Marketing Strategies: Bang Olufsen vs. Sony

merchandise Strategies earn intercourse Olufsen vs. SonyMarketing Strategies and Customer behaviors of High-tech intersection pointscrash Olufsen vs. SonyIntroductionThe richly-tech industry is experiencing furious competition in the universe of discourse-wide grocery, especi completelyy in the sectors of audio/ idiot box, loudspeakers and digital appliances. bop Olufsen and Sony atomic number 18 both(prenominal) successful organizations offer examples of excellent strategies in their respective markets in the similar industry. Compargond to boot Olufsen, Sony is a less expensive f all(prenominal) guy, which was founded in 1946 in Japan. It is atomic number 53 of the leading electronics and entertain workforcet companies, offering choice digital and media harvest-homes to the muckle world(prenominal) market. Sony stands on a strong foundation of innovation, screw, talent, capital and desire (Sony 2008). Its mathematical crossings and service be available ar ound the world. They atomic number 18 attached with strong initiation cap capacity, good quality and high prestige. heyday Olufsen (BO) was founded in 1925 by 2 young Danish engineers, Peter whap and Svend Olufsen. Kn throw all oer the world for spectacular, idea based, quality growths (Christensen and Jrgensen 1997). It produces and develops a wide frame of digital appliances as well as audio/ boob tube harvest-feasts.This newspaper publisher will assess the effectiveness of distinct merchandise strategies of these two organizations, and consequently identify and analyze their winder customer behaviors.Background of the companies2.1 SonyWith its commitment to quality and consistent dedication to customer satisfaction Sony is recognized as a benchmark for New Age technology. Sony adapts Digital Signage, which is a powerful mother fucker to influence Customer behavior, both at point of purchase and at point of sale. slapdash Olufsen bash and Olufsen obtain tied with e -commerce giant amazon to influence their customer behavior, wherein products purchased by the customers will be provided with warranty readjustment forms which allows customer to register the purchased products for support finished come forth the life of the product.Key Customers BehaviorsJim Blythe (2006)says that m whatever(prenominal) an(prenominal) purchases be made without seeming(a) conscious thought people practically buy as a expiry of unexplained impulses, or only when fall in love with a product for no app bent reason. In the market of high-tech products, the customer behavior sweep ups the seven stages of CDP (Consumer conclusion Process) model . First, they recognize that whatsoeverthing is requisiteed in their lives. Then they oceanrch for development. The information whitethorn be internal (remembering facts about products, or recalling experiences with them) or extraneous (reading about possible products, visiting shops, and so on. Based on the info rmation, they conduct the pre-purchase military rating of alternatives. During the process, they compare a number of factors (such as toll, determination, functions) of various brands to select the possible alternatives that scoop out converge the needs (Yan 2008). Finally, they make the purchase, and then use the product for the purpose of fulfilling the need. The past-consumption evaluation will be carried out to canvass whether the product actually repay the needs or not. They might dispose the product before or at the end of its life cycle (Blythe 2006). A simple ending hierarchy for buying a high-tech product might look like thisFind out which high-tech product best suit the individual needs.Find out which brand has the unspoiled product at the right equipment casualty.Go and buy the product.Bang Olufsen targets the elect group, which can be explained as swiftness class customers who are educated, well-to-do, obliging in their interests and highly individualistic a nd self-motivated. These consumers are normally wealthy with high income and good taste. well-nigh of them make luxury manses/flats and cars. They would like to spend colossal amount of m 1y to achieve the similar quality for their audio and video equipment, long before design-widescreen TVs became fashionable. Bang Olufsens designs attract both men and women with a combination of high-end technology, spectacular and very practically audacious Danish advance(a) styling, excellent performance and super functional integration into the typical upper middle class home (Austin and Beyersdorfer 2007). In addition to the luxury offers, Bang Olufsen had introduced a new range of smaller products (such as Serene) with relative demoralise prices to attract the wealthy fashion-conscious youth market.In a word, these customers are persons who are willing to sacrifice a lot to get the very best in some crabbed field of honor. For this reason, the step 2 in the goal hierarchy might be missing from their purchasing process as they are wealthy and non-price sensitive, attracted only by the products featured with unique looking, high-end technology, personalization and customization (Dolbow 2002).Compared to Bang Olufsen, Sonys customers have relatively lower standards of lifestyle, although Sonys products ease have high prices and better qualities than the industry average. These groups of customers are price-sensitive. They totally follow the CDP and goal hierarchy estimated. Most of Sonys products are marketed as prise for money products with strong brand image and good design. opposed Bang Olufsen, Sony does not exigency its products to be zero flaws, but join the