Technology and Marketing Management of Sony Corporation

I. Company Description

Sony Corporation is a multinational corporation and it is one of the world's largest media conglomerates founded in Tokyo, Japan. One of its divisions Sony Electronics is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video, communications, and information technology products for both the consumer and professional markets.

Sony Corporation is the parent company of the Sony Group and is operating in business through its six operating segments: including Electronics, Games, Music, Pictures, Financial Services and Other. These make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. In the Electronics segment, Sony develops designs and manufactures electronic equipments. In the entertainment aspect, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., the company develops, produces, manufactures and markets games like PlayStation, PlayStation 2. In the Music segment, Sony BMG Music Entertainment which known as second largest record company in the world, it produces recorded music and music videos, and also distributes compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs) and universal media discs (UMDs). Sony's Pictures segment includes production, acquisition and distribution of motion pictures, television broadcasting and online distribution. Sony's financial services include savings and loans. The Other segment includes both advertising agency business and an Internet-related service business.

Sony has recorded combined annual sales of as much as $67 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2005[1],, and it employs total of 151,400 people worldwide[2],. For the fiscal year ended March, 2005, Sony has made total sales of $18.4 billion in the U.S. As a semiconductor maker, Sony is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders.

II. Sony’s mySAP CRM

For the most types of business, the holidays are always the biggest selling season of the year. During any important selling season, for any type of business, it is very important that the companies keep their customers always informed of promotions, product introductions, and marketing messages to stimulate sales. This holiday season, Sony of Canada used what they called mySAP.

Customer Relationship Management uses their management ability to target select customers and start a series of marketing activities through e-mails and physical mailings. These included product highlights, promotional offerings, shipping deadline reminders for online purchases and a gift guide of product ideas. The campaign management tool has allowed Sony of Canada to analyze customer data and find out the target customers, then quickly perform a multichannel promotion for the holiday selling season. [3]

One of the Sony’s goals is to build up customer relationship marketing and direct communication with their customers. Moreover, Sony is as well looking forward to capture the ‘voices’ of each individual customer for better customer satisfaction and move forward in company’s ability to communicate with them. mySAP CRM is one of the important tools that helps the Sony company to achieve that goal.

In addition to the mySAP CRM campaign management capabilities, Sony Corporation is now using mySAP CRM interaction center capabilities. The solution will then provide full function for all contact center operations, including inbound and outbound call processing, e-mail management, and activity management to track, monitor, and enhance customer contacts. [4] It supports various channels for customer communication, including telephony and Web.

Inside of the Sony Corporation, there are running teams that focus on analyzing customer buying behaviors, such as what people buy and how often they buy, their geographical location, and so forth.