Putting Brand Names in Perspective - Sony Wins

[fitbabits]

Putting to the sword the notion that everything Sony is viewed with suspicion by the public at large, Gamasutra (http://www.gamasutra.com) has posted the results of a study dealing with 'brand trust' (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=8738).

Market research group Forrester Research has published a new report examining the trust and perceived potential for various major name PC and consumer brands and companies, including Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft.

Of the three console manufacturers, Sony ranked the highest and the third overall out of all twenty-two companies involved in the research, with an overall grade of “A plus”. The highest ranked companies were Bose and Dell, which also earned “A plus” grades.

Nintendo’s brand earned a “B” grade, placing it at seventeen out of twenty-two amidst a number of other middle ranking companies.

Microsoft earned only a “C” grade, and was ranked twentieth out of the twenty-two companies, although this ranking was based on the overall Microsoft brand and not the Xbox specifically.

Quotes taken from the study state that: “Microsoft faces big consumer defection risk. One measure of consumers' dissatisfaction with Microsoft is seen in the 5.4 million households that give it a brand trust score of 1 [distrust a lot] or 2 [distrust a bit]. Compared with all Microsoft users, these at-risk users have higher income, are much more likely to be male, and are bigger online spenders. These households know they run Microsoft software but would be just as happy to leave it behind — if they could."

By comparison the report describes Sony’s current customers as “affluent, young, and more likely than the general population to stick with a brand they like”. It also notes that “Sony’s prospects have a different profile: poorer than the general population, less brand loyal, and more likely to buy on price. To reach these 9.8 million households, Sony will have to tailor its marketing messages and retail presence to compete on price."
Conclusive proof that people are stupid? You decide - I'm off to smooch every Sony-branded thing I own.

[kokyunage]

Sony or Microsoft? Which one of these a companies was sued by the U.S. Government for having an illegal monopoly that was covered in the news for over a year. All press isn't always good press.

[Sl1pstream]

http://users.pandora.be/underd316/ps3magic.jpg

[Sion]

When the next generation PlayStation console comes out, all game will look just as good as the Final Fantasy VIII FMVs.

[phantomhitman]

Sony or Microsoft? Which one of these a companies was sued by the U.S. Government for having an illegal monopoly which was in the news for over a year. All press isn't always good press.

:rolleyes:

[AversionFX]

Sony or Microsoft? Which one of these a companies was sued by the U.S. Government for having an illegal monopoly which was in the news for over a year. All press isn't always good press.


Hook, line, and sinker.

End thread.

[Borys]

Heh, where's Vandenh and his *cough* iPod *cough* theory?

Sony = rocksolid brand. It will take some serious money and some serious time to bring the company's image down.

[IagoTheHunted]

All this proves is that far too much money is being spent on useless data analasis and not enough on creative talent in a product-based industry. I mean really, is it a surprise to anyone that microsoft is distrusted? Of course people marked that down, because over YEARS of useing their product EXCLUSIVELY everyone has had a bad windows experience by now and likes to point fingers. But that has nothing to do with anything, everyone still owns it, and the people who said "I'd go with an alternative" are full of shit because linux is out there and they obviously aren't switching. What they're really saying is "I'd go with an alternative if it was better than windows". Well yeah duh. Same thing goes for all the other grades and conclusions they're drawing out of this. It's all crap, people filling out forms aren't an indicator of how good a company is, Microsoft is dominating because they adapted and strategised better than the competition. THAT'S what buisness sucess is about, predicting the market, which this stupid data analasis does not and can not do. It's just monkeys getting excited about numbers that are meaningless. They might as well be reading bones.

[MasterEvilAce]

Sony and Apple operate on the same principles in my mind. Decent equipment, but you pay the price for it. Usually you can find better stuff at a cheaper price. Sometimes it's utter-shit, though. Namely Sony' Xplode car audio line, or whatever it is. Everyone hates that shit.

[Balthasar]

Conclusive proof that people are stupid? You decide - I'm off to smooch every Sony-branded thing I own.
Sony was never accused of being a monopoly, last time I checked.

[AspectVoid]

"I'd go with an alternative" are full of shit because linux is out there and they obviously aren't switching. What they're really saying is "I'd go with an alternative if it was better than windows".

