NEW DELHI: Sony, the consumer electronics firm, is planning to heighten its marketing expenditure in India this year, as it seeks to drive up sales in the rapidly-growing market.
The Japanese company currently generates 3,500 crore rupees ($767m; €562m; £511m) in revenues a year in India, with its Bravia range of flat-panel TVs responsible for around a third of this figure.
It sold a total of 400,000 Bravia sets in the country in 2009 – based on a product-specific marketing budget of 700 crore rupees – and hopes shipments will rise to 800,000 by the end of 2010.
To achieve this aim, it will direct more funding to communications, according to Masaru Tamagawa, managing director of its local operations.
"We intend to double the sales of flat panel display televisions in India ... We are also going to double the investment in promotions to 1,470 crore rupees," he said.
"We are targeting a 30% market share in the current year in the segment. The total market LCDs in the country is around 1.6 million units which is expected to grow up to 2.7 million units by the end of [the] current financial year."
More broadly, alongside boosting the advertising spend behind the rest of its portfolio by 25%, Sony expects to expand the size of its dealer network from 2,500 to 5,000 outlets going forward.
The Japanese company currently generates 3,500 crore rupees ($767m; €562m; £511m) in revenues a year in India, with its Bravia range of flat-panel TVs responsible for around a third of this figure.
It sold a total of 400,000 Bravia sets in the country in 2009 – based on a product-specific marketing budget of 700 crore rupees – and hopes shipments will rise to 800,000 by the end of 2010.
To achieve this aim, it will direct more funding to communications, according to Masaru Tamagawa, managing director of its local operations.
"We intend to double the sales of flat panel display televisions in India ... We are also going to double the investment in promotions to 1,470 crore rupees," he said.
"We are targeting a 30% market share in the current year in the segment. The total market LCDs in the country is around 1.6 million units which is expected to grow up to 2.7 million units by the end of [the] current financial year."
More broadly, alongside boosting the advertising spend behind the rest of its portfolio by 25%, Sony expects to expand the size of its dealer network from 2,500 to 5,000 outlets going forward.
Data sourced from Economic Times; additional content by Warc staff
