Marketing Strategies and Environmental Analysis for Sony PlayStation 4

This report analyzes the marketing strategy for the Sony PlayStation 4, focusing on its launch in the Australian market. It begins with an introduction to the PlayStation brand and its evolution. The report then delves into the environmental analysis, examining the microenvironment (customers and competitors) and the macroenvironment (economic and technological factors). It identifies the target market as Australia, providing a detailed description of the market and its segmentation based on demographic, psychographic, and behavioral factors. The report explores the positioning of the PlayStation 4 in the competitive landscape, including a positioning map that compares it to competitors like Xbox and Nintendo. Finally, the report concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the strategic decisions made to successfully launch the PlayStation 4 in the Australian market, including the use of brand image and promotional strategies to increase demand. The report references various marketing theories and concepts to support its analysis.

Running Head: Marketing
Sony Entertainment
Marketing
PlayStation 4

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Environmental Analysis...................................................................................................................3
Microenvironment........................................................................................................................3
Customers.................................................................................................................................3
Competitors..............................................................................................................................3
Macroenvironment.......................................................................................................................3
Economic..................................................................................................................................3
Technological...........................................................................................................................4
Identification of target market.........................................................................................................4
Description of target market........................................................................................................5
Positioning.......................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Sony PlayStation is a gaming brands which and its parent company Sony Interactive
Entertainment. It includes video games with advanced controlling system known as consoles. It
can be used with or without internet services. PlayStation 1 was launched in 1994 in Japan and
with its success, PlayStation 2; PlayStation 3 and so on was released. Under this essay, Sony
PlayStation 4’s marketing environment will be discussed in order to launch in the target market
for attaining the desired goals and the objectives of the organization (Davies, et. al., 2015). In
order to launch the new product, target market is being selected as Australia with reviewing the
demand for the PlayStation. PlayStation 4 is launched in the target market with the view to
enhance its demand. It includes various innovative and unique features which make the product
more effective and efficient in the gaming industry.

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Environmental Analysis
Microenvironment
Customers
Sony PlayStation is video game brand and their main customers are the gaming zones, children
above 14. Apart from this, interest of playing games in PlayStation is also found in every age
group of audience. Sony PlayStation has decided to promote its newly launched product i.e.
PlayStation 4 in the Australian market with the view to enhance the demand as well as to attain
its desired goals and the objectives (Armstrong, et. al., 2012).
Competitors
Gaming market in the Australia is bit crowded and lot of companies such as Microsoft ‘Next’
Xbox, Nintendo Wii U, Valve Steam Box, etc. are engaged in the gaming industry. Due to which
Sony Entertainment needs to adopt certain advanced and effective strategies through which
organization could be able to fulfil its objectives. Xbox has great features such as designing,
screen resolution and it is more compatible for users. Whereas, PlayStation has numerous ranges
of games and due to this, Sony has gained the competitive advantage (Brohi, et. al., 2016).
Macroenvironment
Economic
Economic factors play vital role in the process of decision making of customers and their
spending. As Sony PlayStation 4 is going to be launched in the Australian market reviewing the
purchasing power of Australian people as well as economic conditions of the target market are

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also in favour for organization which will help them to enhance their market share in the target
market. Australian Bureau of Statistics has declared that there is an increase of 1.2% in the
weekly earnings of the Australian audience in November 2015 in comparison with the same
period in the last year (Tam & Clarke, 2015). Thus, these are positive indications for the
organization in terms of launching PlayStation 4 in the target market as this will enhance the
demand of the newly launched product which will lead to growth and the expansion of the
organization in the international market.
Technological
Technological factors play crucial role in enhancing the demand for certain products. As Sony
PlayStation 4 is the part of the technological field, hence; adaptation of advanced techniques is
very crucial in terms of enhancing the performance in comparison with its competitors and with
its own existing products. PlayStation has advanced techniques such as 8th generation operating
system; this gaming console has designed as the slimmest gaming console yet. Along with these
features, improvised hardware system and its 4K resolutions are also one of the attractive
features of the gaming console which could help the organization to gain competitive advantage
in the Australian market. With the change in the time, technology has improved the experience
of gaming. This is the reason for immense success of Sony PlayStation series across the globe
(Buil, De Chernatony & Martínez, 2013).
Identification of target market
As per the market research conducted, it has been observed that the target market for the Sony
PlayStation 4 will be Australia. Following are the components which describe the benefits of the
Australian market for the product:

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Description of target market
While selecting the most appropriate market for the particular organization and product, it is
necessary to determine the impact of the available factors in the market environment. This helps
the organization to develop adequate set of strategies for making the effective position in the
target market (Fleming & Mixon, 2011). The segmentation process is quite effective and
efficient in these circumstances and under-segmentation process, geographic, psychographic,
demographic and behavioural are the components of this process which helps the organization to
ascertain the most appropriate segment of the market in terms of attaining the goals and the
objectives for the organization. Under market research, it was observed that requirement of
games and its relevant products are majorly in teenage group as well as in the bachelors.
Targeting the customers in relation with the PlayStation 4 will be performed with the help of
behavioural segmentation strategy.
Under behavioural segmentation, audience is being divided on the basis of their knowledge in
relevance with the product, buying behaviour towards the product and showcasing the interest in
the product’s description, etc.
Using behavioural segmentation process leads to various variables such as benefit sought user
status, user rate, etc. With the help of these features, organization could easily estimate the
demand of their product in the target market. Benefit sought is the process of describing the
process through perceived value, benefit and the advantage could be gained from the consumer’s
end. As per the interest shown by the consumers, product is being divided into grades category
and as per those grades; strategies are being adopted and implemented for promoting and
advertising the product in the target market (Freeman, 2010).