Actually, the correct quote is "I'd goi with an alternative if all the alternatives didn't have crap game support." I'm not gonna abandon a hobby I love because of some dumb so-called moral high ground or whatever. Just like with the PS2. The PS2 has more games on it that I enjoy then any of the other consoles. Just because Sony's music side screwed up doesn't mean I'm gonna stop buy all those great PS2 games.

[fitbabits]

Sony was never accused of being a monopoly, last time I checked.
So why were you quoting me? :confused:

[Taco]

So why were you quoting me? :confused:


I like apples.

[The Continental]

Actually, the correct quote is "I'd goi with an alternative if all the alternatives didn't have crap game support." I'm not gonna abandon a hobby I love because of some dumb so-called moral high ground or whatever. Just like with the PS2. The PS2 has more games on it that I enjoy then any of the other consoles. Just because Sony's music side screwed up doesn't mean I'm gonna stop buy all those great PS2 games.

Where have you been all my EA reading life?

Someone buy this man a subscriber account, he's preaching the common sense.

[bapenguin]

Not too shocking really. Say Sony to someone and they think of high quality TVs and Speakers, etc. (even though this isn't necessarily the reality)

Say Microsoft to someone and they think of blue screens of death and monopolies.(even though this isn't necessarily the reality)

[AspectVoid]

Where have you been all my EA reading life?

Someone buy this man a subscriber account, he's preaching the common sense.

I was lurking for most of it. I guess it was a year or so ago when I actually started posting things. As for the account, I'll be getting my own soon enough, though I certainly wouldn't object to someone buying one in my name. ^^


Not too shocking really. Say Sony to someone and they think of high quality TVs and Speakers, etc. (even though this isn't necessarily the reality)

Say Microsoft to someone and they think of blue screens of death and monopolies.(even though this isn't necessarily the reality)

Actually, Blue Screen of Death is still reality (unfortunately). I work in support, and there are still a crap load of people for some reason still using Windows ME of all things. So, yeah, BSoD is still around quite a lot.

[Namielus]

Did anyone else find that 'study' to have less information and facts than expected? For example where is a conclusive list? Therefore the value of that information is next to meaningless.

[Dr Quincy]

Sony are cooler than Microsoft.

[Serapth]

Not too shocking really. Say Sony to someone and they think of high quality TVs and Speakers, etc. (even though this isn't necessarily the reality)

Say Microsoft to someone and they think of blue screens of death and monopolies.(even though this isn't necessarily the reality)

Pretty much on the money. Not to mention that most Joe Shmoos association with Microsoft is probrably mostly from doing mundane work at the office. Not the kinda thing you associate with fun.

As to Sony, so many people have it in their heads that Sony products are just so much higher end and better made then any other Japanese brand. As Joe blow on the street which is better... "Sony or Yamaha"? or "Sony or Panasonic?", etc... and 9 out of 10 will say Sony.

This I attribute to 3 things. 1st was the walkman, sony was the first common place Japanese brand in North American homes. 2nd is the Sony Stores. I even admit it, I walk in one of these stores and damn... I want to buy shit... even if its over priced and inferior to other products. Finally, marketing. They are by far the best marketeers of all the japanese electronics companies.

[Roc Ingersol]

Give me a fucking break.

Are we forgetting Sony/BMG being found guilty of unlawful monopolistic practices, collusion, payola, album price fixing and being investigated for digital music price fixing? The damn Sony/BMG merger itself was nearly blocked by antitrust commisions in the US and EU.

Are we ignoring Sony being investigated in the UK for illegal pricing practices with regards to playstation hardware/software?

Are we letting the whole Rootkit disaster slide by?

The sony-funded corporate lobbyists that have been rewriting copyright law, pushing predatory, exploitative contracts, and generally leading the charge to completely sully whatever might be left of America's movie or music culture?

JFC, both companies are huge corporations bent on doing absolutely anything they can get away with to make profit. Neither is deserving of any level of consumer trust. Brand loyalty is a crutch.

Try not to wear your idiocy on your sleeve like a badge of fucking honor.

[Wonka]

I think this would be more relevant if these companies were selling detergent or gasoline (products where there is really very little difference between the different brands).

But these are game consoles. There are going to be BIG differences between these products in terms of what games are available and what services can be used.

