Struggling consumer electronics vendor Sony Australia has today announced the appointment of former Dell Marketing Manager Simon Hovell to replace Toby Barbour, the former General Manager of marketing who quit the company last month. They have also announced the appointment of a new advertising agency.Sony who later this week is expected to announce poor financial results appointed Hovell, who has done previous marketing stints at NAB and MLC.
Sony has also appointed Naked to work on both mainstream consumer and online marketing.
One of Hovell’s first tasks was to take a stab at retailer discounting. He said “One of the challenges faced in the electronics category is customer retention and advocacy, “Companies need to demonstrate true value to consumers and generate brand and product love to encourage repeat purchase and referral”.
He added “”The trend to focus on price that has occurred in recent years actually incites confusion and can limit the customer experience”.
Maybe, Hovell needs to talk to his CEO Carl Rose who is credited with starting a massive giveaway war three years ago when Sony gave away a Sony PS3 gaming console in an effort to boost falling TV sales.
Sony has since followed this up with heavy discounting of their Bravia TV’s in an effort to compete with the likes of Samsung, LG and Sanyo.
Hovell said “The appointment of Naked as our lead agency, to develop strategy across all of Sony’s electronics business, demonstrates the importance of focusing on customers in this category. Naked’s speciality, of behavioural change, will become core to how we bring campaigns to market in Australia,” he said.
Last month Naked has started on a campaign for Sony’s Bloggie camera category in an effort to compete with several new brands that are being launched into the HD Video record market.
