Blackbook Project on Marketing Strategy of Sony Pictures

“SONY PICTURE ENTERTAINMENT.”

UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

PROJECT ON

MARKETING STRATEGY ON SONY PICTURE ENTERTAINMENT

SUBMITTED BY

NITHESH MOHAN BANGERA

PROJECT GUIDE

Mrs. MAHALAKSHMI SANKAR

BACHELOR OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

SEMESTER V

(2009-10)

V.E.S. COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCE & COMMERCE,

SINDHI COLONY, CHEMBUR – 400071

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PROJECT ON


SUBMITTED BY


PROJECT GUIDE



SEMESTER V

(2009-10)



2



PROJECT ON


Submitted

In Partial Fulfillment of the requirementsFor the Award of the Degree of

Bachelor of Management

By


PROJECT GUIDE



SEMESTER V

(2009-10)



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DECLARATION

I NITHESH MOHAN BANGERA student of BMS – Semester V

(2008-09) hereby declare that I have completed this project

on MARKETING STRATEGY ON SONY PICTURE

ENTERTNAINMENT

.

The information submitted is true & original to the best of my

knowledge.

Student’s Signature

Name of Student


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C E R T I F I C A T E

This is to certify that Mr. NITHESH MOHAN BANGERA

Of TYBMS has successfully completed the project on

MARKETING STRATEGY ON SONY PICTURE

ENTERTAINMENT under the guidance of _Mrs.

MAHALAKSHMI SANKAR.

Project Guide Principal

Mrs. MAHALAKSHMI SANKAR Dr. (Mrs.) J. K. PHADNIS

Course Co-ordinator

Mrs. A. MARTINA

External Examiner

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T.Y.BMS. 100 MARKS PROJECT TOPIC:

“MARKETING STRATEGY ON SONY

PICTURE ENTERTAINMENT.”

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

With great pleasure I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all

the people who have assisted me in the completion of the project.

First of all I would like to thank my project guide Mrs. Mahalakshmi

Sankar for helping me to gather information and for guiding me with valuable

inputs and at crucial stage of my project.

Finally I would like to thank Mr. Dheeresh Bangera Marketing Executive

for giving his co-operation and time and supplying me with necessary matter in

respect of the company for bringing out this project report.

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INDEX

1. SONY PICTURE ENTERTAINMENT 11-13

1.1. INTRODUCTION

1.2.HISTORY

1.3.ORIGIN OF NAME

2. SONY PICTURE ENTERTNIMENT MOTION PICTURE 14-16

GROUP

2.1. INTRODUCTION

2.2. ANIMATION FILM

3. SONY PICTURE HOME ENTERTAINMENT 17-21

3.1 BLU-RAY DISC

3.2 DVD

3.3 VCD

4. HIT MOVIES 22-23

4.1 BOX OFFICE WINNERS

4.2 THE OSCARS FOR THE BEST PICTURES

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5. MARKETING MIX 24-37

5.1 SONY PRODUCT

5.2 SONY PLACE

5.3 SONY PROMOTION

5.3.1 SALES MARKETING COMMUNICATION MIX

5.3.2 ADVERTISING

5.3.3 SALES PROMOTION

5.4 SONY PRICE

6. MARKETING RESEARCH 38-43

6.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

6.2 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

6.2.1 FACE -TO-FACE INTERVIEWS

6.2.2 INTERNET

6.3 SAMPLE SIZE

6.4 FINDING

6.5 ANALYSIS

7. QUESTIONNAIRE 44

8. CONCLUSION 45

9. BIBLIOGRAPHY 46

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1. SONY PICTURE ENTERTAINMENT

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Sony Picture Entertainment is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered

in Tokyo, Japan and one of the world’s largest media conglomerate with revenue of US $88.7

billion (as of 2008) based in Minato, Tokyo. Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of

entertainment (motion picture and music), DVD, CD, BLUE-RAY DISK products for the

consumer and professional markets. Its name is derived from sonus, the Greek goddess of sound.

Sony’s principle business operation includes Sony Corporation (Sony Entertainment in

the US). Sony Picture Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony BMG Music

Entertainment, Sony Ericsson and Sony Financial Holding. As a semi-conductor maker, Sony

among the worldwide Top 20 semi-conductor Sales Leader. The company’s slogan is Sony like

No Other.

Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. produces and distributes motion pictures and

television programming. It engages in the acquisition and distribution of home video; operation

of studio facilities for production services; development of new entertainment technologies;

development of entertainment products and services for broadband distribution; and distribution

of filmed entertainment. The company also offers interactive agency and digital marketing

services, including digital marketing strategy, online research, customer relationship

management, product development, and Website design and development; digital sound format

for motion picture theatres; post production, scoring, re-recording, Foley and ADR stages, plus

screening rooms, and editing services through its post production facilities; and feature film

clip/still licensing. Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. was formerly known as Columbia Pictures

Entertainment, Inc. The company was founded in 1987 and is based in Culver City, California.

As of October 31, 1989, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation

of America.

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1.2 HISTORY

Just after World War II in 1945 a man named Masaru Ibuka started a small radio shop in

an old bombed-out building in Tokyo, Japan. Shortly afterwards, he was joined by friend and

colleague Akio Morita. They founded the company Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo.

First, came the thought to use the initials of the company, but TKK was taken by a Japanese

railroad company at the time. Next, came the name Totsuko. It was well received, but the American

public had a difficult time pronouncing it. Morita thought of the Atchan character and came up with the

name Sony. A mix of the Latin word meaning son and sonny (little boy) the company officially changed

the name to Sony in January of 1958

In 1989, Sony acquired the American film and television production company Columbia

Pictures Entertainment, Inc. (Columbia Pictures, Tri-Star Pictures, etc.) from The Coca-Cola

Company for US$ 3.4 billion. The company was renamed Sony Pictures Entertainment in 1991.

Sony has since created numerous other film production and distribution units, such as

creating Sony Pictures Classics for art-house fare, by forming Columbia Tri-Star Pictures (also

known as the Columbia Tri-Star Motion Picture Group) by merging Columbia Pictures and Tri-

Star Pictures in 1998, revitalizing Columbia's former television division Screen Gems, and

expanded its growth on April 8, 2005, when a consortium led by Sony and its equity partners

acquired the legendary Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in a deal worth nearly US$5

billion.

Sony Picture Entertainment is a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered

in Tokyo, Japan and one of the world’s largest media conglomerate with revenue of US $88.7

billion (as of 2008) based in Minato, Tokyo. Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of

entertainment (motion picture and music),

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Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita, the founders of Sony

1.3 ORIGIN OF NAME

When Tokyo Tsushin was looking for a Romanized name to use to market them, they

strongly considered using their initials, TTK. The primary reason they did not is that the railway

company Tokyo Kyuko was known as TKK. The company occasionally used the acronym

"Totsuko" in Japan, but during his visit to the United States, Morita discovered that Americans

had trouble pronouncing that name. Another early name that was tried out for a while was

"Tokyo Teletech" until Morita discovered that there was an American company already using

Teletech as a brand name.

The name "Sony" was chosen for the brand as a mix of two words. One was

the Latin word Sonus which is the root of "sonic" and "sound" and the other was "sonny", a

familiar term used in 1950s America to call a boy. Morita pushed for a word that does not exist

in any language so that they could claim the word "Sony" as their own (which paid off when

they successfully sued a candy producer using the name, who claimed that "Sony" was an

existing word in some language).

At the time of the change, it was extremely unusual for a Japanese company to

use Roman letters instead of kanji to spell its name. The move was not without opposition:

TTK's principal bank at the time, Mitsui, had strong feelings about the name. They pushed for a

name such as Sony Electronic Industries, or Sony Teletech. Akio Morita was firm, however, as

he did not want the company name tied to any particular industry. Eventually, both Ibuka and

Mitsui Bank's chairman gave their approval

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2. SONY PICTURE ENTERTAINMENT MOTION

PICTURE GROUP

2.1 INTRODUTION

Releases about 30 films per year

Sony picture entertainment releasing companies, Sony Pictures Releasing (U.S.) and

Columbia Tri-Star Film Distributors International, are responsible for sales, distribution and

marketing of SPE's film product in 67 territories worldwide

SPE's international motion picture operations include Deutsche Columbia Tri-Star in

Germany, Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia in Hong Kong and operations in the United

Kingdom, Brazil and Spain

The motion picture library is one of SPE's most valuable assets, featuring more than

3,500 films, including 12 Best Picture Academy Award® Winners

Sony Pictures International Motion Picture Production Group is an industry pioneer in

studio supported local language production programming. The division is currently in pre or post

production on 10 films that will be distributed in countries including Germany, India, Russia,

Mexico and the United Kingdom.

For seven consecutive years between 2002-2008, films from Sony Pictures Releasing

have generated more than $1 billion in box office sales in North America as good in India, an

industry record matched by only one other studio.

