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December 30, 2006

11:33 am | 0 recommendations | 7 comments

Sony Is Not Playing the PR Game

| posted by Kevin Ohannessian

With all the Sony bashing going around lately, it's hard to find a site that isn't criticizing how Sony handled the PlayStation 3 launch. Whether it's the fact that only half the number of systems promised were available for launch or the numerous bugs that had to be patched, everything about the PS3 is being reported about quickly. A blog I stumbled upon yesterday features something different.

One gamer confronted a Sony rep at a game retailer about the demo kiosks freezing up. The gamer was told that it was intentional. I'm amazed at how Sony has trained its PR reps to respond. Whether or not the blogger exaggerated, this is indicative of a larger PR crisis that Sony is facing. From the 2006 E3 in May when Sony Computer Entertainment America president Kaz Hirai said, "the next generation doesn't start until we start it," to the fake blog site alliwantforxmasisapsp.com, the company can't seem to get a likeable message out to the public.

And unlike Wal-Mart, this negative press may be contributing to the fact the public's desire for the PlayStation 3 is being matched by demand for Nintendo's Wii console. Do you think this negative press will continue, widening the divide between Sony's struggling performance and its competitors in the gaming market? How can Sony respond and recover their dominate position in the game industry?

Tags: Management, Marketing
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Recent Comments | 7 Total

December 30, 2006 at 3:57pm

Greg Greene

As drastic as it sounds, a full-fledged house cleaning: from top to bottom, including Stringer. (Execs have already kicked former SCEA president Ken Kutaragi upstairs, so that's a start.)

From exploding batteries to the rootkit fiasco to this botch of a product launch, Sony has swapped a focus on quality control and customer satisfaction out for an arrogance completely at odds with its lousy track record. Unless heads roll -- and soon -- expect no tears shed when the company goes into a death spiral. Hell, I'll cheer.

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January 1, 2007 at 4:32pm

roger fulton

so little in one's life that they criticize a company ove something as TRIVIAL AS THIS??

GET A *(*($) LIFE.

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January 2, 2007 at 2:23am

Ryan

PSP? Is that like a Wii but with the very likely to be soon outdated Blu-Ray DVD player and minus the totally revolutionary evolution of game play?

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January 2, 2007 at 3:25pm

Dazibao

Sony bashing is definitively the new craze in town, and no doubt Sony shares some responsibility in this.

But whether it will dent theirs sales remain to be seen. I strongly believe that Sony as a brand still carry a lot of credence among the public.

And I do remember than some years ago a famous Redmond company was easily the must publicly bashed company around. Still, they somehow manage to get thru this, and did quite well with the public (well, until Vista launch anyway…)

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January 2, 2007 at 11:11pm

GL

Kevin,

Those that talk about "last gasp" or "death spiral" are misguided; see so-called IBM and Apple pundits of the 80's and 90's.

Every company goes through change once in a while. Change is good. But rumors of Sony's demise have been grossly exaggerated.

Stay tuned kids....

P.S. Day traders love stories like this. What beter way to get the idiots selling shares?

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January 3, 2007 at 11:48am

baker

It's disappointing, to say the least. The Sony bashing will continue until Sony turns itself around. Honesty would be a start, along with better PR (it's supposed to freeze up? We aren't responsible for the PSP graffiti art? We aren't responsible for the flog about our product? C'MON!).

Plain and simple, Sony dug itself in. And kept digging. They really need to turn themselves around and start being more responsible for their own actions. It seems the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing anymore!

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January 25, 2007 at 11:31pm

Paul

Sony's entertainment systems is only one area sony has regressed. The quality of all their electronics is dropping. Most Viao computers suffer from well known defects. Recent sony cd/dvd devices hafe a reputation for dieing prematurely. Petitions are trying to gather support with dedicated websites over their denial of the labtop faults. Search online Viao won't boot many pages worth of threads on various boards reaching 100s per threat start of people experience the exact same failures.

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