[Serapth]

Give me a fucking break.

Are we forgetting Sony/BMG being found guilty of unlawful monopolistic practices, collusion, payola, album price fixing and being investigated for digital music price fixing? The damn Sony/BMG merger itself was nearly blocked by antitrust commisions in the US and EU.

Are we ignoring Sony being investigated in the UK for illegal pricing practices with regards to playstation hardware/software?

Are we letting the whole Rootkit disaster slide by?

The sony-funded corporate lobbyists that have been rewriting copyright law, pushing predatory, exploitative contracts, and generally leading the charge to completely sully whatever might be left of America's movie or music culture?

JFC, both companies are huge corporations bent on doing absolutely anything they can get away with to make profit. Neither is deserving of any level of consumer trust. Brand loyalty is a crutch.

Try not to wear your idiocy on your sleeve like a badge of fucking honor.

Your making an (understandable) mistake here. These studies arent about the type of people that hang out on internet forums discussing gaming technology. These are about the average consumer. Most people here know about all the terrible shit Sony has done, but in the real world (tm) its a much different story. People get blasted with news about Microsoft == Monopoly. To the point that people dont even know the facts behind it and just equate one with the other. However, the evils that Sony have done, they just dont make the front page news. The rootkit fiasco was about as close as it got, and still you ask the average person about that and they will look and you with blank eyes.

Another thing to keep in mind... these things have nothing to do with actual quality or performance. Its all about perception and nothing more.

[Roc Ingersol]

Most people here know about all the terrible shit Sony has done, but in the real world (tm) its a much different story.
Read up-thread a bit. Read any number of 360 or PS3 threads. Maybe there's some silent majority who know better, but I'm seeing roughly the same number of people with blind devotion to a brand here, as I do in the Real World(tm).

I'm well aware that most people just don't know. What I'm saying, is that their willful ignorance is not to be condoned. You are supposed to stop and say: these people are stupid. None of them are right, all of them are wrong.

I don't really see much, if any, of that here.

People get blasted with news about Microsoft == Monopoly.
And they don't give a shit. They overwhelmingly use windows and office at work and bitch about it ceaselessly. Then go right home to windows and office.

Its all about perception and nothing more.
When a bunch of people choose one naked Emporer's outfit over another, the only lesson there is: those people are stupid.

[Borys]

In Poland you don't simply buy electronics - you buy Sony stuff.

Grundig, Thomson, Panasonic, Sanyo etc. are 2nd rate here, Sony is where it's at.

[Serapth]

Roc, your basically saying that the average consumer is a sheep. Hey, I agree with that 100% :D

[emperordahc]

Guilty. I didn't buy an XBox for years because I hate Microsoft's operating system, Office and all their other products. I finally got past that, and now I have a system that happily plays Halo.

When I think Nintendo or Apple, I think happy thoughts. I buy all their products, and I'm happy w/ them, too.

Dunno.

[Megalith]

All this says is that Sony are better advertisers.

[AniAko]

Heh, where's Vandenh and his *cough* iPod *cough* theory?
Sony = rocksolid brand. It will take some serious money and some serious time to bring the company's image down.

Welcome back :)

Sony is defiantely not a "ROCK SOLID" brand. Sony makes over-all outstanding products, but there are some incredible failures. Ah-hem... *** might have had an anti-trust suit, not a monopoly mind you, but then again Sony was under similar scrutiny "Installing software without the user's knowledge" The Sony DRM alone, parallells *** initiative to bundle Internet Explorer with their OS software. Different reasons and litigation behind both, but both tried to do something that might not have been in the consumer's best interest. I own a lot of Sony products, I love their audio equipment, their DVD equipment, even their brand of CD-Rs. But they're not Rock-Solid. Very good, probably the best right now, but not Rock solid.

A note on ***.......
I've always HATED ***. Ever since NT. They became lazy, and bloated with junk. However now the competition out there is spurring ***'s REAL innovation, not just junk. I personally have high hopes for the upcoming Vista platform, the advances in Windows Live, and of course the XBox. If you look, they don't have their shit together yet, but they realized they needed to get it together, so they are. Everyone hates *** for at least one reason, but when those reasons are taken care of by ***, the animosity remains. Why did I hate *** all these years? The last reasons I can think of is the instability of 98 (fucking blue screens) and the shitty version of WindowsME. I have only minor complaints as of today. In fact I have first hand knowledge of the durability of the XBox 360 controllers :rolleyes:. The future looks good... for us consumers. All this competition means WE win. So let's sit back and enjoy the ride....