demands of the mass global customers. It limits the application of the high-end technologies such as finer art of design and frequency range to reduce the costs. Individualization is excluded from its production profile for the kindred reason. Therefore, its products may not be able to ful ly meet the expectations of one particularized person. In such products one feature appeals to one lineament of person, other features to another, the price, but no features, to a third, etc. But on the whole, the consumer will pay for a number of features that he or she never really wanted and perhaps never will use (Ravasi 2004).Marketing Strategies and TacticsThe Bang Olufsen specialist will represent the Bang Olufsen showroom located closest to the customers residence, and the specialist and showroom will then be available for customer services.The Competitive ApproachBang Olufsen constantly had a more than high-brow approach. It competes for upper middle-class discretionary dollars. In the fact, there are no whatsoever direct competitors of Bang Olufsen in the high-end electronics industry, because it does not want to make mass-market products with a broad appeal like its competitors products without any determine for the preferences and needs of the individual en d-users. Bang and Olufsen locates the showrooms close to its potential customers residence. In addition to the normal work hours, all the services and showrooms are made available to customers by appointment. Resources are selectively employed to avail its end-customers intelligently. Bang Olufsen highlights customization and personalization. It charges premium price to makes individual products for individual people (Hendriksen 2001). Basically, all the products share the very(prenominal) Bang Olufsen qualities, but each of them has a specific design profile that works individually to serve the end-customers in the market. The integration of unique designs and high qualities are notable selling points of each product.The shade ApproachIn parallel with the design and quality, Bang Olufsen, thereof, developed a marketing and communication dodging a lifestyle oriented schema aimed at a smaller, but more international target group. The targeting schema was best encapsulated in the advertising slogan of the period Bang Olufsen is for those who consider taste and quality before price. The products offered by Bang Olufsen are therefore regarded as lifestyle products. Each of them is manufactured to the highest standards, and that last 15-20 years or else of the industry typical 24 months. Bang Olufsen conducts a niche marketing strategy by operating under a completely disparate margin scheme than any of the large, well-sourced players like Sony, Philips, Samsung, Matsushita, Thomason, who all need market share to be visible and profitable (Hendriksen et al., 2002).The Differentiation approachBang Olufsen is not built on a low cost structure. The avail of cost leadership does not exist. Each of the products from Bang Olufsen is unique in the market. harvest-feast lies not only in the way it looks, but alike in the way it works. Intelligent technology, advanced features and unconventional solutions are what lay out Bang Olufsen apart. Under thi s strategy Bang Olufsen strengths and skills are used to carve up the companys electronic products from those of its potential competitors. The differentiation strategy creates, or emphasizes, a reason why the target customers should buy from Bang Olufsen rather than from its competitors. It in addition creates a market-based advantage. In this way, Bang Olufsens products can reign over higher prices and margins and thus avoid competing on price alone. In addition, this strategy of BO is hard for potential competitors to imitate, because the differentiation is integrative. All the products are integrations of design, quality, aesthetics, and functionality.Marketing Strategies of SonyFrom a general point of view, Sony conducts a segmentation marketing strategy by dividing products into three important categories Electronics, Game, and Pictures. This report only highlights the marketing strategy of its electronics division. Sony alship canal responds speedily to catch the pop ular lifestyle accepted by just about of the people. Compared to Bang Olufsen, Sony is more likely to conduct a wholeness product for the many marketing strategy, with mass production to serve the majority of the market. shut the quality, price is utilized as a overlyl for competing with rivals. In new-fashioned years, Sony outsourced near of its non-core commercial enterprisees such as assembling, packaging to organizations in developing countries for barely reductions of its operating costs. The Annual Report 2008 states that Sony successfully re-engineered the company by dramatically reducing operating costs, streamlining the operations. As a result, on an annual undercoat and compared to three years prior, sales and operating revenue rose 23% (Sony 2008).Marketing 4PsThe report applies a simple marketing mix of 5Ps to analyze the difference betwixt Bang Olufsen and Sony.ProductBang Olufsen Product dodgeBang Olufsen develops and markets a unique rang of audio/video, communication and multimedia system products. All the products are integrations of design, quality, aesthetics, and functionality, which are easily differentiated from the products of other companies (Hendriksen et al., 2002). agree to the feature of target customers, Bang Olufsen discovers that their clients usually do not neck what they really want. They desire something that could stand out of the mass, or lasts and represents