Sony Betamax Vs. VHS

9 Pages 2280 Words

Sony Betamax vs. VHS

I will be presenting to you a study on the background of the Sony Betamax. I will illustrate the marketing mix and strategy that was used and how Sony tried to capture their target market. I will go then describe what caused them to fail in their mission and how I plan to implement a new and more comprehensive strategy. This new plan will focus more on competing at a higher level with the competition along with trying to capture the consumers expectations during development of the product through extensive surveys and market research analysis.
In 1975, Sony entered the videotape player market with the U-matic format. Due to its heavy and nearly cumbersome nature, this player was soon relegated for primary use to the submarkets, such as schools and commercial sites. Later that year they introduced the Sony Betamax. This machine was developed to directly sell to the everyday consumer and alleviate some of the nuisances created by the U-matic. These two products entered the market at such a head start they were able to set the standard. Sony was able to corner the market share until competition arrived in the form of the VHS format in 1976.
The initial marketing strategy Sony employed was simply to create a videotape player that would provide the consumer with superior sound and video quality. They attempted to do this without any market research to pinpoint what the consumer really considered important. A simple mass market approach was used in trying to advertise this product. With this in mind I will break the Betamax experience down into what their target market was and what research, if any, was conducted for this product. The four P’s will be answered, and the lessons that were learned for their endeavor with this product will also be examined..
Sony initially conducted their market research to find out where their target market was located. Introduced in 1975, the Sony Betamax was a ...