[ruprect]

Interesting that it said people who purchase Sony are "more likely to buy on price". I take it that means more cheaply. . . so if the PS3 comes out at more than $500, that would push their brand loyalty, which is weaker anyway (SURVEY SAYS!)?

[Vandenh]

Meanwhile in the real world.. you know... not populated by geeks like us: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_31/b3945098.htm

Strange.... that sure is a different list.

Heh, where's Vandenh and his *cough* iPod *cough* theory?
You guys make it too easy, like shooting fish in a barrel. Actually the list I just posted shows the iPod in action on Sony. I cannot believe how naive some of you are :)

Oh BTW this is *the* list marketing people us.... I know... I worked for Toyota for many years and Toyota has tried really hard to climb up this list :)

[doyama]

The problem with this is that our community will make the comparision that people like the Playstation more than the XBox. In reality for these kinds of surveys, the base line is that people assosciate Sony as a consumer goods company, where as Microsoft is defined as a software company. The study specifically notes that it relates not to the xbox specifically but as the company as a whole. With all the anti-trust suits in America and EU, its no wonder that people don't 'trust' MS in general. Plus lets face it no one really 'likes' their computers and they associate computers with Microsoft by default.

[jeffbax]

The only A they get from me is an A in fucking their customer :)

[mpsmith]

BSoDs are really a thing of the past for anyone running "current" technology who isnt retarded... Of course, the % of users who fit those criteria might be rather low. Apple and Nintendo? I just think of colorful, safe, and trendy things when I think of those (or at least Apple). Let's grow some balls!

[AspectVoid]

Give me a fucking break.

Are we forgetting Sony/BMG being found guilty of unlawful monopolistic practices, collusion, payola, album price fixing and being investigated for digital music price fixing? The damn Sony/BMG merger itself was nearly blocked by antitrust commisions in the US and EU.

Are we ignoring Sony being investigated in the UK for illegal pricing practices with regards to playstation hardware/software?

Are we letting the whole Rootkit disaster slide by?

The sony-funded corporate lobbyists that have been rewriting copyright law, pushing predatory, exploitative contracts, and generally leading the charge to completely sully whatever might be left of America's movie or music culture?

JFC, both companies are huge corporations bent on doing absolutely anything they can get away with to make profit. Neither is deserving of any level of consumer trust. Brand loyalty is a crutch.

Try not to wear your idiocy on your sleeve like a badge of fucking honor.

I hate to break it to you, but most people on the street have no clue about the Sony Root Kit mess. The fact is that the Root kit mess got about two weeks worth of news stories. The Microsoft anti-trust lawsuit got months of coverage.

As for ignoring the the Sony lawsuit in UK, yes as a matter of fact, the common people on the street do ignore it. The US has a culture of really not giving a shit what happens in other countries as long as it doesn't effect us. The Sony Lawsuit in the UK currently has no VISABLE effect on the US population, so the people in the street never see or hear anything about it.

Are we letting the Root-kit disaster slide by? No, it already HAS slid by. The only place it is ever brought up anymore is by geeks in the internet, and even then, these days it only seems to come up when someone wants to attack Sony. The so called normal people never really heard about it and don't give a crap.

And as for idiocy, it's not. Its called apathy. I don't by music CDs. Sony can screw you guys who do all they want. It doesn't effect me at all. I don't play the CDs I already own on my PC. I have a stereo system for a reason. I don't buy DVDs. Its rare I want to see a movie, and when I do, its called a library. Free rental.

The sad fact is that most Americans are like me. If it doesn't effect me where I can see it, I don't really care. Sad fact, but true.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

I'm sad to see that Nintendo ranked so low.

Oh well, these kinds of things don't really matter in the grand scheme of things anyway. Then again, not much does. Some of you are WAY too worked up about this.

[IagoTheHunted]

Some of you are WAY too worked up about this.