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2.2 ANIMATION FILM

Established in May, 2002, to enable Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. to tap into the vast

imagination of the creative community, develop characters and stories that are best realized

through digital production and bring entertainment to audiences of all ages to the screen

Released its first production Open Season (Animation Film) in September 2006 and

became the studio's #2 home entertainment film in 2007

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Open Season is a 2006 computer-animated film. The film was directed by Roger

Allers, Jill Cultonand Anthony Stacchi. It was released on September 29, 2006. The film

produced by Sony Pictures Animation and released by Columbia Pictures. The story centers

around woodland creatures that are traditionally hunted teaming up against hunters. It has also

been released in the IMAX 3D format. A video game for the film was released on multiple

platforms. Open Season 2, sequel, was released on January 27, 2009.

The film location was inspired by the towns of Sun Valley and McCall Idaho and

the Saw tooth National Forest. The film was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on January 30, 2007

Its second film, Surf's Up! Was released in June 2007 and was nominated for a Best

Animated Feature Academy Award® and won two Annie Awards

Surf's up a American Academy Award-nominated computer-animated documentary film

produced by Sony Pictures Animation and distributed by Columbia Pictures. It stars the voices

of Shia LaBeouf, Jeff Bridges, Zooey Deschanel, and Jon Heder among others.

Surf's Up was released on high-definition Blu-ray Disc, and DVD in all over the

world on October 9, 2007. It is sold in both Widescreen and Full screen versions.

On June 8, McDonald's issued eight Surf's up toys in their Happy Meals for one month.

Each meal came with one of the following:

• Cody figurine with a surfboard.

• Rip Curl Cody (a tiny plastic penguin in a water globe shaped like a curl wave).

• Lani with a surfboard.

• Chicken Joe (a swaying bobbler on a board).

• Geek rides a plastic "wave" on a surfboard.

• Tank speeds on a board riding a wave.

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http://www.happymeal.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Heder

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zooey_Deschanel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bridges

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia_LaBeouf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Pictures

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Pictures_Animation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mockumentary

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_animation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_30

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawtooth_National_Forest

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sun_Valley_and_McCall&action=edit&redlink=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Season_2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Season_(video_game)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-D_films

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_Pictures

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Pictures_Animation


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Stacchi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Culton

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Allers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Allers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_animation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_in_film


3. SONY PICTURE HOME ENTERTAINMENT

INTRODUTION

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures

Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in 1978 as Columbia

Pictures Home Entertainment.

It is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures library for home entertainment,

mainly releases from Columbia Pictures and Tri-Star Pictures, but also releases product

from Sony Pictures Classics, Destination Films, etc

The company was formerly known as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment (1978-

1982), Columbia Tri-Star Home Video (1991-2001), and finally Columbia Tri-Star Home

Entertainment (1999-2004), before taking on its current name in fall 2004. In some territories,

it still goes by its previous identity; however this may not be the case for much longer.

In this category, Sony has tried to bring in new format so as to dominate the market, for

example the emerging data storage format called Blu-ray has been launched along with the

devices which can be used to run such a latest technology.

Among the more than 3,500 film titles in Sony Picture Home Entertainment catalog are

the Spider-Man films, Men in Black, Casino Royal, the Seinfeld series and such film classics as

Bridge on the River Kwai, Dr. Strangelove and Lawrence of Arabia

There are films which had not done good business in theatre but had good business in

Home Entertainment. In this category, Sony has included home video system and accessories

which can enable the user to record various favorite movies.

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3.2 PRODUCT OF HOME ENTERTAINMENT

A Product is anything that can be offered to a market attention, acquisition, use or

consumption that might satisfy a need or want.

Product decision normally base on brand name. Functionally, Styling, Quality, Safety,

Packaging, Repairs and Support, Warranty, Accessories and Services. These product attributes

can be manipulate depending on what the target market wants. Also, customers always look for

new and improved things which are why marketers should improve existing products, develop

new ones, and discontinue old ones that are no longer needed or wanted by the customers.

So briefly Sony Product can be categorized in the following major product categories:-

These products include:

A. Blu-ray disc

B. DVD

C. VCD

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3.2.1 Blu-ray Disc:

Blu-ray Disc (also known as Blu-ray or BD) is optical disc storage medium to supersede

the standard DVD format. Its main uses are for storing PlayStation 3 games, high-definition

video and data storage with up to 50GB per disc. The disc has the same physical dimensions as

standard DVDs and CDs. The Blu-ray Disc was produced by Sony Company in 2002

While current optical disc technologies such as DVD, DVD±R, DVD±RW, and

DVD-RAM rely on a red laser to read and write data, the new format uses a blue-violet laser

instead, hence the name Blu-ray. While a standard DVD uses a 650 nanometer red laser, it as the

capacity almost six times more than DVD. The format was developed to enable recording,

rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data.

The benefit of using a blue-violet laser (405nm) is that it has a shorter wavelength than a

red laser (650nm), which makes it possible to focus the laser spot with even greater precision.

This allows data to be packed more tightly and stored in less space, so it's possible to fit more

data on the disc even though it's the same size as a CD/DVD.

Blu-ray Disc is developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association, a group representing makers

of consumer electronics, computer hardware, and motion pictures. As of June 2009, more than

1000 Blu-ray disc titles are available in Australia, 2500 in Japan, 1500 in the United Kingdom,

and 2500 in the United States and Canada.

Blu-ray Disc is produced by only four companies and Sony is one of them. Sony is the

leader marketer in Blu-ray Disc; they have 80 titles order to produce in Blu-ray Disc. It cost for

Rs.1,800. There target consumer are high income level of people.

As part of a unique online promotion, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment had offered a "third disc free" deal at participating online retailers. For a limited time, consumers who purchase three Sony Blu-ray discs (from a selection of 34 total discs) will receive the third disc free. While the deal doesn't apply to all Sony Blu-ray discs. Although the full Sony catalogue is not included in the promotion, the high selling titles Black Hawk Down and Casino Royale are. The consumers must choose their three discs from one of two lists-one is a collection of discs priced at $20.84, while the other is collection of discs priced at $28.04.

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3.2.2 DVD (DIGITAL VERSATILE DISC):

DVD, also known as "Digital Versatile Disc", is an optical disc storage media format. Its

main uses are video and data storage. DVDs are of the same dimensions as compact discs (CDs),

but store more than six times as much data. But less than compare to Blu-ray disc. In DVD u can

have 3 or 5 movies according to the capacity of the DVD.

DVD recordable is now also used for consumer audio and video recording. Sony first

introduced the DVD Video format in Japan in November 1996.

The Sony Picture Entertainment had produced more than 3500 films in DVD. In that there is spider-man, Quantum of Solace, Hancock, Men in black etc. The company has an exclusive deal on the cards with Reliance Retail, which will allow it to increasing in sales of DVDs. The company had set up special counters at the Reliance Mart in Ahmedabad recently. A DVD features easy editing with which you can delete unnecessary portion of the recorded programs at any moment. When recording a program to the DVD containing other programs, the DVD can locate the end of the last recording and start recording a new program without leaving any blank space.

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3.2.3 VCD (VEDIO COMPACT DISC):

A Video Compact Disc (also known as VCD, Compact Disc digital video) is a

standard digital format for storing video on a Compact Disc. Video CD is a standard developed

in early 1990's that allows regular CD to contain 74 minutes of video and audio VCDs are

playable in dedicated VCD players, most modern DVD-Video players, personal computers, and

some video game consoles.

The VCD standard was created in 1993 by Sony and Philips. It was developed to store

music at the start, but later it also allowed the storing of other kinds of data. A VCD has the

capacity to hold up to 74/80 minutes on 650MB/700MB CDs respectively of full-motion video

along with quality stereo sound. There consumer are low income level of the people and VCD

have low capacity level then Blu-ray Disc and DVD.

Sony Pictures plans to retail VCDs and DVDs through Reliance Retail.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) has an exclusive deal on the cards with

Reliance Retail, which will allow it to sell its DVDs and VCDs.

The company had set up special counters at the Reliance Mart in Ahmedabad recently,

and it now wants to secure space at Reliance’s other formats such as Reliance Digital and the

specialty stores for stores for books, music and movies.

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4. HIT MOVIES

4.1 BOX OFFICE WINNERS The Top 10 biggest moneymakers for the Studio include actioners and Academy Award

recipients.

Title US Release (Yr) Gross Box Office (US Earnings) in USD

Men In Black 1997Columbia This comic book adaptation starring Will Smith and

Tommy Lee Jones earned $250.1 mil.

Ghostbusters 1984Columbia The Dan Akroyd-Bill Murray-Harold Ramis

comedy remains Columbia's 2nd highest earner.

BO $238.6 mil

Terminator 2 : Judgment

Day

1991TriStar The Arnold Schwarzenegger-James Cameron

starrer grossed a huge $204.8 mil.

Tootsie 1982Columbia The film remains memorable for the superb

performance put in by Dustin Hoffman. BO $177.2

mil

Air Force One 1997Columbia This Harrison Ford starrer has raked in $ 172.7 mil

Big Daddy 1999Columbia Adam Sandler brought in $ 162.6 mil.