something appeals to them, but not just follow the fashionable style. Bang Olufsen always keep the design to produce groundbreaking products to satisfy its customers needs and update their products more oft in the dynamic environment.Ground-breaking products have been launched for the audiophile world, with BeoLab 5 named as one of the worlds finest loudspeakers, and within TV (Aigner et al., 2006). Over the past few years, the mark trade has extended into new areas. BO has developed sound systems for, so far, sise Audi models. These have attracte d strong praise with BO being awarded the title of Best marque 2008 in the Car-HiFi category in the respected German auto clipping Auto Motor und Sport (Anthony 2008). In the automotive area, Bang Olufsen has to a fault entered into a strategic partnership with Aston Martin, the UKs sports car maker, and latest, Mercedes-AMG. Through its initiative department, BO focuses on sales to hotels where the companys products are currently represented in more than 200 five-star hotels across the world. In addition, BO Enterprise has initiated and expand a number of partnerships with leading property developers for the supply of audio/video products for exclusive property projects (Vej 2007). To ensure that all the products are in the highest standards, Bang Olufsen only concentrates on fewer product categories.Sony Product StrategyUnlike Bang Olufsen, Sony has a broad list of electronic products. In the financial year 2005-2008, it launched the BRAVIA brand of LCD television. It too k a strong position in each major market, and became the first to bring to market organic light-emitting diode televisions (Russinovich 2005). Sony mainly focuses on the marketing development to increase the products variety to meet the demands from different customer groups. People at different levels of socioeconomic place may muster their favorable products from Sony. Moreover, Sonys products are normally with a short lifecycle, for example 12-24 months. New products are quickly imitated by the competitors. Therefore, Sony has to update its product lists frequently to catch sales. This typical marketing strategy is in addition adopted by some of its competitors, such as Apple, Samsung etc. damageIn theory, price is really determined by the discovery of what customers discern is the value of the item on sale.Pricing Strategy of Bang Olufsen harmonise to an online research, the average BO purchase is 2,800 (Underwood 2005). The prices are some(prenominal) higher than the ind ustry average. The price reflects the products quality and brand image (Raun 2009). Customers regard price as one of the notable aspects of Bang Olufsen, which stands for the highest value of design, outstanding performance, durability, and long reliable services.Pricing strategy of SonyBeing a premium brand and know for its high quality products, Sony adapts premium prices for the products. It sells its products at comparatively higher price. furtheranceBang Olufsen Promotion StrategyBang Olufsen produces differentiated products to satisfy their elite customer group. Around 80% of its sales revenue is generated from between 800-1000 of its customers. It determines that the promotions are only available for a small amount of VIPs, which are especially used to establish the long term relationships with those important customers.Sony Promotion StrategySony adapts dynamic promotion strategies through Marketing communication, Advertising, Sales promotion, earth relations and Dire ct selling.Place (Distribution)Bang Olufsen Place (Distribution) StrategyBy the end of May 2008, Bang Olufsen has 822 B1 shops across the world, which accounts for 81% of the total turnover. Bang Olufsen dedicates to provide the best services for its customers. Customers could make the appointment online for afterward working hour services. Because most of its products are very expensive, only small amounts of relatively cheaper products are sold via online dealers.Sony Place (Distribution) StrategySony approach patterns Selective distribution of its products through selective dealers. It distributes products in various channels (Zone-Level, One Level and Two-Level Channels). Sony also distributes through online facility which proved to be more effective and cost-efficient way of distribution.PeopleBang Olufsens StrategyIt motivates the people with their companionship towards technology and provides greater opportunities to explore and carrier growth to achieve.Sonys Strat egySony is driven by its mission to offer an opportunity to create and fulfill dreams of all kinds of people, including customers, employees, share holders and telephone circuit partners.ConclusionThis report compares the marketing strategies and key customer behaviors between Bang Olufsen, the very expensive high-tech products provider, and Sony, a less expensive quality high-tech products provider. Although they operate in the similar industry, there is no actual competition existing between them as they target different customer groups.ReferenceAigner, G., Budzinski, O., and Christiansen, A. (2006). The analysis of coordinated do in EU merger control where do we stand after Sony, BMG and Impala, pp. 311336.Anthony, S. (2008). Sony Winning the DVD battle but losing the innovation war, Innovation Insights.Austin, R. and Beyersdorfer, D. (2007). Bang Olufsen Design Driven Innovation, Harvard Business School Case.Blythe, J. (2006). Essentials of marketing communications, Prentic e Hall.Christensen, S. and Jrgensen, J. (1997). Analysing Bang Olufsens BeoLink (R) Audio/Video System Using Coloured Petri Nets, chaffer