Lover
• Business Focused
• Family User
• Tech Enthusiast
• Fashion Oriented
• Heavy User

15. • Fashion Oriented falls in first category
• Business Focused and Family Users fall relate
to the second identity.
• Heavy Users and tech enthusiasts fall in the
latter.

16. • The four key consumer goals that relate to CLUES segments
 Some consumers depended on their laptop to connect with
others vi e-mail, social networking sites etc. Eg. Family User,
Fashion Oriented
 Others viewed it as a productivity tool. Eg . Business oriented
 Some others were light users and relied on their computers for
everyday tasks .
 A segment of consumers who use their laptops as central hubs
for accessing and experiencing multimedia. Eg Heavy User ,
Tech Enthusiast
• The combined results of these two studies
helped in Lopez’s decision.

17. Comparison b/w Customer Interview result &
Compass Report Data
Customer Interview
• Purchases as a strong means of self-expression
• Tendency to follow trends
• Consumers more receptive to new technologies and
product
Compass Report
• Technosocializers (16%)
• Performance Seekers (17%)
• Status Focused (12%)
• Unfussy Basics (24%)
• Functional Socializers (9%)
• Quality of Lifers (22%)

18. COMPARING –CLUES REPORT AND
COMPASS REPORT
• In CLUES Interview-
 The respondents were asked to rate the laptops on specific
characteristics such as coolness, simplicity and productivity.
 Consumers were between 18 and 55 years of age.
• The Project Compass
 It was indented to provide the comprehensive view of
consumers across variety of markets and product categories.
 Participants were between 16 and 65 years of age.

19. Customer segmentation
CLUES
Entertainment Lover
Business Focussed
Family User
Tech Enthusiast
Fashion Oriented
Heavy User
Compass
Technosocializers
Performance Seekers
Status Focussed
Unfussy Basics
Functional Socializers
Quality of Lifers

20. • Lopez and team re-conducted the Project
Compass research with the consumers who
responded to the CLUES Study.
• This Combined data helped to compare the two
approaches in segmenting the Chinese market.
• Helped to understand the consumer preferences
about products and their perception of SONY
VAIO.
• It could not help to develop a successful plan.

21. Enterta
inment
Lover
Busine
ss
Focuss
ed
Family
User
Tech
Enthus
iast
Fashio
n
Oriente
d
Heavy
User
Total
Techno
Socialize
r
13 19 14 8 25 21 100
Perform
ance
Seekers
8 22 3 40 8 19 100
Status
Focusse
d
1 15 22 15 17 10 100
Unfussy
Basics
23 17 41 2 13 4 100
Function
al
Socialize
r
19 2 55 6 16 2 100
Quality 21 15 8 23 15 19 100
Relationship between CLUES and COMPASS

22. Chinese Laptop User Survey
Clues Segment Laptop purchase in next
12months(%)
Sony Buyers
(%)
Entertainment lovers 88 7
Business Focus 54 12
Family User 38 12
Tech enthusiast 50 13
Fashion Oriented 92 7
Heavy User 65 11
Here, It’s observed that Entertainment Lovers are
more interested in purchasing a Sony than the other
segments present in the market over the next one year.
They are followed by business focused and tech
enthusiasts.

23. CLUES
Advantages:
• Targets entertainment buffs
• Technology Integration
• Use technology to manage other products
• Fast and powerful computer product
Disadvantages:
• Unable to target the “Fashion Oriented” despite of being
stylish
• “Heavy Users” still prefer focusing on functions and
capabilities rather than new features
• Targets a small segment of market
• Fails to do an in depth analysis of the segments

24. Compass Segment
Compass Segment
(China)
Laptop purchase in next
12months (%)
Sony Buyers
(%)
Techno socializers 78 13
Performance Seekers 70 10
Status Focused 92 15
Unfussy Basics 47 3
Functional Socializers 41 4
Quality of lifers 55 9
Here, It is observed that Techno socializers and
status focused are more interested in purchasing a
Sony than the other segments present in the market

25. Compass Segment
Advantages:
• Brand oriented customers
• Tech Savvy consumers
• Highly social with strong social media connection
Disadvantages:
• Fails to target the “Functional Socializers” as they still prefer face to
face interaction
• Targets too larger segment of market
• Unreliable and confusing data analyzed, errors maybe present

26. MAIN GOAL TO STEAL
SHARE FROM OTHER
BRANDS
WHICH MARKETING
STRATEGY???

27. CLUES STRATEGY
• What were the key similarities and differences
among consumers in China?
• Were there different groups of consumers in
China with different product preferences?
• How big or small were these groups?
• What market opportunities did they present

28. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF
CLUES
• ENTERTAINMENT LOVER
• BUSINESS FOCUSSED
• FAMILY USER
• TECH ENTHUSIAST
• FASHION ORIENTED
• HEAVY USER

29. WHY CLUES REPORT
• SONY VAIO STRENGTH
– Stylish, trendy, high end and designer
• CUSTOMER SEGMENTATION
– Entertainment Lover
– Fashion oriented
• Sony’s rank in both these segments is 7
• Both these segments have high percentage of
users in near future

30. WHY CLUES REPORT
• HEAVY USERS
– Where 65% ready customers
– They rank Sony at 11
– For heavy users connecting with others
– Sony’s strength is its own software bundle

31. TABLE EXHIBIT 5
CLUES
SEGMENT
Integrates all of
my technology
Helps me to
connect with
others
Helps me being
more
productive
A simple tool
for daily task
Entertainment
lover
1 2.9 .9 4.7
Business
focussed
3 .9 5.2 3.3
Family user 4 3.7 1.7 5.0
Tech enthusiast 5 3.0 5.2 1.2
Fashion
oriented
5 5.1 2.0 3.1
Heavy user 4 5.3 4.8 2.1

32. TABLE EXHIBIT 8
CLUES
SEGMENTS
Segment Size Plan to
purchase laptop
in coming 12
months
Rank Sony as
their top
brand
Agree that
laptop
knockoffs are
good
Entertainment
lover
18 88 7 36
Business
focussed
16 54 12 35
Family user 22 38 12 37
Tech enthusiast 16 50 13 38
Fashion
oriented
15 92 7 30
Heavy user 13 65 11 36

33. If Lopez main goal is to capitalize on existing loyalty and
interest in Sony, which study will provide the most useful
foundation for his marketing strategy?
The aim of this study was to find out how people shopped for
laptops, what they looked for in them etc.
Three key themes were revealed in so far as laptop purchase was
concerned.
Brands are an extension of customer’s identity: in China
customers saw laptops simply as a means to express themselves, to
show a ‘good” face to society or simply to show off. When
surveyors researched deeper into how a brand might be an extension
of a customers identity , three main identities emerged
• Multimedia person
• Tech person
• Cool person

34. Asking for product advice s one way I connect
with others: Respondents in China were glued to
the internet much more than in other countries like
USA or UK. As a result word of mouth was an
essential part of the buying process. Consumers
sought knowledge and advice specially from
friends, family and others. Specially before making
decisions.
Just give me what I want: customers did not
want extra information and too many models
that were insignificantly different:
The rapid growth in Chinese market had made
customers more receptive to new technologies and
different features were more important to different
interviewees, depending on how they used their
laptops.

35. For example ,some wanted to connect with loved ones
on social networking sites . Some looked at laptops as
merely a productive tool for school or office work, some
who did not want too many features and simply wanted a
laptop for daily use. And finally a new set of consumers
who looked at their computers simply as a multimedia
gadget to connect with people online as well as
accessing television shows and games.