Jerry Maguire 1996TriStar Cameron Crowe's romantic comedy starring Tom

Cruise collected $ 153.6 mil

Rambo : First Blood Part 2 1985Columbia The picture solidified Stallone's credentials as an

action star. BO $150.4 mil

As Good As It Gets 1997TriStar The film won oscars for Helen Hunt and Jack

Nicholson for best actor and actress respectively.

BO $ 147.6 mil

A Few Good Men 1992Columbia The Cruise - Nicholson military drama made $

141.3 mil

4.2 THE OSCARS® FOR THE BEST PICTURE

Year Title

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1934 It Happened One Night

1938 You Can't Take It With You

1949 All The King's Men

1953 From Here To Eternity

1954 On The Waterfront

1957 The Bridge On The River Kwai

1962 Lawrence of Arabia

1966 A Man for all Seasons

1968 Oliver

1979 Kramer Vs Kramer

1982 Gandhi

1987 The Last Empire

5. Marketing mix

Introduction

Marketing deals with identifying and meeting human and social needs. Marketing mix is

a major concept in modern marketing and involves practically everything that a marketing

company can use to influence consumer perception favorably toward its product or services so

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that consumer and organizational objectives are attained, i.e. marketing mix a model of crafting

and implementing marketing strategy.

Marketing mix is classified as:-

1. Product.

2. Promotion.

3. Place (Distribution).

4. Promotion.

5.1 SONY PRODUCT

INTRODUCTION

The first market mix element is Product. A Product is anything that can be offered to a

market attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a need or want.

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Product decision normally base on brand name. Functionally, Styling, Quality, Safety,

Packaging, Repairs and Support, Warranty, Accessories and Services. These product attributes

can be manipulate depending on what the target market wants. Also, customers always look for

new and improved things which are why marketers should improve existing products, develop

new ones, and discontinue old ones that are no longer needed or wanted by the customers.

So briefly Sony Product can be categorized in the following major product categories:-

A. HOME VIDEO

B. THEATRE.

5.1.1 HOME VIDEO:

In this category, Sony has tried to bring in new format so as to dominate the market, for

example the emerging data storage format called Blue-ray has been launched along with the

devices which can be used to run such a latest technology. In this category, Sony has included

home video system and accessories which can enable the user to record various favorite movies.

These products include:

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• Blu-ray disc

• DVD

• CD

A. Blu-ray disc:

In 2002 the Sony Company produced the Blu-ray Disc in market. Blu-ray Disc (also known

as Blu-ray or BD) is optical disc storage medium to supersede the standard DVD format. Its

main uses are for storing PlayStation 3 games, high-definition video and data storage with up to

50GB per disc. For the first time, there was a universal standard for pre-recorded, recordable and

rewritable media.

B. DVD:

DVD, also known as "Digital Versatile Disc", is an optical disc storage media format. Its

main uses are video and data storage. Sony first introduced the DVD Video format in Japan in

November 1996.

c. VCD:

A Video Compact Disc (also known as VCD, Compact Disc digital video) is a

standard digital format for storing video on a Compact Disc. The VCD standard was created in

1993 by Sony and Philips. It was developed to store music at the start, but later it also allowed

the storing of other kinds of data.

5.1.2 THEATRE:

In this category, theatre is gaining momentum in many countries as well in India also.

The film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion

picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by

creating images using animation techniques or special effects

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After the completion of the films, the production department produces the film in the

print (in the form of roll or digital) and then they distribute among the theatre. For the

Spiderman the Sony picture production produce around 3500 print all over the world. There are

many theatre were they distribute the film, the theatre are IMAX, ADLABS, CINE MAX etc.

Film distribution definitely is an unpredictable business and they had to walk the razor's

edge. They can’t overspend in promoting the movie, which is expecting it to earn more than its

potential. Nor can you spend less, if the movie has the potential to earn more. If you read the

market wrong, you can die in this business. It is important to have a 'grassroots model' to

understand and estimate the market. You will have to have your own distribution available at the

retail end. Otherwise the tail will wag the dog

Our business is largely driven by the product lineup we have for the year. Typically, 2-3

movies account for the bulk of the revenues. We distributed 33 movies last year, but got 57 per

cent of our revenues from just two movies. Quantum of Solace fetched us Rs.350 million while

Hancock grossed Rs 220 million. Our turnover for the year was Rs 1 billion, up from the last

year.

In the overall box office earnings, India stands in the 15th-17th position in the world.

Earlier, India used to be the 44th largest revenue contributor for Sony Picture Entertainment. But

in terms of profit earnings, India compares poorly because of high tax structures.

India is a much more diverse market and there is a very strong preference for local

products. In fact, they look at four different products when they dub their English movies

here into Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. They tried Malayalam language a few times, but gave up.