Notes in Computer Science, pp. 387-406.Dolbow, S. (2002). Bang Olufsen Tunes Sales Channel for S20K Plasma-Based TV System, Brandweek, pp. 14.Hendriksen, O. (2001). long Monitoring at Bang Olufsen Office Building, in Editor (ed)(eds), retain Long-term Monitoring at Bang Olufsen Office Building, City, pp.Hendriksen, O., Brohus, H., Frier, C., and Heiselberg, P. (2002). Pilot train Report Bang Olufsen Head Quarter, Paris, France worldwide Energy Agency.Raun, H. (2009). Strategisk analyse og vrdiansttelse af Bang Olufsen pr 21. oktober 2008.Ravasi, D. (2004). Bang Olufsen A, S, Bocconi, Mailand.Russinovich, M. (2005). Sony, rootkits and digital rights management gone too far, Marks Sysinternals Blog, October, Vol. 31.Sony (2008). Sony Global Annual Report 2008, in Editor (ed)(eds), phonograph recording Sony Global Annual Report 2008, C ity, Sony, pp.Underwood, R. (2005). The case for fanaticism. At high-end Danish electronics upstanding Bang Olufsen, design is king, Even if it inwardness sacrificing revenue, FAST COMPANY, Vol. 101, pp. 84.Vej, P. (2007). Bang Olufsen Holding, International handlery of Company Histories Volume 86, pp. 24.Yan, G. (2008). Sony Style in China,, No. 010, pp. 22-23.Emergency growdness Techniques Private and federal official SectorEmergency Planning Techniques Private and Federal SectorEmergency PlanningAbstractThe basis of this paper deals with the hint plan techniques of both the common soldier and the federal sector. They each have their own way of writing and carrying out the emergency plans. There are similarities in each and there are differences in each. However, both have the same goal of nurtureing people and property.Thoroughly argue how private be after may differ from governing bodyal emergency be after. Should there be any difference? If so, when and how.Plann ing for a major disaster can draw back many different forms. On a governmental level, the federal, state, and local governments are responsible for the vindication of its citizens. Emergency supply is designed specifically for this area and can come from such things as the use of intelligence forum and even Congress passing laws like the USA PATRIOT ACT. On a private level, businesses are responsible for the protection of their employees and assets. More a great deal than not, these emergency plans are also dubbed Business Continuity Plans (BCP). These plans sustain if a disaster like a tornado should strike their area. Even more narrowed down than that, there are even plans for families to help protect themselves in their home. From top to loafer it is kind of likened to a bulls-eye. The outer sight is the Unites States government all the way to the smaller middle part, the individual/family. The bottom line is that it is important to have some kind of plan in place in all levels to ensure the utmost safety.On the governmental level, one of the main areas of planning and the one that is forefront in the yield of a major national disaster is the Department of Homeland credentials (DHS). The DHS was created in rejoinder to the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. This particular department heads numerous other agencies that assist in the event of a catastrophe of national significance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) which was created by Jimmy Carter by executive order on March 30, 1979. (Woolley, 2005) The main goal of FEMA is to put together a response plant to catastrophes that communicate in the United States which surpass the resources and abilities of local and state jurisdictions. States also have their own emergency management agencies but when an incident is too very much for them the governor of the state where the incident takes place must declare a state of emergency and make a formal request for help to the President of the United States that FEMA and the Federal Government respond to the disaster. Like most government agencies FEMA is under high scrutiny whenever a disaster occurs. In new-made years the agency has not gotten very high mark for their efforts. Most notably are their responses to natural disasters like hurricanes. They are often criticized for their response times like in the cases of hurricanes Hugo in 1989 and Andrew in 1992. Most notably was the way FEMA (and the government as a whole) handled Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In the wake of Katrina, the United States Congress issued a scathing report on how it was handled noting that elements of the bailiwick Response Plan were executed late, ineffectively, or not at all. It cited, in partDHS and FEMA lacked adequate trained and experienced staff for the Katrina responseThe readiness of FEMAs national emergency response teams was inadequate and minify the effectiveness of the federal responseLong-standing we aknesses and magnitude of the disaster overwhelmed FEMSs ability to provide emergency shelter and temporary housingFEMA logistics and contracting systems did not support a targeted, massive, and sustained provision of commodities (congressional Select Committee, 2006)Get help with your essay from our expert essay writersFEMA is just one part of the National Plan for emergency readiness. Another agency in the mix is the superman Security court. This agency was also started as a direct result of the 9/11 attacks and is also under the umbrella of the DHS. As declared in their mission statement, The Transportation Security Administration protects the Nations transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce. (Transportaton Security Administration, N/A) This particular agency is most noted and seen at our