Marketing Strategies For SONY Xperia

An EMPLOYER PROJECT PROPOSAL
for
Table of Contents
Page No.
1
Executive Summary..............................................................................3
1.1
Synopsis of Situation Analysis.........................................................3
1.2
Key Aspects of the Marketing Plan..................................................3
Situational Analysis............................................................................... 4
2.1
2.1.1
Market Segmentation...............................................................4
2.1.2
Market Needs............................................................................5
2.1.3
Market Trends...........................................................................5
2.1.4
Market Growth..........................................................................5
2.2
SWOT Analysis................................................................................6
2.3
Competition and Product Comparison.............................................7
2.3.1
Product..................................................................................... 8
2.3.2
Price......................................................................................... 8
2.3.3
Place......................................................................................... 8
2.3.4
Promotions................................................................................ 8
2.3.5
Brand Awareness......................................................................8
2.4
Key Success Factors........................................................................9
2.4.1
Add to flagship Xperia line-up in a timely manner....................9
2.4.2
Build strategic partnerships with network operators in Malaysia

10
2.4.3
Extend Smartwear concepts...................................................10
2.4.4
Growing the range of smartphone companion products.........10
2.5
3
Market Characteristics....................................................................4
Critical Issues................................................................................ 10
Marketing Strategies...........................................................................11
3.1
Corporate Mission Statement........................................................11
3.2
Objectives..................................................................................... 12
3.2.1
Marketing Objectives..............................................................12
3.2.2
Financial Objectives................................................................12
3.2.3
Manufacturing Objectives.......................................................13
3.2.4
Product Development Objectives............................................13
3.3
Strategy and Tactics......................................................................13
3.4
Target Market................................................................................14
MKT6205 Marketing Management Individual Assignment
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3.5
Positioning.................................................................................... 15
3.6
Strategies..................................................................................... 16
3.7
Marketing Strategies.....................................................................16
3.7.1
Product Strategy.....................................................................16
3.7.2
Pricing Strategy......................................................................17
3.7.3
Distribution (Place) Strategy...................................................17
3.7.4
Marketing Communication (Promotion) Strategy....................18
3.8
Marketing Research......................................................................19
3.8.1
Product Development.............................................................19
3.8.2
Brand Awareness Level...........................................................19
3.8.3
Customer Satisfaction............................................................19
Financials............................................................................................ 20
4.1
Break-even Analysis......................................................................20
4.2
Sales Forecast...............................................................................20
4.3
Expense Forecast..........................................................................21
Controls............................................................................................... 22
5.1
Implementation............................................................................23
5.2
Contingency Plans........................................................................24
References.......................................................................................... 25
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1 Executive Summary
According to Woods (2003), marketing planning is the organized
procedures of researching and analysing the marketing situation,
developing and recording marketing objectives, strategies and
plans, and executing, assessing and monitoring activities to succeed
objectives.
1.1 Synopsis of Situation Analysis

60.1% out of 17.9% proportion of sales by Sony Corporation
business
is
contributed
by
this
subsidiary
Sony
Mobile
Communications AB. We have 88% smartphone penetration rate in

Malaysia and we have identified four segment markets from our
earlier analysis, namely professionals, skilled workers, corporate
users and students. Sony Xperia Z3s strengths of having long
lasting battery performance and high quality camera under the wellestablished of Sony umbrella brand will fits to a number of great
opportunities for this Cash Cow to grow by market penetration.
1.2 Key Aspects of the Marketing Plan

3 target markets are selected which will contribute to achievement
of our marketing and financial objectives such as below:
To increase market share to 14% by next 3 years;

To increase brand awareness amongst the 26-36 age groups
from 41% to 60% by next 3 years;

To increase the sales revenue by 32% by the end of FY 2015;
To increase sales volume by 5% by the end of FY 2015.
In order to achieve the objectives of this marketing proposal, we will

look into the marketing strategies/ mixes and also we will be
projecting the financial budgetary for this marketing plan. Lastly,
suggestions on how to control and the contingency plans will be
included in the last chapter of this proposal.
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2 Situational Analysis
Situation analysis will provide us the insight such as where is Sony
now and Sony Mobiles own strengths and weaknesses as they can
relate to external opportunities and threats. The information from
situation analysis will help Sony Mobiles management to select a
position in that environment based on identified evidences (Vrontis
and Thrassou, 2006).
2.1 Market Characteristics