There is a strong resistance against dubbed products in Kerala. Besides, in India there is no

middle market. You either make it big or there is very little money to be made out of

distributing a movie. There is a very short period in which you have to make money from

your releases and get out. For Spider-man II, we had 327 prints.

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The media has become much more fragmented. It has become extremely complicated

and much more expensive to launch a movie. The costs are going up, but revenues are not

jumping as much. They had to face with the reality today that eyeballs are being distributed

across TV, home video and a slew of movies that get launched frequently. They have knowledge

of the centers where underreporting (sales of ticket) is the maximum. There is very little they

can do. They take a fixed amount from multiplexes.

5.2 SONY PLACE (DISTRIBUTION):

INTRODUCTION

Decision with respect to distribution channel focus on making the product available in

adequate quantities at place where customer are normally expected to shop for them to satisfy

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their needs. Depending on the nature of the product, marketing management decides to put into

place an exclusive, selective or intensive network of distribution, while selecting the appropriate

dealers and wholesalers.

Sony being the company which position itself as a seller of durable and high end

products, it is products from the selective dealer i.e. SONY WORLD. Apart from this there are

grey markets in India and other countries where a practice of intensive market coverage is

practiced and the products in these kind of markets normally do not posses all the feature and

benefits which Sony offers example warranty and guarantee.

Sony India has its footprint across all major town and cities with a distribution network

of over 7000 channel partners, 260 Sony outlets and 21 direct branch locations.

In India, Sony has used the method of one-level distribution channel. This means that,

customer by their Sony product from the retailer recognized by Sony and these retailers buy

product directly from the company itself.

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i.e.

Through the internet, Sony has helped its customer to find the nearest retail shop where

they can buy the Sony products. All you have to do is to go to their website e.g. www.sony.co.in

/selection/shop and specify the product and location. Then it will display all the nearest retail

shop available.

Manufacturer

Customer

Retailer

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5.3 SONY PROMOTION

Introduction:

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Promotion is a key element of marketing program and is concerned with effectively and

efficiently communicating the decisions of marketing strategy, to favorably influence target

customer’s perceptions to facilitate exchange between the marketer and the customer that may

satisfy the objective of both customer and the company.

A company’s promotional efforts are the only controllable means to create awareness

among publics about itself, the products and services it offers, their features and influence their

attitudes favorably.

5.3.1 Sales Marketing Communication Mix:

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Sony India will spend Rs.200cr in this financial year on advertising and promotion

(promotional Budget) of the entire range of customer electronics, out of which Rs.60cr will be

spent only on Home Video, Theatre.

The major elements of promotion mix include advertising, personal selling, sales

promotion, direct marketing and publicity. Sony Picture Entertainment has used all of these

marketing communication mix elements.

5.3.2 Advertising:

Advertising is any paid form of non-personal mass communication through various

media to present and promote product, services and ideas etc by an identified sponsor.

So far, Sony has advertised its product through many different ways and media. Through

TV we have seen different advertisement of its products such as Spiderman, Hancock etc. Sony

also advertises its product by targeting those favorable television programs like sports, services

and also it has its own channel called Sony TV Channel. Sony uses some events like Miss India

2008 to promote its product.

Through internet and newspaper like Times of India, Sony was advertised a wide range

of product its offer to its customers. And also through posters a message has been sent to a lot of

people to be aware of the picture which Sony produced.

Sony also uses direct – response advertising. This is type of advertising that encourage

the consumer to respond either by providing feedback to the advertiser or placing the order with

the advertiser either by telephone, mail or the internet. Such is done through direct mail or

catalogues.

5.3.3 Sales Promotion:

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Sales promotion is a marketing discipline that utilizes a variety of incentive techniques

to structure sales – related programs targeted to customers, measurable action or response for a

product or service.

Sales promotion for example includes free samples, discount, rebates, coupons, scratch

card, exchange offers, early bird prices etc.

Sony Pictures plans to retail VCDs and DVDs through Reliance Retail.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) has an exclusive deal on the cards with

Reliance Retail, which will allow it to sell its DVDs and VCDs.

The company had set up special counters at the Reliance Mart in Ahmedabad recently,

and it now wants to secure space at Reliance’s other formats such as Reliance Digital and the

specialty stores for stores for books, music and movies.

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Sony India Unveils the ‘Bond with Sony was on Diwali’ Consumer

Campaign

New Delhi, October 15, 2008

Sony India has unveiled its “Bond with Sony was on Diwali” marketing campaign

featuring a tie up with the Sony Pictures Quantum of Solace, which was released in theaters

worldwide, including India, on November 07, 2008. The campaign, which takes the Bond

persona beyond the big screen into an exciting association with Sony, was developed as an

artistic and thematic extension of the Bond film.

