EDHEC Students Work With Sony on Sony Reader Case Study

Thursday, 29 July 2010 | Student Reports

MSc in Marketing Students at EDHEC in France had the chance to work with Sony on their brand new innovation, the Sony Reader. Angelique Miconnet discussed the project with Ms Elise Dupuis (pictured), EDHEC Alumna and Group Marketing Head at Sony Inc. France.

What inspired this initiative and what were the main objectives?

There was a double objective. First, it was an opportunity for Sony to meet EDHEC students and therefore meet potential recruits for the company. For us, it was an avenue to talk about Sony, to share the vision of the marketing jobs with students, to talk about recruitment opportunities and to share Sony's values. The second objective, regarding the case study itself, was to add value and ask students' inputs on the case for more marketing purposes.

EDHEC contacted Sony because the Msc Marketing Management is innovation-oriented and as you know innovation is one of our main values since the foundation of the company in the 40s.  EDHEC needed a company for a one-time real life marketing project for its students. Sony and EDHEC are now considering the opportunity of conducting more projects on regular basis.

What were the major activities and main outcomes of the project?

Sony encompasses different activities ranging from electronics, mobile phone, game, movie to music. Sony France is the sales company for electronic products. We work on different markets including consumers and professionals.  I am in charge of the audio line up in the consumer market in which there are lots of interesting marketing issues because of the different technologies, innovations and products at stake. Internally, we have decided with the Consumer Marketing Director to choose the Reader because it is a new market that involves both hardware and software. We thought it would be particularly interesting for EDHEC students.

Together with Pr. Guintcheva, we discussed the case, highlighted opportunities and gave some documentation to students. During the introduction session, students were able to ask questions about our roles at Sony, the contemporary issues we handle and the kind of input they are expected to give. Students, organised in teams, were given two months to work on the business case before presenting their views on the Sony Reader market and their recommendations.

Organised as a competition, we initially had one prize for the best group. EDHEC Students have done an excellent job both on their analysis and their presentation skills. We even had one team that created a TV ad on the Reader! However, two teams were particularly good in developing innovative propositions based on consumer insights and we decided to award prizes to both of them.

Could you please tell us more about the Sony Reader and its benefits?

The Sony Reader is an innovative digital product, the size of a book, which allows you to store and read thousands of books in multiple file formats. It is built with the E Ink technology that has no brightness compared to a PC which makes it very comfortable to read. It is as comfortable as reading a book and you could read for hours without strain. In addition, the Reader is very slim, lightweight and simple to use. So it is a truly portable product for people who love reading. The Reader is not a replacement for the paper-book but rather a complement, helping for example students who need to read several books in multiple digital files. The Reader can also play music files and can be used to take notes.We currently have in the US an internet-enabled version with web-based programs that will be soon available in France.

How would you describe the key advantages of this real-life approach for students?

I think it is a good opportunity for students to work on a real-life case study and have access to some information about the company. It is a new experience and much more realistic than book case studies since it is much more up-to-date as we can share current information. I think that Sony as a brand company and the technology and innovation of the Reader as a project are very interesting subjects. My intuition is that students were motivated and enthusiastic because of the reputation of Sony and the innovative nature of the Reader.

What was your impression of the students and the program as a whole?

Personally, it was very interesting and I have been very impressed by the work done by students. I think they were very positive in their presentations, showed some passion in the subject and were very professional in terms of content and delivery of their recommendations. My simple advice to them would be to set priorities. Indeed, in a real business environment it is also important to set priorities and have a simple story to sell in and outside the company. Overall, the outcome of the project was very positive.

Ms Dupuis is Audio Group Manager in Marketing at Sony Inc (France). She is in charge of four Product Managers in different categories. She helps to expand the product categories and reach market share and profit objectives. She also liaises with the Europe and Tokyo offices to ensure that the right products and needed support are available to expand market shares in France. She is an alumna of EDHEC Business School. She began her career in the Eurograduate program.

Written by ANGELIQUE MICONNET