This report will focus solely on selected shopping malls in Klang
Valley, Malaysia, as both in terms of the major players involved and
the types of devices that are sold in global market are quite different
from the Malaysia market and we feel its more vital to analyse how
we can improve ourselves in the Malaysia as we have 88%
smartphone penetration rate in Malaysia.
2.1.1 Market Segmentation
Different customer segment, Sony Mobile will cater with different
features and benefits. Basically Z3 is for everyone that looks for
similarity benefits such as high quality, longer battery performance
etc. Table 1 shows how Sony Mobile addresses the needs and wants
of consumers and business segments.
Segments
Professionals
(Consumer
Market)
Corporate Users
(Business Market)
Skilled Workers
(Consumer
Market)
Customer Needs
High quality camera
High processing power and
more durable to perform many
functions
Convenient and mobile access
to email and web
Update, access and exchange
data
Photograph situations to
maintain a visual record
to email and web
Corresponding Features/Benefits
Built-in cell phone
Wireless email/web access from

anywhere
Quad-Core2.5 GHz processing

power
20.7MP rear camera

power
20.7MP rear camera with 5.2 inch

screen size (1080X 1920
resolution)

anywhere
Organize and access contacts,

schedule details and business
and financial files
Durable to bad condition

anywhere
power
IP68 dust & waterproof
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Longer battery life
3100mAh Battery capacity

Perform many functions hands
free without carrying out
power
multiple gadgets
PlayStation certified
Can play high resolution games
20.7MP rear camera

and videos
Table 1: Segment Needs and Corresponding Features (Source: Tan et.al , 2014)
Students
(Consumer
Market)
The Sony Mobile market is grouped into consumer and business

market based on their homogeneous preferences. From the needbased segments, we then determined the different lifestyle,
behavioural, age and occupation into working and non-working
(students) to make the segment identifiable. From the perspective
of segment attractiveness and profitability, the working groups are
segmented into professionals, medical users and skilled workers.
Lastly, each segment is matched accordingly with the benefits/
features of Z3 to create value proposition. The Acid-test shows
that the positioning of Z3 features for each segment is fulfilled
according to their needs.
2.1.2 Market Needs
From our market survey, longer battery life is rated as most
important features, followed by high quality camera, durability and
toughness. Customers aged 16-25 rated longer battery life are the
most important as the need higher processing power for gaming and
flash content. Moreover, quality is the main factor for them when
they choose to buy a smartphone, followed by functionality and
durability. Market also perceived that quality is more important than
price factor (Tan et.al, 2014).
2.1.3 Market Trends
The latest market trend shows that longer battery life and high
quality camera are most important. Survey also identified that
target markets spending power is around RM1, 000-RM1, 500. Our
surveys
and
studies
show
that
upcoming
trends
such
as
smartphones with biometric security features, health and awareness

apps and the availability of 4G LTE capabilities will more dominant in
the future market (Tan et.al, 2014).
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2.1.4 Market Growth
Fleischmann (2012) stated that the smartphone penetrates about
88% of the market in Malaysia. The smartphone market share in
Malaysia is 35% from 30% in 2012 and is predicted to exceed 50%
by 2014. Table 2 shows Malaysians bought 6.4 million smartphones
which worth more than $2.25 billion in sales in 2013 (GFK, 2013).
International Data Corporation stated that local smartphone sales
anticipated growing by 21.3% in 2014 (The Star, 2012). The
Malaysian Government also encouraged more youth to enjoy
nations broadband facilities by providing RM200 discount on
selected smartphones via Malaysia Youth Communication Package
(SKMM, 2012).
Year
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Unit of
Smartphones
(Million)
6.40
7.76
9.32
11.18
13.41
16.10
19.32
23.18
Revenue (RM
million)
Projected
Growth (%)
2.25
2.73
3.28
3.93
4.72
5.66
6.79
8.15
21.3%
20.0%
20.0%
20.0%
20.0%
20.0%
20.0%
Table 2: Revenue Outlook for Smartphone in Malaysia (Source: GFK, 2013)
2.2 SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis (Figure 1) is vital as companies will capitalise on
their strengths, minimize weaknesses, exploit market opportunities
and avoid threats. Firstly, Sony Mobile able to seek for a lot of
opportunities
that
utilize
their
strengths
of
innovative
new
smartphones features by their strong R&D team to fulfil the growing