Sophistication with style, a techno savvy quality and international appeal make James

Bond a perfect fit with the Sony brand. Designed to highlight Sony’s High Definition product

capabilities, the campaign provides a global platform for consistent brand messaging, while

allowing consumers to win assured gifts when they buy select Sony products. The assured gift

has a double benefit ~ a twin DVD pack with the Casino Royal film + trailers/news wraps from

the new Bond movie Quantum of Solace…and a Lucky Draw Coupon which gives you a chance

to win amazing prizes such as :

• A business class return trip to Sony Pictures Studio in Los Angeles, USA for 4 days for

10 lucky couples

• 50 VAIO VGN-TZ Notebooks

• 100 Sony Ericsson C902 phones with Bond applications

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The campaign launched on October 1, 2008 was build up the excitement and hype for driving

both traffic to Sony stores and theatres is timed to coincide with the film’s release and the

festival period. Elements include TV, digital, outdoor, print and retail media promoting Sony’s

BRAVIA LCD flat-panel televisions, Blu-ray Disc Players, Handy cam camcorders, Cyber-shot

digital still cameras and VAIO computers.

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5.4 SONY PRICE:

Pricing decision is almost always made in consultation with marketing management.

Price is the only marketing mix variable such as dealer price, retail price, discounts, allowances,

credit term etc influence the development of marketing strategy, as price is a major factor that

influence the assessment of value obtained by customer.

Customer directly relate price to quality, particular in case of products that are ego

intensive of technology based. Sony being a company which emphasizes product quality, it

tends to sell its products with price range from moderately- high to high prices, depending on the

use and targeted customers.

Sony Picture Home Entertainment (SPHE) is also bringing the Blu-ray Disc technology

to India, and is reportedly pricing the discs at Rs.1,800.

Being a late entrant in case of VCD, the company has chosen to use a low margin

strategy to increase volumes in the home entertainment market. In fact, it aims to make home

entertainment VCDs cheaper than movie tickets (upwards of Rs 50), cheaper than pirated discs

(Rs 80-100) and even cheaper than renting a VCD (Rs 50 for a new release).

6. MARKETING RESEARCH

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INTRODUCTION

Market research is for discovering what people want, need, or believe. It can also

involve discovering how they act. Once that research is completed, it can be used to determine

how to market your product.

Market research and marketing research are often confused. 'Market' research is simply

research into a specific market. It is a very narrow concept. 'Marketing' research is much

broader. It not only includes 'market' research, but also areas such as research into new

products, or modes of distribution such as via the Internet. Here are a couple of definitions:

"Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to

the marketer through information - information used to identify and define marketing

opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor

marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing

research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the methods for

collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes, and

communicates the findings and their implications."

Questionnaires, focus group discussion, research design and sample size surveys are

some of the instruments for market research.

The research methodology helps the movie maker to understand the means which would

be the most effective way to reach out to the audience and to create awareness for the film

among them. They should select the proper way of communication & get the feedback of the

audience.

The marketing researches are:

6.1 Research Design

6.2 Research Instruments

6.3 Sample size

6.4 Finding

6.5 Analysis

6.1 RESEARCH DESIGN:

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A research design is the plan, structure and strategy of investigation conceived so as to

obtain answer to research question. The research is of a combination of Exploratory and

Descriptive type and Primary data is mainly used for research.

An Exploratory research, the focus is on the discovery of ideas. In a business where

sales have been declining for the part few months, the management may conduct a quick study

to find at what could be the possible explanation the sales might have declined on account of a

number of factor such as not good movie, increased competition, or inadequate. Might they have

ineffective advertising to attract the people towards the Saawariya movie?

A Descriptive study is undertaken when the researcher wants to know the characteristic

of certain groups such as age, sex, education level, income, occupation etc. Means how many

male or female liked the Hancock.

A Primary data is freshly collected information gathered through questionnaires or focus

groups that include questions designed to answer a specific question.

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6.2 RESEARCH INSTRUMENT:

In research instrument, field survey are commonly used to collect primary data from the

respondents, survey can be

1. Face to face

2. Internet

The questionnaire method of data collection was used. First they make the question

around 8 to 10 questions about the particular movie

The questions are:

• Liked the movie.

• What liked in the movies whether comedy, action or romance?

• How was the story line of the movie?

• How was the song?

• Did u like the acting of the actor and actress?

• Did u see ads in Newspaper, T.V about our movies?