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After identifying the appropriate target segment for the PlayStation, Sony entertainment needs to
develop and adopt certain effective promotional and advertisement strategies through which
organization could easily enhance its newly launched product’s demand in the target market.
Sony entertainment has adequate brand image worldwide and they can use that tool for
promoting their PlayStation in the target market. Apart from the brand image, effective set of
promotional and advertisement strategies could also be used for attaining the expected objectives
of the organization (Keller, 2010).
Positioning
Market positioning activity could be performed with the help of available features and
specifications with the product such as quality of the product, unique features of the product, the
brand value of the product, etc. As Sony PlayStation has attained effective outcomes across the
globe, hence; setting their effective position in the competitive market will not be much difficult
for the organization. There are certain approaches are available for making the effective position
in the target market such as positioning against competitor, positioning with a category,
positioning as per the product's benefit, product for the user, etc. (Kotler, et. al., 2015).
Under this scenario, Sony Entertainment could use appropriate strategies as per the
organizational requirements. Amongst the positioning approaches, Sony Entertainment could use
the positioning strategy against the competitor and the positioning approach with a category in
the target market. This will help them to enhance the chances of successful launching of the
PlayStation 4 in the target market. In terms of gaming products, few companies are available in
the same industry through which Sony PlayStation could develop their separate image in the

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target market. Apart from this, it will also provide the competitive advantage to the organization
(Larson, 2011).
For instance, Sony Entertainment has highlighted its unique features available for their new
product PlayStation 4 in order to achieve the attention from the target market as well as to
attaining competitive advantage from its competitors. The organization will be able to promote
its products and its features for the purpose of enhancing the brand value of the product.
Additionally, Sony Entertainment has used their product’s unique features for gaining the
specific benefit from the launching of the product in the target market. These approaches will
help the organization to be unique in the competitive market as well as it will also help them to
fulfil expected objectives of the organization (Lefebvre, 2011).
Positioning maps are prepared for identifying the customer’s perceptions towards the buying
dimensions of the product amongst the available products. This is generally prepared under
competitive market environment. Following is the positioning map for Sony PlayStation 4:
Superior Functionality
High number of games
Less number of
games

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From the above positioning map, it can be identified that the X-box and Nintendo are the two
primary competitors for PlayStation. While major functionalities are available under Nintendo.
Xbox and PlayStation have gained their image in terms of highest games available across the
globe rather than any other company’s games. Sony Entertainment has gained appropriate image
in terms of gaming products through delivering unique experience capability as well as
qualitative gaming resolutions are the positive points for the PlayStation. PlayStation 4 has the
capability to attract the consumers towards it in comparison with the other gaming products
(Moore & Doyle, 2010).
Conclusion
From the aforesaid information, it has been concluded that Sony Entertainment has taken the
accurate decision in terms of launching the PlayStation 4 in Australian market. This decision has

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been taken on various bases such as purchasing power of Australian audiences, curiosity as well
as the demand for the PlayStation over there, etc. Under this assessment, relevant environmental
factors were discussed in terms of Australian market in order to ascertain their impact on the
performance of the Sony PlayStation 4. In order to ascertain the most appropriate and effective
market for this product, organization used segmentation strategies and as a result through those
strategies, relevant positioning approaches were used for gaining the adequate competitive
advantage in the target market as well as to increase the demand of their product.

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References
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M., & Brennan, R. (2012). Marketing: an introduction.
Pearson Prentice-Hall, London.
Brohi, H., Prithiani, J., Abbas, Z., Bhutto, A. H., & Chawla, S. K. (2016). Strategic Marketing
Plan of Nike.
Buil, I., De Chernatony, L., & Martínez, E. (2013). Examining the role of advertising and sales
promotions in brand equity creation. Journal of Business Research, 66(1), 115-122.
Davies, M., Read, H., Xynos, K., & Sutherland, I. (2015). Forensic analysis of a Sony
PlayStation 4: A first look. Digital Investigation, 12, S81-S89.
Fleming, J. C., & Mixon, T. D. (2011). U.S. Patent No. 8,078,478. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office.
Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge University
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Keller, K. L. (2010). Brand equity management in a multichannel, multimedia retail
environment. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 24(2), 58-70.
Kotler, P., Keller, K. L., Manceau, D., & Hémonnet-Goujot, A. (2015). Marketing management
(Vol. 14). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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Larson, D. (2011). Global Brand Management-Nike's Global Brand. The ISM Journal of
International Business, 1(3), 1D.
Lefebvre, R. C. (2011). An integrative model for social marketing. Journal of Social Marketing,
1(1), 54-72.
Moore, C. M., & Doyle, S. A. (2010). The evolution of a luxury brand: the case of Prada.
International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 38(11/12), 915-927.
Tam, S. M., & Clarke, F. (2015). Big data, official statistics and some initiatives by the
Australian Bureau of Statistics. International Statistical Review, 83(3), 436-448.