strong customer demand on more smartphones features and
functions such as waterproof and high quality. Secondly, the
strengthen of the network capabilities in Malaysia and low tariff of
service providers provides additional opportunities for Sony Mobile
to showcase their strengths of high quality products into the market.
Sony Mobile will be able to expand their business reached with
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these greater opportunities. Thirdly, the Ultra STAMINA mode in Z3
provides longer lasting battery performances that fulfil the need of
the rising numbers of 90,000 international students in Malaysia.
Survey earlier shows that students require longer lasting battery
features to run the higher computing power of smartphones. Lastly,
the stunning 4K resolution videos and Exmor RS for mobile sensor
as well as first ISO 12800 pictures quality of Z3 will be a great
strength and factor to introduce to the 1.5 million untapped markets
of foreign workers in Malaysia to capture their best moments (Chi,
2011; Zakariah 2013).
Figure 1: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of Sony Xperia Z3
2.3 Competition and Product Comparison

There is a high number of competing smartphone products within
the industry, which can be categorized into four types as described
in Table 3.
PRODUCTS
Similar
Different
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CUSTOME
R
Similar
Differe
nt
Direct Competitors
Indirect Competitors
Product Competitors
Implicit Competitors
Table 3:Types of Competitors (Source: Doyle, 1998)
It is important to analyse direct competitors, known as the strategic

group, as they focus on the same target market segments and will
pursue similar strategies (Doyle, 1998). Competitors such as
Samsung Galaxy S5, Xiaomi Mi4 and Apple iPhone 6 have
considerable corporate resources and extensive experience in
product development. We can further compare Sony Xperia Z3
(Z3) with Direct Competitor S (S) as below:-
2.3.1 Product
Z3 has better overall performance on camera and image quality
with their unique technology as compared to Competitor S. Besides
that, Z3 provides better power efficiency with battery capacity of
3100mAH as compared to S. However, survey findings show that
people perceived S is more stylish.
2.3.2 Price
S has comparatively lower price by RM400 as compared to Z3.
However, people perceived that Z3 has higher quality under the
umbrella of Sony brand, therefore, worth for more expensive price.
Stronger collaboration with Tele-communication providers such as
Maxis, S is still much affordable as compared to Z3 (Maxis, 2014).
2.3.3 Place
Z3 and S have the similar distribution channels such as traditional
phone shops, telecommunication operators, chained operators and
online. However, Samsung outlets have more presence in most of
the shopping malls in Malaysia.
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2.3.4 Promotions
S has more prominent promotional tools and they advertised widely
on social media, online and print media as compared to Z3. S also
engages actively with their customers by offering attractive rewards
and invites famous celebrities to endorse and strengthen their S
brand.
2.3.5 Brand Awareness

Sony ranked third in Top of Mind at 10.5%, after S (37.9%) and A
(37.4%) in research done earlier. Sony Xperia has the lowest
conversion rate about 45.0% compare to the rest. Sony Mobiles
market share in Malaysia smartphone industry is also about 10%
(Tan et.al, 2014). This indicates that there is substantial growth
potential for this brand.
A summary on competitors review and comparison are detailed in
Table 4 below:Smartphone
Brand
Sony Xperia
Z3
Display
Display type
TRILUMINOS
AMOLED
IPS LCD
Screen Size
Resolution
5.2 inch
1080 x 1920
5.1 inch
1080 x 1920
Operating
System
CPU
Android KitKat
5 inch
1080 x 1920
Hardware
Android KitKat
Quad-Core2.5
GHz
3GB
3100 mAh
Octa-Core 1.9
GHz
2GB
2800 mAh
RAM
Battery
Capacity
Rear Camera
Front Camera
20.7 MP
2.2 MP
Dust &
Waterproof
Gaming
Ability
IP68
PlayStation
Certified
Camera
16 MP
2.1 MP
Key Features
IP67
N/A
Retina HD
Display
4.7 inch
1334 x 750
Android KitKat
+ MIUI
Quad-Core2.5
GHz
3GB
3080 mAh
IOS 8
13 MP
8 MP
8 MP
1.2 MP
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Dual-Core 1.4
GHz
1GB
1080 mAh
Pricing
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Price
2,399.00
Traditional
Phone Shops
Telco
Chained
Shops
Online
1,999.00
Place
1,064.00
2,399.00
Table 4: Summary of Competitors Review
2.4 Key Success Factors

2.4.1 Add to flagship Xperia line-up in a timely manner
Sony will continue to launch timely of new additions to the flagship
Xperia line-up that includes Sonys best technologies and features.
This is to secure their premium market and to enhance their brand
awareness and presence in Malaysia.
2.4.2 Build strategic partnerships with network operators in

Malaysia
As the growth of telecommunication operators and low tariff of data
plans, it is good that to establish close rapports with these network
operators to gain a win-win partnership. As the network operators
have more customer base, we can tap on their network and
customers to showcase our Sony Xperia Z3 presence.
2.4.3 Extend Smartwear concepts

As Sony plans to follow the Smartband with even more uniquely
Sony product proposals, we can take this to a higher level to suits
those whom are working to have more convenient and easy access
to phone and web or even email from anywhere. This will become a
lifestyle of these premium segments instead of normal additional
gadgets.
2.4.4 Growing the range of smartphone companion products

Sony will continue to focus on their accessories development as
these will expand their customer experience and contribute to crossselling of Sonys technologies. With Sony Smartphones, customers
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can always sync seamlessly to car dock, Sony TV, wireless earphone
and many more.
2.5 Critical Issues

One issue critical to our success is proper promotion to establish a
well-regarded brand of Sony Xperia Z3 features linked to
meaningful positioning. Sony Mobile has to compete against other
smartphone providers with similar product range. We have noted
from our survey that people do not aware about most of the Z3s
key features. Besides that, it shows 74.2% respondents do not know
about Sony Xperias festival promotion. The quality, product
features and marketing strategies play an important role for Sony
Mobile to gain success in terms of market share and sales profit. We
will invest heavily in marketing to create a memorable and
distinctive brand image that project high quality, value and
innovative features.
3 Marketing Strategies
According to Weiss (1968), marketing strategy and marketing mix
will directly affect market share of firms. Many studies have proven
that successful implementation of marketing strategies in the
competitive market was critical for a companys performance
(Baldauf, Cravens, & Wagner, 2000; Cooper & Kleinschmidt, 1985;
Lages & Lages, 2004; Leonidou, Katsikeas, & Samiee, 2002;
Mavrogiannis, Bourlakis, Dawson, & Ness, 2008). In this chapter, my
proposal on the marketing strategies for Sony Xperia Z3 smartphone
will be discussed.
3.1 Corporate Mission Statement

Sonys mission is to continuously inspiring and fulfilling their
customers inquisitiveness (Sony Corporation, 2014a). According to
President and CEO of Sony Mobile Communication AB (Sony
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Mobile) Mr Kunimasa Suzuki in Figure 2,
combine
Sony's
innovative
state-of-art
their mission aims to

technologies,
services,
interfaces and other assets to unleash the power of One Sony in

the smartphone industries that inspire dreams, fulfil curiosity and
enrich lives (Sony Corporation, 2013).
Figure 2:
Sony Corporation President and CEO, Mr Kunimasa Suzuki
3.2 Objectives
Sony Mobile able to boost growth and construct new value by
attainment of the subsequent objectives:
3.2.1 Marketing Objectives

According to Mr Dennis van Schie, Sony Mobiles mission is to
reinforce to the world that Sony makes smartphones and tablets as
Sony is a well-established brand name globally (Sony Corporation,
2013). Sony Mobile has to strengthen their presence in Malaysia
market by creating more retail-focused organization by engaging
with customers at all levels. Besides that, it is also important to
deliver corporate value to their customers and partners. With the
great opportunities and untapped mobile smartphones consumer
market mentioned in Chapter 2.2 SWOT analysis, there is a great
opportunity for Sony Mobile to capture a great portion of share in
this market by 4% to 14% by next 3 years, despite the stiff
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competition among the rivals in Malaysia. Also, to increase brand
awareness amongst the 26-36 age groups from 41% to 60% by next
3 years.
3.2.2 Financial Objectives

We have set aggressive but achievable financial objectives in Table
5 for the first 3 years. The financial objectives are as stated below:
To increase the sales revenue by 32% by the end of FY 2015

To increase sales volume by 5% by the end of FY 2015
Table 5: Financial Objectives for Sony Xperia Z3 (* 1 US$= RM3.47)
3.2.3 Manufacturing Objectives

In order to meet their marketing objectives, Sonys other divisions
such as manufacturing division need to work hand-in-hand. Sonys
manufacturing objective is to uphold their quality by their capability
to
project
demands,
grasp
timely
procurement
and
control
inventories (Sony Corporation, 2014b).
3.2.4 Product Development Objectives