6.2.1 Face-to-face Interviews.

Face-to face interviews are conducted between a market researcher and a respondent.

Data is collected on a survey. Some surveys are very rigid or ‘structured’ and use closed

questions. Data is easily compared. Face-to-face interviews conducted to obtain valuable

insights from the respondents. Body language can emphasize responses whether he is excited by

watching the movie. Respondents can be ‘observed’ at the same time.

6.2.2 The Internet

The Internet can be used in a number of ways to collect primary data. Visitors to sites

can be asked to complete electronic questionnaires. However responses will increase if an

incentive is offered such as a free newsletter, or free membership. Other important data is

collected when visitors sign up for membership. There are visual ads to attract the respondents.

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6.3 SAMPLE SIZE:

In sample size, the researcher takes some proportion of population and they ask question

regarding their product

In Sony Picture Entertainment, the research was conducted with a sample size of 150

respondents. In this respondent, they have proportion of male and female.

Male-Female ratio of the sample, from the 100% they take 63% respondents from male

& remaining 37% respondents from female. That means from the 150 respondents, 95

respondents from the men and 55 respondents from the female

6.4 FINDING

This result was based on feedback from the respondents:

1. Trailers on TV followed by Newspaper Ads - major source of awareness about the movie for

Quantum of solace.

2. Story and Sequel - main reasons for watching the movie Quantum of Solace. This was

followed by publicity and preview of the movie.

3. Majority saw the trailers shown during the screening of the movie (Quantum of Solace).

4. Majority thought the Hancock trailer was exciting. 8% thought it was only OK and none thought

it was bad.

5. Almost half heard of the movie Hancock before, by means of In-theatre banner, Internet and word

of mouth.

6. 19% of the respondents were not sure if they would watch Hancock in a theatre and 3% were sure

of not doing so.

7. For males the special effects, Will Smith and the superhero concept stood out in the trailer

respectively. But for females Will Smith, special effects and the superhero concept stood out respectively in

the same order.

8. Males aged up to 20 years of age thought that the special effects and the superhero concept stood

out in the trailer. Whereas for males aged above 20 thought that along with the above mentioned factors

Will Smith too stood out equally for them.

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6.5 Analysis

1. Communication was poor for Hancock, so the Communication should be strong for Hancock on TV

and Newspapers, as there were main sources awareness about movies. Enough attention should be

paid on the publicity and preview of the movie.

2. The Special effect and the Superhero factor were not used in proper way. They may be used to

target individuals below 20 years of age.

3. Whereas the special effects and the Will Smith factor may be used to target individuals above

20 years of age.

4. They were not paid more attention on the teaser campaign. If they were being paid more attention

on the teaser campaign would help in the building of awareness of the movie, and would be a

positive step in influencing the performance or mainly the opening of the movie.

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7. QUESTIONAIRE

1. Sony has got into animation films in a big way. What is the future of animation films in

India?

Ans. Animation films are picking up and the future is bright. We have made many animation

films within few years, which is a record of sorts it takes 18-36 months to make an animation

film. It just shows our commitment to the sector. Our film OPEN SEASON was a major hit. Our

animation division is creating animation content for Indian as well as International markets.

2. What about competition in the market?

Ans. There are players who are selling products at almost half the price but we are aiming at

people who are looking for quality at a good price and we have reached that mid-point

equilibrium.

3. How much time does it take for a movie to make into a CD / DVD?

Ans. Four to eight weeks after the title is assigned to us.

4. In which countries do Sony products sell the most?

Ans. The ethnic pockets in the US, Germany, Brazil, Spain and Australia are our biggest buyers.

Now Singapore, the UAE and newly developed markets like East European and North African

markets are picking up

5. With so many multiplexes in most cities, who are the real buyers of DVDs and VCDs?

Ans. VCDs and DVDs sell because people want to see the film at their leisure. Films at

multiplexes change too often so if you don't have the time to watch a movie, it’s gone. So the

best way out is to buy a DVD.

6. Are there any films that don't do well in theatres, but who’s DVDs sell?

Ans. Yes. There are films like Hancock, Sawaariya, and Asia among others.

CONCLUSION

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

INTERNET:

• WWW.GOOGLE.COM

• WWW.SONYPICTURES.COM

• WWW.WIKIPEDIA.COM

MAGAZINE AND NEWSPAPER:

• INDIA TODAY

• MID-DAY

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http://WWW.WIKIPEDIA.COM/

http://WWW.SONYPICTURES.COM/

http://WWW.GOOGLE.COM/

Blackbook Project on Marketing Strategy of Sony Pictures

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