nations airports but are also responsible for transportation of land and sea as well. Like FEMA, there have been criticisms of this particular department as well. There have been complaints of invasion of privacy, theft of airline passengers possessions, and wasteful spending in its hiring practices.FEMA and the TSA are just a pair of the many areas in which the federal government has set its emergency planning into motion. As stated before, the governmental agencies are under a microscope and when something fails (or appears to have failed) it will be put into the spotlight. Citizens often turn to their governments for answers and direction, as they should, when a disaster occurs. Some involved in security planning privately feel that there are those agencies that need to do more in the way of explaining emergency and security plans to employees. However they also believe that the government has come a long way in emergency planning since the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center.In the private sector, planning for an emergency becomes more focused. The emphasis is on a much smaller populace depending on the size of th e entity whether it be a business, school, hospital, etc. No matter how much planning or preparation an entity does, there can never assurances that all crisis will be handled flawlessly. If a business fails to plan properly, the likelihood of problems during a disaster will greatly intensify. One issue that arises is that the managers of the business and public safety officials sometimes underestimate the issues that may arise during a crisis situation. Administrators normally dont have experience or prior training with emergency management issues. That is where the area of the Director of Security would come into play. This person would be responsible for writing up the emergency plan (i.e. Business Continuity Plan).Business continuity plans are essential in helping companies stay afloat through any misfortune and aid them in coming back more quickly after the setbacks. Without the BCP companies could be in great danger of going out of business is a disaster occurs. This could not only impact the business itself but the people it employs and the economy of an area if the business is large complete. bloody shame Carrido, president MLC Associates stated, After the Oklahoma City bombing, 40 square blocks were occlude off for weeks. This devastated 4,000 businesses 210 are not in existence anymore. (Rodetis, 1999) Had there been some kind of back-up plan to help these companies more businesses could have been saved. Its much easer to minimize a risk than to try and recover from a setback. A thorough plan can take a few months or even years to develop, depending on the size of the organization. Unfortunately a recent study by KPMG, LLP, found nearly 40% of respondents either lacked business continuity plans or had not tested theirs within the last hexad months. (Rodetis, 1999) In this day and age, especially with the technology available, it is unbelievable that many businesses do not have proper planning. The old adage of not planning to fail but failing to plan comes to mind.The next part to discuss is the really whittled down part, family planning (not the kind where you want to have kids). This is extremely important on this level too because families should do things like practice regular fire drills so the whole family knows where to go or find exits from the house in the event of a fire. These plans should also involve making sure fire alarms are placed properly throughout the house and ensure that the batteries are in working order. Also if some motley of disaster should occur while the family is away, there should be different means as how to contact one another and have a known meeting place if the family is separated. One should determine the type of risk that is most likely to happen whether it be a hurricane, tornado, man-made disaster, etc. and prepare for those risks. According to the FEMA website, it is suggested that enough food, water, and other supplies are stocked up enough to last at least three days.As written in the paper, the governmental and private sectors are different in many ways but the one underlying similarity is the basic need for protection of life and property. The differences are in the way plans are carried out and how they are managed. The federal government would not have to go through the same processes as say a business would to receive assistance. Ultimately some plan needs to be in place on all levels to minimize the risks and if there are areas in the federal level that need to be changed so response times are better or relief aid gets to an area sooner or mandating that all companies have a mercantilismument emergency plan, then these actions need to be taken.ReferencesCongressional Select Committee. (2006, N/A). Executive Summary of Findings. Retrieved July 16, 2007, from United States Congress http//www.gpoaccess.gov/katrinareport/execsummary.pdf.Rodetis, S. (1999, February 1). batch your business survive the unexpected?(business continuity plans). Retrieved July 1 7, 2007, from Journal of Accountancy http//www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-53878194.html.Transportaton Security Administration. (N/A, N/A). Mission, Vision, and Core Values (Who We Are). Retrieved July 17, 2007, from Transportation Security Administration http//www.tsa.gov/who_we_are/mission.shtm.Woolley, L. (2005, September 12). FEMA Disaster of an Agency. Retrieved July 17, 2007, from newsmax.com http//www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/9/12/102827.shtml.