Sonys product development objective is to differentiate their mobile
smartphone products and create new products and services as part
of their flagship Xperia that "create new lifestyles" and "enrich
people's lives" in mobile spaces. In terms of device technologies,
Sony strategies to focus on picture sensors, batteries and low power
consumption technologies. As part of Sonys "Life Space UX"
initiative, these newly developed technologies will fulfil users needs
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to watch video or music or even data searching remotely anywhere
within the residence (Sony Corporation, 2014b).
3.3 Strategy and Tactics

In formulating Sony Xperia Z3 marketing strategy, it is important to
identify Sony Mobile business unit using the BCG Matrix (Figure 3),
in order to assign the appropriate resources and strategies required
to objectives set. The matrix will assess the products market share
relative to the competition and the level of growth in market. Sony
Xperias business unit is classified as a weak Cash Cow, denoted by
X, due to its average high relative market share of the smartphone
segment. It will therefore require part of the Cash Cow to grow and
strengthen its market share as potential Stars.
Figure 3: BCG Matrix (Source: Kotler, 1994)
Subsequently growth is the main priority for the marketing strategy.

Ansoff matrix identifies four possible growth strategies that Sony
Mobile can pursue according to the market situation, as each
strategy presents unique opportunities, threats, resource and risks.
Due to the maturity of the market identified earlier, the matrix
identifies that the most suitable growth strategy at this stage is
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Market Penetration, by selling existing product to existing markets,
but increasing the quality, production, marketing and collaboration.
3.4 Target Market

Currently, Sony Mobile targets all age categories for its smartphone.
According to survey which is completed by 53% male and 47%
female, we will target the segments below that will provide growth
opportunities for Sony Xperia Z3:
Geographic Segments - around Low Yat Plaza, Klang Valley

Demographic Segments- Skilled workers (7.4%), Professionals
(14.2%) and Corporate Users (10.5%). These mainly contribute to
the total growth of 32% in sales revenue of Sony Xperia flagship.

Lifestyle Segments - out of home entertainment and web access,
work focus
Behaviour Segments - impulse buyers, occasional users and loyal
customers
We will use product specialization pattern to target these three

groups (Table 6), which are skilled workers, professionals and
corporate users.
Target Markets
Professionals
(Consumer
Market)
Corporate Users
(Business Market)
Skilled Workers
(Consumer
Market)
Customer Needs
High quality camera
High processing power and
more durable to perform many
functions
to email and web
Update, access and exchange
data
Photograph situations to
maintain a visual record
to email and web
Corresponding Features/Benefits
Built-in cell phone

anywhere

power
20.7MP rear camera

power
20.7MP rear camera with 5.2 inch

screen size (1080X 1920
resolution)

anywhere
Organize and access contacts,

schedule details and business
and financial files
Durable to bad condition

anywhere
power
IP68 dust & waterproof
Table 6: Target Markets for Sony Xperia Z3
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3.5 Positioning
Positioning is the act of designing a companys offering and image
to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of the target market
(Kotler, 2012). It is the key factors of developing marketing mix (4P).
From the frame of reference by identifying target market (Chapter
3.4) and relevant competition (Chapter 2.3), Sony Xperia Z3s
points-of-difference are high quality (32.3%) as shown in earlier
survey. In addition of the target market needs, consumers able to
enjoy their quality features such as longest battery performance
(mean=4.45) and higher quality camera (mean=4.35) features as
mentioned in Chapter 2.3. Points-of-parity for Xperia Z3 are able to
access web and email from anywhere and high processing power to
manage data and schedules. Using product differentiation to
achieve competitive advantage, we are positioning Sony Xperia Z3
as the most high quality smartphone with long lasting battery
performance and good camera quality for professional use to add
value on their daily business routines. Our proposed tagline will be
The best QUALITY for the BEST
3.6 Strategies
Sony Xperia Z3 will use both push and pull strategies. This will
increase the awareness level of Sony Xperia Z3 features among the
target market to build brand loyalty. On the other hand, it helps to
encourage intermediaries to carry the Sony Xperia Z3 model to
increase its presence in the market.
3.7 Marketing Strategies

