Sony's strategy is to create various atmospheres through decorative displays at its own and its dealers' showrooms to give a picture of how each of its products could satisfy consumers.

Joining hands with partners to arrange joint display and promotional campaigns is also part of Sony's strategy. The first one this year is with SB Furniture Industry Co Ltd.

The Bt100-million campaign was launched yesterday along with the release of five of the 10 new models of home-theatre systems planned for launch this year.

SB has helped design furniture for use with Sony's audio-visual systems. The company also offers free interior design advice for Sony customers.

Toshiba Thailand is planning customer-specific marketing campaigns and activities.

"We need to consider carefully whether a certain activity will focus only on high-end customers or any other group," chairwoman Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said, adding that Toshiba's main strategy is to offer more innovative as well as higher value-added products.

Its marketing budget this year is Bt400 million, of which Bt100 million is aimed at driving growth of its refrigerator sales by 13 per cent to Bt5 billion. Toshiba is now the leader in the refrigerator market with a 30-per-cent share.

While Sony Thai has not finalised its total marketing budget, managing director Kazuo Suyama said the current unfavourable economic situation has crushed a part of the electronic consumer products market, particularly the low-end brands, because consumers for that segment have tended to delay their purchasing decisions.

Sony is focusing on consumers with deep pockets who prefer large LCD panel TVs with screen size of 40 inches and up. Above all, it emphasises marketing products among its loyal consumers. The company says it is concentrating on making quality products rather than those to sell at cheaper prices.

Toshiba is applying a similar strategy by offering products that are meant to best fit customer lifestyles.

"We offer products that serve both emotional and rational needs. We offer products that look good with furniture and suitable functionality," product manager Boonyarat Trisirisombat said.

To boost its share of the car DVD segment from less than 10 per cent now to about 30 per cent by the yearend, Pioneer (Thailand) yesterday introduced its new car DVD line-up, priced in the range of Bt10,000-Bt40,000, cheaper than current versions that carry price tags of Bt13,000-Bt90,000. The company will spend about Bt60 million this year on all marketing and media activities.

"Our business environment around car audio is getting tougher and tougher. New car sales keep showing big declines since last year and we cannot see enough positive signs for economic recovery so far," managing director Satoru Kurosaki said.

Pioneer's car audio business dropped by around 5 per cent last year to Bt800 million, while the overall market for car audio products witnessed a huge drop of almost 20 per cent, he said.

Car sales have fallen by 20 per cent in the first quarter while the company's sales also slid 10 per cent.

"The economy is still not good, which hurts new car sales," Kurosaki said, adding that most new cars already came equipped with car audio systems. And during this time of economic difficulty, car owners were reluctant to buy a new car audio to replace the original one," he said.

Pioneer, however, enjoyed significant growth in car DVD sales, which jumped by almost 50 per cent in the first quarter due to its low penetration in the market. About 80 per cent of cars running on the street had single CD players, while only 20 per cent of them had DVD players inside.

Pioneer enjoys 30 per cent of the market for overall car audio products and almost 50 per cent for single CD players, he added.

Nitida Aswanipont,

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation