Brand Sony
I found this in an old issue of Wired and wondered how much this situation had changed after the Sony DRM debacle.
In one recent survey by Landor Associates, 99.5 percent of people said they'd be willing to pay more for a Sony. But the size of that premium is smaller than ever. Five years ago, Sony charged 44 percent more for its DVD players than the average manufacturer. Today, Sony DVD players cost just 16 percent more than the average. And yet, even though the price of Sony's most expensive DVD player fell 60 percent between 1999 and 2003, CyberHome, maker of absurdly cheap DVD players, has knocked off Sony to become the biggest DVD-machine seller in America.
I wonder how much of the SONY story has filtered down to the consumers via the media, and whether they understand enough of the DRM issues to affect their purchasing decisions. If 99.5% of all consumers would pay a Sony premium and only 10% of those understand the issues surrounding DRM enough to boycott Sony - is it enough to hurt Sony and discourage future attempts at DRM?
We could do with some figures on this one. Has the Sony DRM debacle dented consumer confidence in Sony enough to erode their brand - or is "Brand Sony" now so big that this is nothing more than a very bad PR year for them?
Tags: sony drm dmca drm sony brand value