Masaru Tamagawa, managing director, Sony India, talks about the company?s vision, its distribution strategy and expansion plans. In an interview with FE?s Neha Pal, he talks about India?s share in the overall global revenue and the verticals that are more revenue driven.
How much is India?s share in the overall global revenues of Sony and which verticals are more revenue driven?
India?s contribution to the global revenues is less than 5% but India is considered as a strategic market globally and are very bullish about our growth in India. The verticals which are more revenue-driven are Bravia, MP 3 walkman, Cyber-shot, Vaio and Play Station.
What is your distribution strategy at present? How many outlets do you have in India and what are the new expansion plans?
Currently, Sony has its footprint across all major towns and cities in the country through a distribution network comprising of over 5,000 dealers and distributors, 240 exclusive Sony outlets and 19 direct branch locations. Sony India also has a strong service presence across the country with 20 company owned, 190 authorised service centers and 16 exclusive demonstration centers. Currently, there are 2, 500 outlets in India and we plan to capture the demand of those who would like to replace their normal colour TVs with Sony LCD TVs. We plan to expand our distribution network further.
How do you position your self differently from your competitors in terms of 3D? How much of revenue do you expect coming from 3D?
We plan to become the market leader of 3D on account of providing the most comprehensive range of 3D products and content solutions. With the launch of 3D-enabled hardware products and software content, Sony aims to promote and establish 3D culture in India and make this technology easily accessible to a wider audience. Sony has also allocated a whopping budget of Rs 50 crore which will include above-the-line and below-the-line activities to promote 3D. The company aims at 30% revenue contribution from 3D products by 2012.
What is you target in terms of market share in LCD TV segment in India ?
Sony India aims to achieve 30% share in the LCD TV segment by financial year 2010-11 which was 25% in the corresponding period last year.
What is message ?Make. Believe? about?
Make.believe is Sony group brand message. ?Believe? represents Sony?s ideas and ideals the ability to think, imagine and dream while ?make? signifies the company?s unique ability to turn these ideas into reality.
The ?dot? is where inspiration meets creativity and creativity meets reality and symbolizes Sony?s role in bringing imagination to reality. ?Make.believe? will manifest itself through the introduction of breakthrough products, game-changing technologies, compelling new content and new network services that deliver unparalleled user experiences.
What is the company planning to do in terms of advertising and communication?
Our focus would be to strengthen the brand image with above-the-line and below-the-line activities that involves print and electronic media, online, outdoor and shop-front.