SONY TARGETS

LAPTOP
CONSUMERS IN
CHINA
Team Members:
Ashwani Kumar Lall
Chandan Behera
Rahul Sah
Segment Global or local? Sai Krishna Athkuri
Talati Saurabh Rashmikant

1
 Objective History Laptop Market Research Clues Report Project Compass Questionnaire Recommendations

OBJECTIVE
• Underlying Problem: Plan for a marketing strategy of VAIO laptops in China
• Large volume of data and reports available
• Analyze the reports and data to find the target segment
• Prepare a marketing strategy by referencing three market research reports:
• Study on consumer values
• Qualitative interview data
• Segmentation study completed recently
• The aim is to find which combination of studies would be the best plan to position VAIO laptops in
China.

2
 Objective History Laptop Market Research Clues Report Project Compass Questionnaire Recommendations

HISTORY OF SONY VAIO

• Sony started in 1946
• Major player in electronics in a few decades
• Introduced Desktop in 1996
• Targeted niche market
• Great build and design –way superior than its contemporaries
• Style and design top priority
• Software already loaded
• Good for personal use and not for companies
• Exclusivity gave Sony an edge

3
 Objective History Laptop Market Research Clues Report Project Compass Questionnaire Recommendations

LAPTOP MARKET AND VAIO IN CHINA

Consumer behavior post 1980:
• Country’s working age population was around 50%
• Better education than previous generations and status-seeking behavior
• Wanted to bought right products to gain approval or acceptance from society
• People aspired to enjoy the levels of status and distinguish themselves from others
Laptop for consumers:
• Image-conscious people, who cared about what laptop said about them
• Strong means of self-expression
• Consumers wanted to stand out and to show a good face to society
• Ultimately laptop were extension of identity as a “multimedia person”, a “tech person” or a “cool person”

4
 Objective History Laptop Market Research Clues Report Project Compass Questionnaire Recommendations

MARKET RESEARCH
Target Segment according to demography
• Age between 18 -54
• High school and collage degree education
• All income level

What they want

• To connect with others via e-mail, social networking sites
and so on
• As a primary productivity tool, useful at school or at work
• Relay on it for everyday tasks, get confused with extra features
• Want their computer as a central hubs for experience multimedia

5
 Objective History Laptop Market Research Clues Report Project Compass Questionnaire Recommendations

THE CLUES REPORT

The points to focus after the customer interviews were : Importance Rating on laptop characteristic
• Key similarities and differences among consumers of China
• Were there different groups with different product preferences
• Size of these group and market opportunities they present

Highlights :
• 760 members between the age of 18-55 years were surveyed
• Six segments of laptop users were yielded
Entertainment lover (18%) Business Focused (16%)
Fashion Oriented (15%) Tech Enthusiast (16%) On a scale of 6.(0- lowest, 6-highest)
Family User (22%) Heavy User (13%)

6
 Objective History Laptop Market Research Clues Report Project Compass Questionnaire Recommendations

PROJECT COMPASS REPORT

Key areas of focus :
Compass segments Ranks Sony as
• Worldwide consumer segmentation
in China their top brand
• Align cross-divisional and cross-regional thinking w.r.t segments
Techno-socializers 13
• Customize marketing efforts region and product wise
Performance 10
• Build cross-category cluster value Seekers
Highlights : Status Focused 15

• 760 members between the age of 16-65 years were surveyed

Unfussy Basics 3
Functional 4
• Six segments of laptop users were yielded Socializers
Techno-socializers (18%) Unfussy Basics (24%)
Quality of Lifers 9
Performance Seekers (17%) Functional Socializers (9%)
Status Focused (12%) Quality of Lifers (22%)

7
 Objective History Laptop Market Research Clues Report Project Compass Questionnaire Recommendations

WHY VAIO’S SALES LESS IN CHINA

• Sony VAIO was a premium product and was not a choice for everyone in China due to major
education and income gaps
• Sony brand was seen as “young and trendy” because of various number of colors offered and also
style
• People were more favorable to established brands in China and Sony was seen as an early player in
the Chinese market
• Sony was not considered as an enterprise brand for large or medium-sized businesses
• IT managers tend to focus more on functional aspects than the aesthetic design features of Sony
VAIO.

8
 Objective History Laptop Market Research Clues Report Project Compass Questionnaire Recommendations

RECOMMENDATIONS
• Only a significant minority of Chinese consumers prefer buying Sony. So Sony needs to work hard
to create more brand awareness in some consumer segments
• Mr. Lopez needs to target fashion-oriented consumers whose focus is more on hipness and style
than on specifications. 92% of these consumers are expected to buy laptop in the next 12 months
making it a huge target
• Another segment would be to target the segment of family users with unfussy basics because this
segments has more women who are seeking stylish laptops to manage their family calendars and
budgets
• VAIO need to be projected as a family and stylish laptop to target the above two segments
• Entertainment lovers (CLUES report) and status focused & techno socializers (COMPASS report)
are more likely to buy laptop in the next 12 months becomes an important target

9
Thank You

10