3.7.1 Product Strategy
Leonidou et. al (2002) stated that product strategy is an crucial part
of marketing mix. Studies done by previous researchers revealed
that product qualities were determinant of market share (Morgan et
al., 2004; Beamish, et al., 1993; Dominguez and Sequeira, 1997).
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Product innovation is also part of a factor to increase economic
performance
(Lages
et
al.,
2009).
Longer
lasting
battery
(mean=4.45) and high quality camera (mean=4.35) are the leading

features required from the respondents view. Therefore, Z3 current
features having 3100mAh battery capacity and 20.7 MP camera
features able to fulfil target market needs. In terms of packaging
(Figure 4), this group of target markets are willing to pay a little
more for the appearance and prestige of better packages. However
the packaging must be in rectangular box in shape for easier
shipping and display at distribution outlets.
Figure 4: Primary Packaging of Product
3.7.2 Pricing Strategy

Lages et al. (2004) stated that price competitiveness will affect
market share. However, Eusebio et al. (2007) revealed that price is
no longer a dominant strategy for companies in the market. He also
found out that confidence in price of products will affect firms
performance. Our price objective is to maximize current profit. The
original price of Sony Xperia Z3 is RM2, 399.00. Our proposed new
price (Table 7) is at RM2, 100.00 whereby is falls into our target
markets category of spending power of RM1, 500 RM3, 000. In
order to achieve profitability, we have to produce about 400,000
units per year to achieve our financial objectives of 25% revenue
growth of total Sony Xperia flagship models. Assuming Sony Mobile
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has 150 outlets throughout Malaysia, each outlet only need to sell
about 7-8 units per day in order to achieve the yearly sales target.
The current situation at the outlets only sells less than 5 units per
day. This price is slightly about 5% higher than Competitor S at RM1,
999.00. It may attract more people to purchase with value pricing
method.
During the festival promotions, we can offer special event
pricing as well at 10% discounted rate. To attract more corporate

users and professionals, we can offer warranties and service
contracts as well. If the corporate companies would like to buy in
bundle, we can also offer special customer pricing at 15% discount
rate and still profitable for the company.
Price
Demand
Cost
(RM/unit)
(units)
(RM/unit)
1,500
500,000
950
1,800
450,000
1,100
2,100
400,000
1,250
Selling
Price X
Cost X
Qty
Profit
Qty
750,000,00
475,000,00
275,000,00
0
810,000,00
0
495,000,00
0
315,000,00
0
885,000,00
0
500,000,00
0
385,000,00
Table 7: Proposed Pricing Estimation
3.7.3 Distribution (Place) Strategy

Distribution network and availabilities is very important in marketing
strategy (Lages et al. 2004). Studies found that distribution channel
has positive effect on market share (Ogunmokun, 2004). It is
advisable to maintain the relationship with all distribution channels.
As we are using both push and pull strategies, customers priority
needs is to have good service and quality. Traditional channels such
as phone shops in Low Yat are most preferable by respondents. They
can bargain price and at the same time receive quality service. (Tan
et. al, 2014)
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3.7.4 Marketing Communication (Promotion) Strategy

Promotion has great impact on market share and relatively effective
to competitors (Thirkell and Dau, 1998). Sound advertising will have
great impact on firms performance (Lee & Griffith, 2004). From our
survey, we have identified the most effective promotional channels
are through newspaper, facebook and words of mouth. Thus, our
promotional strategies are to advertise quarterly in National
Newspaper on their Business Section. As mostly our target
population are mostly Chinese and Malay, thus we will focus on
English medium newspaper such as The Star and NST as well as
Malay medium such as Berita Harian and Utusan.
Besides that, we have to employ more sales persons or agents to do
corporate visits to company around Plaza Low Yat region to engage
with them for bundle purchases. In addition, we will conduct an
informal product intro and luncheon with all these business leaders
each quarter. To get the clients to talk about the product more, we
will conduct in such themes like Man Only or Woman Only.
We will also sponsor in events such as business symposium to build
brand awareness. Besides that, we will continuously create in-house
videos such as How Z3 helps you to ease your business? and
virally repost, retweet on Facebook and Youtube. Lastly, to build
stronger relationship with the corporate, we will conduct festive
promotions and to post greeting cards to our corporate contact list
to engage them in any festive promotions.
3.8 Marketing Research

We proposed Sony Mobile to conduct marketing research and plans
for future which would include the below aspects:-
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3.8.1 Product Development

As the technologies are changing rapidly, we would propose Sony
Mobile to conduct once yearly on the product development to find
out the preference of the public and target market on smartphones
features and benefits. This is important as the demands and needs
of the target market might change and as well to find out if Sony
Mobile wants to explore to new market. As this is part of the
innovation and R&D, therefore the proposed budget for this survey
is highest.
3.8.2 Brand Awareness Level

