Sony and its Playstation 3 in Europe

Résumé du document

Sony launched its last home console in November 2007 in the US and Japanese markets. In Europe, the launch was done in March 2007. In this case, we will first focus on the situational analysis. This analysis will be divided into two parts, the external analysis (opportunities and threats linked to political, economic, competitive, social, technological, supply chain and distribution process factors) and the internal analysis (strengths and weaknesses linked to marketing, production and service process, finance, R&D, management, H&R and information system). From this analysis, we will take into account two strategic alternatives in order to deal with the problem statement identified, that is to say the gap between the company beliefs concerning its product and the consumers point of view. Our analysis will lead us to the most efficient strategy. Finally, we will implement our strategy using an indicative time line.

Extraits

[...] With this alternative we want to enhance our consumer's experience throughout the implementation of strategic partnership in main European capital cities. Our partnership will involve the brand Nike and the developer and editor of video games named Konami. Our objective is to create a special experience for our European addicted consumers. Therefore, we are going to implement a partnership with the main Nike stores located in Europe. In the French case, the Nike store is on the Champs Elysées, a very famous and popular avenue. Our project is the following: create a “Playstation 3 in the store. [...]

[...] The interesting point here is that projected sales for the Playstation 3 million) were reached. The issue concerning the Playstation 3 is in fact the gap between consumer's points of view and the company beliefs Situation Analysis 1. External Analysis - POLITICAL France is a country where intellectual property is a key issue. The government has always had a strong control on the infrastructure (Euromonitor International, 2007). “L'exception culturelle française”, that is to say the French cultural exception is known worldwide and is an important element which has to be taken into account when launching an entertainment product in France. [...]

[...] Customers' concerns could be analysed in terms of the following arbitrage: do I buy a Playstation 3 or an Xbox360? What are the benefits of buying a Playstation Consumer's concerns are rated as high. These concerns can be described from Roger's five attributes (appendix compatibility of the games, triability of the product, complexity, observability and relative advantage Strategic Alternatives 1. Strategic Alternative 1 The first alternative targets a wide segment: all the ecommerce internet users. Young adults are in the heart of the target but we also want to attract more mature consumers. [...]

[...] Price: The product's price is stated on the website and is the same as offered in other distribution channels. Place : Our online shop proposed all the different products of our brand. It is an online channel of distribution. Promotion : Advertising will be made directly on the website for our particular product. People : Value the role of the team in charged on the promotion of the Playstation 3 on the Sony Style shop. Physical evidence: Our online shop in intangible, we need to be visible and to have a strong identity. [...]

[...] This tendency among French consumers to spend more on luxury products is an opportunity for Sony since the Playstation 3 is the most expensive console ever sold. This opportunity is even more important for Sony since the company has not launched the stripped-down version equipped with a smaller hard drive and no wireless module in Europe. French and Europeans consumers did not have choice; they could only buy the version costing (about 934$). Nevertheless, in context where the average French citizens saw their level of way of living decreasing, the high price of the Playstation 3 can also perceived for these consumers as a good reason to keep on playing on their Playstation 2. [...]