Sony Talks Social Media

January 20, 2009 · Comments

I had the pleasure of interviewing Sony’s Marcy Cohen about their social media presence at CES 2009. It was a great conversation ranging from the work of her and Rick Clancy on the Sony Electronics Blog (which is just one of their blogs. See also the PlayStation Blog). I asked her about social media in general, and also about their recent launching of a social platform (they chose Awareness Networks as their vendor for this project).

It was a fun interview, and Marcy was a great sport answering my off-the-cuff-as-a-blogger questions. It’s a bit noisy and dark on the show floor, but you’ll get the gist.

What do you think?

Special thanks to Mike Lewis at Awareness for doing the actual video editing, titling, and plating.

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  • I'm torn between the understanding that corporations (and even smaller companies) need to reach out via social networking/blogging and the fact that this reaching out muddies the original intent of these social structures, especially when its done improperly.
  • @tech mogo - even though the church eventually took in the Gutenberg press, the people already owned it. One doesn't crush the other. It can, but in this case, the genie is already out.
  • @tech mogo - think of it this way: it's not corporations reaching out, but people who work for corporations reaching out. It's less about a hulking entity and more about relationships that are built, information that is shared, and value that is created for customers.

    Scott Monty
    Global Digital Communications
    Ford Motor Company
  • Tim
    Love that they are using the blog and socnets in general to address customer service issues - this seems like one of the biggest no-brainer ways that brands can get into the conversation AND create loyal brand mavens (out of people who might otherwise be left with a bad taste after a negative experience).
  • Tim
    Also - well put, Scott, those individual relationships being forged and direct interaction will undoubtedly go a long way in creating a loyal consumer.

    I just had a very poor experience with Honda that will absolutely prevent my wife and I from making our next purchase a Honda - had they at least taken the time to hear/understand the situation and respond, it could have been a very different scenario.
  • Erica
    It's hard to tell when you're talking to a brand (like Dear Abby) and when you've really built an individual relationship with someone. Sometimes companies have their interns experiment with blogging and then contract a writer to imitate the most appealing persona after school starts up again.
  • Jason
    Branded social media communities are very different than social networking sites. If you look at Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc. that's social networking with the main purpose for people to connect with each other. A community like Sony's is a transparent, information portal where consumers have the freedom to research products, talk to other customers and speak to the brand directly. The days of push marketing has seen its last days as social media has given the power over to the consumer. What's a brand to do? Let them go elsewhere or keep them close by and engaged?
  • Brogan -- this is a very impressive video! ON a day when most of our eyes were focused on the inauguration and a newly found transparency coming from the oval office, this is definitively a golden nugget of SM information... SONY is listening... I likey I likey. Good work Marcy and Rick. Look forward to hearing more about this community approach. AND btw, you guys rocked CES! Thank you.
  • Excellent material. Is great that the brands start to develop Social Media strategic thinking in the benefits of the consumers. They can connect with them in a social way in order to know what they thinks and which are their needs.
  • Mike Lewis [@bostonmike]
    Chris, thanks for the shout-out on the editing. This was a fun project to pull together.

    To Jason's point, broadcast marketing in a vacuum has seen it's last days. What Sony and other brands are beginning to realize is that conversations about their products and services are happening on a daily basis across the web and they have an opportunity to bring this dialog (both positive and negative) to a place where customers can stay engaged and informed. I have been speaking a lot with the Sony team over the last couple of days and they have some significant plans for growing the community in the coming weeks. I will be sure to keep you posted on the progress.

    Mike - @bostonmike
  • Thanks for sharing this interview. It explains the value of social media for your customers. Listen to your customers and act on that. That will make your customer happy and this happy customer will talk about it in the community.
  • steve lazarus
    the interview was great, thank for posting. I can see the benefits of a social site based around consumer products (feedback, q&a, etc), but what about social sites created by corporations focused more on spreading information or hosting general conversations? almost an extension of a blogging community. would you position "seed" questions to gather responses? would that warrant building a community?
  • I think it is good that more large companies are figuring out that it is not only about the relationships they establish with the public it also about developing and nurturing those relationships through warmly delivered information.
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