This
is
to
measure
the
effectiveness
of
the
marketing
communication for the past few years. It is recommended to do biannually. From this research, Sony will be able to find out more
about
their
campaign
effectiveness,
and
whether
the
right
marketing message delivered to their target audience and stimulate

desired purchasing response. The budget allocated should be
enough to cover all the regions that Sony have their outlets in.
3.8.3 Customer Satisfaction

Comprehensive studies on customer satisfaction are very important
to
Sony
as
this
would
determine
their
customer
retention
effectiveness and how their customers react emotionally to their

brand. From our earlier survey, word of mouth is one of the best
mediums to communicate about Sonys brand. Thus, it is very vital
for Sony to find out their positions among their clients. This should
be done monthly as they could engage more actively with the
clients. This could be done at outlet basis and the estimated budget
will be lower compare to the rest.
Page 20
for
4 Financials
4.1 Break-even Analysis
Break-even analysis is used for predict profit and loses in future to
predict results according to products. Sony Mobile is operating in a
industry of supporting high gross margins. Variable costs in
relationship to per unit revenue are low about 47% of per-units
revenue. This value will decrease further as we grow and achieve
more sales units in the following years. Fixed cost for Sony Xperia is
roughly about RM 7,500,000. Thus, Sony Xperia Z3 will breakeven at
monthly sales point of RM7, 500.
4.2 Sales Forecast

Table 8 below shows the sales forecast for 12 months. The total
sales revenue for the whole Sony Xperia smartphone flagship is
RM1, 250, 300, 000 (*estimated). There are total of 7 major
models or categories of smartphones under Sony Xperia flagship
that would concurrently contribute to the achievement of financial
objective of 35% growth of sales revenue by end of FY2015.
Table 8: Projected Sales Forecast for 12 months
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4.3 Expense Forecast

Table 9 below projects the marketing expenses budget for the first 3
years of my proposed marketing plan. For the first year, the sales
and marketing expenses are slightly higher as more intense
marketing and advertising are needed to create and build stronger
brand presence and awareness among the target market. From Year
3 onwards, the percent of sales and marketing expenses will be
lesser, but should be maintained with constant advertising and
marketing activities to remind the target market about the existence
of our brand.
Table 9: Marketing Expense Budget
Page 22
for
5 Controls
The final chapter of this proposal is about controlling and measuring
the results. Control is part of the integral planning process and it is
important to provide effective measurement on the implementation
of marketing plan. Figure 5 is the proposed marketing control to
Sony Mobile that ensures all the marketing plans are taken action as
planned and provides constant feedbacks to us to determine the
overall marketing plan is working in actual implementation. We
suggest Sony Mobile to conduct both strategic controls and
operational controls. The strategic control should be carried out
annually to assess the overall marketing strategy direction. On the
other hand, the operational controls need to be carried out regularly
to ensure the detailed actions of the plan are done correctly and to
identify potential difficulties for corrective & preventive action.
Figure 5: Marketing Control (Source: Brassington and Pettit, 2001)
Page 23
for
5.1 Implementation
Kotler (1994) stated that marketing implementation is the process
that turns marketing plans into real actions and ensures that such
assignments are executed in a proper manner as plan to achieve
both the marketing and financial objectives. This is a very crucial
part if the marketing strategies are not implemented accordingly.
The action plan (Table 10) includes management of project, setting
schedules and timelines, meetings, phone calls, chasing people and
careful preparation with constant monitoring on progress.
Mont
h
Proposed Action Plan
Action by
Estimate
d Cost
Remarks
Advertisement Newspaper (English)

Video on Youtube and Facebook
Communicatio
n
xxxxx
The Star
Corporate Visits to around Low Yat

Plaza
Festive Promotion and Greeting Cards
Sales
xxxxx
Chinese New
Year
Product Luncheon Woman Only

Marketing
Communicatio
n
xxxxx
Advertisement Newspaper (Malay)

Plaza
Communicatio
n
Sales
xxxxx
Berita Harian
Business Symposium Sponsorship

Marketing
Communicatio
n
xxxxxx
World
Business
Symposium

Plaza
Product Luncheon Man Only
Sales
Marketing
xxxxxx
Advertisement Newspaper (English)