Only thing I'm worked up over is how rediculous the conclusions people draw from vauge satistics are. This is just propaganda for investors, tommorow Nintendo could release a game that changes the industry as we know it, or Sony could pull some crap like the BMG music scandle with the PS3 and lose everybodys support. This report is MEANINGLESS.

[dr_wily]

screw all this sony vs ms shit, what about BOSE? that shit is a nightmare
goes to show you this whole poll is done by the ignorant

now what suprised me is that ninty gets a B, when there hardware is rock solid and sony's crap breaks all the time.

all raise hands who had a ps2 go south? and a gamecube?

i rest my case.

[Serapth]

screw all this sony vs ms shit, what about BOSE? that shit is a nightmare
goes to show you this whole poll is done by the ignorant

now what suprised me is that ninty gets a B, when there hardware is rock solid and sony's crap breaks all the time.

all raise hands who had a ps2 go south? and a gamecube?

i rest my case.

You know I used to hate on Bose until I bought my RX8. The factory bose deck is frankly the best in car stereo in a car under 50K ive ever heard.

[ProfPuppet]

Well, I know I can't pass my rommate's PS2 without going down on it. Good to hear I'm just showing 'brand trust' and not 'creepiness'.

...Sorry, thought this thread could use a little levity.

[Serapth]

Well, I know I can't pass my rommate's PS2 without going down on it. Good to hear I'm just showing 'brand trust' and not 'creepiness'.

...Sorry, thought this thread could use a little levity.

Ah so thats why people like the dual shock so much. Just small enough to make a good throat tickler?

[ProfPuppet]

Ah so thats why people like the dual shock so much. Just small enough to make a good throat tickler?

A couple months ago I was playing on ye olde XBox and the game froze while in the middle of my character getting pummeled. The shock thingy in the xbox controller kept going. Female roommate walks in, looks at the xbox controller, lying on the floor, shuddering around, with me staring amusedly at it. "Okay, how do you get it to do that without it stopping?"

...Keep in mind she has never shown an iota of interest in anything outside of the Sims 2 on PC.

[Serapth]

A couple months ago I was playing on ye olde XBox and the game froze while in the middle of my character getting pummeled. The shock thingy in the xbox controller kept going. Female roommate walks in, looks at the xbox controller, lying on the floor, shuddering around, with me staring amusedly at it. "Okay, how do you get it to do that without it stopping?"

...Keep in mind she has never shown an iota of interest in anything outside of the Sims 2 on PC.

An instant game fan :) Now that is casual gaming at its finest! :D

[SQLBoy]

Thats mostly Sony/BMG stuff. I don't consider them a part of Sony rather a festering wound that needs to puss drained out.

Give me a fucking break.

Are we forgetting Sony/BMG being found guilty of unlawful monopolistic practices, collusion, payola, album price fixing and being investigated for digital music price fixing? The damn Sony/BMG merger itself was nearly blocked by antitrust commisions in the US and EU.

Are we ignoring Sony being investigated in the UK for illegal pricing practices with regards to playstation hardware/software?

Are we letting the whole Rootkit disaster slide by?

The sony-funded corporate lobbyists that have been rewriting copyright law, pushing predatory, exploitative contracts, and generally leading the charge to completely sully whatever might be left of America's movie or music culture?

JFC, both companies are huge corporations bent on doing absolutely anything they can get away with to make profit. Neither is deserving of any level of consumer trust. Brand loyalty is a crutch.

Try not to wear your idiocy on your sleeve like a badge of fucking honor.

[Heretic Machine]

"Okay, how do you get it to do that without it stopping?"

Halo -> Warthog -> Gatling Gun.

Tell her to thank the infinite ammo.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Ah so thats why people like the dual shock so much. Just small enough to make a good throat tickler?


It's too small for me. I prefer something with a little more girth. ;)

[ElectricMonk]

Heh, where's Vandenh and his *cough* iPod *cough* theory?

Sony = rocksolid brand. It will take some serious money and some serious time to bring the company's image down.

i think sony did enough damage on it's own

their infatuation with creating "platforms" hasn't started at blu-ray. they practically wrote themselves off of the portable audio market by taking so long to realize minidisc wasn't catching on.

that and the drm fiasco means that sony has made some bad choices recently.