The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

Customers Think Brand Architecture Can Be Fucking Bollocks …

So SONY Ericsson have announced some new phones for 2008.

Yes … yes … I’ve just bought 2 new phones [actually 3] in the last couple of months, but I still don’t feel I’ve found true techno-fulfilment!

So one of the phones they’ve announced is this …

Nice eh? 

Well I like it … especially as it has a REAL keypad, not that bollocks square thing that they have on their K850i.

Ooooh I want it … yes I do … I want to touch it, stroke it, love it … especially as Sony Ericsson have introduced a feature into the phone called ‘SENSE’ which helps bring our overall FEEL strategy alive [even though it’s SONY who are our client, not SONY Ericsson] as it allows music to be played to suit your emotion/mood.

However there is one slight flaw in this top-of-the-range, bang-upto-date, technological marvel … the camera is not autofocus and has no flash.

Now that might not sound much to you, but in reality it’s abit like having a Ferrari with an automatic gearbox.

In short, it’s shit, stupid and bloody annoying.

I can see why you’d take away those fundamental features on a mid-range phone – but on a supposed top of the line model?

What’s the betting some ‘Business Guru’ told them that if they included autofocus and a flash it would compete directly against their Cybershot range of mobiles, so undermine their ‘camera focused’ phone sales?!

Now before you say there is some logic in that opinion – let me point out their top-of-the range Cybershot phone has ALL the music features of the Walkman models … nothing has been taken out … so that argument just doesn’t hold up. 

Not only that, but the Walkman phone only has a 3.2 megapixel camera [whereas the Cybershot has 5 megapixels] so there’s already a pretty major difference between the two already.

Do Sony Ericsson think people who take photos are more valuable [or discerning] than the scum who like music?

Why is OK to offer a fully featured phone under the Cybershot title but an underpowered version for Walkman?

I now either have to choose between a phone that is physically great but lacking in a key feature [as you can tell from my blog, I do use a camera rather alot] or stick with a model that has a decent camera but is the size [and weight] of a brick.

To be honest, I reckon the reason this happens is more to do with the ego of the individuals running the Cybershot and Walkman brands than SONY Ericsson themselves. 

I never fail to be astounded how often different divisions of one company try and fuck eachother over.

I appreciate they all have their own sales targets and goals to achieve, but the amount of energy and time dedicated to doing colleagues harm is nothing short of astounding.

Actually that ‘insight’ was the inspiration behind the Coke Zero work … but I’d better not say any more incase they stop paying our bills, ha!

So to the guys and girls at SONY Ericsson, can I just remind you that you’re really pushing your loyal customers patience to the limit …

This was your big chance to get me back from my horrible NOKIA … but at the last hurdle you went and let the fuck-up fairy come and visit again … which might be good news for my bank manager and Jill, but fucking terrible news for me! 

[PS: I appreciate how much of a wanker this post makes me look. Sadly it’s pretty accurate!]

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