Festive Promotion and Greeting Cards
Communicatio
n
Sales
xxxxxx

Plaza
Sales
Communicatio
n
xxxxx
Product Luncheon Woman Only
Marketing
xxxxx
10
Advertisement Newspaper (Malay)

Plaza
Communicatio
n
Sales
xxxxx
11

Z3 Photo Instagram Contest
Marketing
Communicatio
n
xxxxx
NST
Utusan
Malaya
Best Place at
Work
Page 24
for
12

Plaza
Product Luncheon Man Only
Sales
Marketing
xxxxxx
Table 10: Proposed Action Plans for Sony Mobile Xperia Z3
5.2 Contingency Plans

Marketing plans can never foresee all possibilities. Therefore it is
important to propose the contingency plans to address unexpected
events. In marketing plans, forecasts for sales revenue and market
responses to implemented action plans depend on external factors
as well. Thus, our marketing plans will have to include provisions for
action when we dont achieve our marketing objectives as planned.
Revenue exceeds projections: We will have taken this as an
opportunity to increase our marketing budget above the allocated
20% for the first year to penetrate deeper and strengthen our brand
positioning. We will be able to deploy more advertising and
marketing activities to engage with the crowd and to sustain better
R&D development efforts to improve Quality of our smartphone to
be more competitive in the market.
Revenue
failure
to
meet
projections:
We
have
to
increase
advertising and marketing efforts. We have to continue spur the

market to build our brand and to deliver our message out to the
public to build purchase responses. In this scenario, we would
suggest to pump in additional capital to run the more intense
marketing efforts.
Page 25
for
6 References
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Marketing Strategies For SONY Xperia

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An EMPLOYER PROJECT PROPOSAL

Synopsis of Situation Analysis.........................................................3

Key Aspects of the Marketing Plan..................................................3

Competition and Product Comparison.............................................7

Key Success Factors........................................................................9

Add to flagship Xperia line-up in a timely manner....................9

Build strategic partnerships with network operators in Malaysia

Extend Smartwear concepts...................................................10

Growing the range of smartphone companion products.........10

Corporate Mission Statement........................................................11

Product Development Objectives............................................13

Strategy and Tactics......................................................................13

MKT6205 Marketing Management Individual Assignment

An EMPLOYER PROJECT PROPOSAL

Distribution (Place) Strategy...................................................17

Marketing Communication (Promotion) Strategy....................18

Brand Awareness Level...........................................................19

MKT6205 Marketing Management Individual Assignment

An EMPLOYER PROJECT PROPOSAL

1.1 Synopsis of Situation Analysis

Communications AB. We have 88% smartphone penetration rate in

1.2 Key Aspects of the Marketing Plan

To increase market share to 14% by next 3 years;

from 41% to 60% by next 3 years;

In order to achieve the objectives of this marketing proposal, we will

MKT6205 Marketing Management Individual Assignment

An EMPLOYER PROJECT PROPOSAL

2.1 Market Characteristics

Built-in cell phone

Wireless email/web access from

Quad-Core2.5 GHz processing

20.7MP rear camera

Quad-Core2.5 GHz processing

20.7MP rear camera with 5.2 inch

Wireless email/web access from

Organize and access contacts,

Wireless email/web access from

MKT6205 Marketing Management Individual Assignment

An EMPLOYER PROJECT PROPOSAL

Longer battery life

3100mAh Battery capacity

Can play high resolution games

20.7MP rear camera

The Sony Mobile market is grouped into consumer and business

smartphones with biometric security features, health and awareness

An EMPLOYER PROJECT PROPOSAL

Table 2: Revenue Outlook for Smartphone in Malaysia (Source: GFK, 2013)

2.2 SWOT Analysis

smartphones features by their strong R&D team to fulfil the growing

MKT6205 Marketing Management Individual Assignment

An EMPLOYER PROJECT PROPOSAL

Figure 1: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of Sony Xperia Z3

2.3 Competition and Product Comparison

MKT6205 Marketing Management Individual Assignment

An EMPLOYER PROJECT PROPOSAL

Table 3:Types of Competitors (Source: Doyle, 1998)

It is important to analyse direct competitors, known as the strategic

MKT6205 Marketing Management Individual Assignment

An EMPLOYER PROJECT PROPOSAL

2.3.5 Brand Awareness

MKT6205 Marketing Management Individual Assignment

An EMPLOYER PROJECT PROPOSAL

Table 4: Summary of Competitors Review