As most of you know Sony Ericsson is a changed company – or at least they’re trying to be. Their new make.believe brand message seems to have done a lot of good for the company and I was hoping to get a chance to speak with someone from Sony Ericsson about the change and what it means to the company. This resulted in a bit of an interview with Aldo Liguori – a mighty fine chap who also just happens to be the Corporate VP and Head of Global Communications & PR at Sony Ericsson. What a title!
Have fun reading it – there are quite a few treats here and there :)
Question: Could you please explain the concept of the new ‘make.believe’ brand message and its importance to Sony Ericsson?
Answer: Firstly, I think it’s important to mention that this is the first time that Sony has unified all of its Sony Group companies, including Sony Ericsson, under one consumer marketing strap line. We are of course very pleased to be a part of this new approach and, in brief, ‘make.believe’ (read ‘make dot believe’) relates to the idea that anything a consumer can imagine, Sony can make real. For Sony Ericsson ‘make.believe’ reflects the coming together of communication and entertainment in our mobile phones. The strap line fits very well with our realigned brand, announced on 3rd September this year, and shows the interactive, playful and innovative spirit of Sony Ericsson and our products. We launched ‘make.believe’ several weeks ago with a new advertising campaign to promote our new Satio, Aino and Yari phones.
Question: Many of Sony Ericsson’s customers have been asking for high-end phones with more features, and Sony Ericsson’s newly appointed President, Bert Nordberg, has now said that the company will finally focus more on this segment. Some would argue that it’s taken much too long – what would you say to these people?
Answer: We were the first mobile handset manufacturer to launch a music phone, back in 2005 under the Walkman brand. A year later we were the first mobile handset manufacturer to launch a phone with a digital camera under the Cyber-shot brand. Our focus during those years was on creating the best possible feature-rich phones which offered the strongest and most innovative user experience. As new entrants joined the mobile handset industry, with dedicated phones that focused on email functionality, we realized that this would be an ever growing segment of the market despite the economic downturn we first saw in 2008. Interestingly enough, the smartphone segment has not suffered as much as other segments of the market. For some time now we have putting a lot of time and effort into this segment of the market, and for us it’s always been about offering something new, something unique to consumers. We did this by launching a totally new category of Sony Ericsson phones called ‘XPERIA’ and began with the X1, a phone based on the Windows Mobile operating system. We have since announced the successor product, the X2, as well as our first Symbian Foundation based phone, Satio. And we have just recently announced our first Android based phone, the X10. Focusing on the smartphone segment of the market is very much part of our programme to refocus our business and return our company to profitability.
Question: Sony Ericsson has released a number of similar handsets over the last few years – many of which in my opinion could have been scrapped to reduce costs and loss. Would it be foolish of us to hope for a turning trend, i.e. in the sense of fewer, but better handsets?
Answer: We announced a year ago that we would be streamlining our portfolio and focusing on a smaller number of products fewer which offered a truly innovative and unique user experience. We have been delivering on such a strategy and are starting to launch the first in a family of products that deliver to this promise.
Question: Most people will know that Sony Ericsson have struggled with financial misfortune for quite some time now, however it seems to me that the numbers are finally starting to turn. Is this also the general view internally and if so, what do you think has caused the turn?
Answer: We believe we are, first and foremost, a product company. Our products are what generate profit, so this is the reason why our products are at the center of our Transformation programme.
Question: Sony Ericsson have used a combination of Japanese names and regular product indexes for five handsets in the current portfolio: Aino (U10), Jalou (F100), Naite (J105), Satio (U1) and Yari (U100). It’s an interesting change and many people are curious to know why it was done and if Sony Ericsson will continue doing so?
Answer: We try to innovate in everything we do. A decision was made to change our naming for some, but not all, products. We felt that some products lend to a new naming style more than others. And depending on the product itself we have focused more on Asian sounding names, as opposed to more European sounding names. We like the fact that we can be creative in the naming of our phones as well as in the other aspects which make our phones unique and innovative.
Question: Sony Ericsson are now actively using social media services like blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Would you say this could be a preferred way of doing company communication with customers a few years from now?
Answer: I think the importance of social media has grown very fast these past several months. While being a very personal item that we keep very close to oneself –I don’t know many people who like to lend their phone to someone else, do you?- we like to share experiences with friends, colleagues and family. So as communication tool the phone is becoming more and more about communicating with many people at once, hence the growth in popularity of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other means. This trend will only increase in the future, among all age groups and in all business areas.
Question: What does the blogosphere and its very direct way of delivering content to users mean to Sony Ericsson?
Answer: The blogosphere allows companies such as Sony Ericsson to remain in touch with consumers, to hear what consumers are saying about us and our products, and to allow us to engage in regular dialogue with them. I believe the blogosphere also gives us an opportunity to target our consumer messages and promotions and to even conduct some valuable market research. It’s important for us to stay relevant to consumers’ needs and preferences, and I think that the blogosphere is a very contemporary way to do this.
Question: Sony Ericsson’s first Android-based handset, X10, was unveiled this month – could you please elaborate on the importance of Android to Sony Ericsson and also comment on what consumer segment(s) upcoming Android phones from Sony Ericsson will approach?
Answer: Our strategy continues to offer the best possible user experience in the industry. In the past our position was to focus our product development on a proprietary operating system. Today we develop products to Windows Mobile, Symbian Foundation and Android operating systems in addition to our proprietary system. This is the new Sony Ericsson. We are an open company that recognizes the importance of using existing operating systems and building unique and innovative applications, content and services on top.
Question: The XPERIA brand was originally unveiled as a brand to meet the growing need for web communication and multimedia entertainment. The Entertainment Unlimited proposition promised to unite entertainment experiences and fusing communication with entertainment through web applications. What’s the primary role of each?
Answer: In our view, communication IS entertainment. The phone has definitely moved on beyond just focusing on voice and text messaging. Consumers today want to do much more with their phone. They wish to use their phone in a variety of ways, including listening to music and taking pictures. But the beauty is in how consumers can personalize their phone and make it perform they way they want it to. And today there are a multitude of applications available on our phones that allow consumers to chose. Remember that consumers also want to share their experiences with others, and this is possible of course with the social media features we offer on our phones.
Question: What has the initial market response been like for the Aino, Satio and Yari?
Answer: Positive. Our phones have been well received.
Question: Where do you see Sony Ericsson in five years from now?
Answer: Difficult to predict, especially since our industry is very dynamic and fast-moving. But I predict great things for Sony Ericsson in five years’ time. Please watch this space and continue to follow us.
