Sony Bravia and Allen Solley: Addressing Social Concern through Branding

Sony Bravia used to follow the tagline titled “Colors Become Alive”. Whereas colors are still assumed
to be alive in Bravia, the brand is trying to embark on a deeper meaning than merely projecting the
physical characteristics of colors. In order to interpret the statement (‘respect every color’) let’s
explore meaning of its components on the dimensions. These are three words chained together to form
the sentence.  Their dictionary meanings are as follows:

 Respect- cherish, admiration, deference, honor, value and revere

 Every- all individuals, each and every
 Color- hue, shade, tint, tone and tinge

It actually calls to treat all shades of paints or colors as equal.  Another brand, Allen Solley, an Indian
premier brand for men’s fashion only, projects itself as “Flexible”. Let us delve into their meanings at
deeper level.

In another case of Allen Solley, a men’ fashion brand, apparently seeks to lure customers by the
promise of ‘flexibility’ that stems from the use of materials which enhance wear comfort.  The built in
flexibility of a chino (a type of men’s full pants) would allow its wearer to perform different jobs with
ease.  It is an important benefit. But does it give sustainable differentiation? The fabrics and stitching
can easily be copied.  Then how does the brand connect with its young millennial consumers? In order
to be valuable, brands must make sense beyond surface attributes and forge connections at deeper
level. One such method is to add value by relating the brand with consumer values.  Values are life
guiding beliefs that define a person in terms of what he or she stands for. So what does ‘flexibility’
means from a person’s perspective? It denotes a particular kind of personality as someone who is not
rigid, unyielding and adamant. Flexibility can also mean accommodating attitude and not having a
worldview that hardliners have.  Flexibility in this sense conveys a lot about the millennial mindset
who show tolerance to dissent and are open to rational persuasion. They are flexible and do not side
with extreme binaries. They are pragmatic in their approach to things in life. This meaning operates at
second level of signification.

In case of Bravia, the headline- ‘Respect every color’ makes sense only when it is seen through larger
socio-cultural space. The meaning is hidden in the world ‘color’  The word color in an indirect sense
may signify race, religion, caste or other social categories and hidden power asymmetry. The most
obvious categories that come to mind are white and black people.  The usage of the word ‘color’ in a
television’s context is very obvious. It conveys that the television does not discriminate between
colors and produces high quality images on screen.  But this is not the actual message. The brand
seeks to forge a meaningful relationship at the psychological level.

The brand stands for the ideals of equality and non-discrimination.  It conveys its position against
prejudices and biases plague society.  The Millennial and Generation Z mind set is not committed to
binaries that have been perpetuated by orthodoxy that find expressions of gender roles, religious and
social practices.

Questions:
1. Based on the case study and considering the importance of brands to show social concern, do
you think Sony Bravia has answered the call to show social concern in their branding
program? Explain how the brand integrated social concern in their promotion.

Sony Bravia has answered the call to show social concern in their branding program through
showing the high quality images on screen rather discriminating between colors. As color
define as discrimination between white and black. A television doesn’t promotes the
 discrimination as it shows all type of things and exposes the equality in showing all types of
colored things. In the image there are so many colors which don’t promote the discrimination
rather showing the equality in all types of race, religion and culture. Sony Bravia is trying to
promote the color in society concern as equality in all colors and also in nn discriminations.

2. Briefly explain the case of Allen Solley and show how they addressed the social concern.
Allen Solley is an indian fashion brand which usually works for the men’s fashion. They are
concern in the people flexibility. The elements that are using to produce their product it could
be copied able but the flexibility that they are providing it could not be copied able. They are
so much concern about their customer preferences and always determine to provide best
quality product.