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Sony Shrugs Off Bad Press - Still A Strong Brand

Posted by Zonk on from the no-one-knows-what-a-rootkit-is dept.

netbuzz writes "The Sony brand name took a beating last year over all those burning batteries and the rootkit fallout, right? Wrong, at least according to a recent survey of 2,000 adults who are apparently willing to forgive just about anything ... if you give them the right reason. Other technology companies, most anyway, also fare well in the brand survey. From the article: 'According to the survey, the Sony brand finished a gaudy ninth among the "Top 20 Winners for 2006," sandwiched comfortably between a couple of saintly American icons: Oprah and the National Football League. Moreover, the respondents see Sony climbing to No. 4 among this year's gainers, right above Amazon and eBay. Moral: Build a better PlayStation and the American consumer will forgive all else.'"

8 of 281 comments (clear)

  1. No brainer by AutopsyReport · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Battery fires and rootkits are Slashdot tech news, but not everyday Mom & Pop frontpage news. It's then quite obvious why Sony still has a great reputation with the majority.

    --

    For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.

    1. Re:No brainer by Chris+Burke · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Rootkit maybe -- Sony is right in that most people don't know what it is, and don't understand the explanation -- but not the battery. People know what "battery" and "fire" are. It was on the news a lot (for something like a product recall), and plenty of my completely non-techie-no-computer-much-less-laptop friends had heard about and even cracked jokes about Sony's batteries.

      It really is that people will forgive anything, at least if there's no personal memory of pain involved. I'd be willing to bet that those whose batteries caught fire aren't going to think so fondly of the Sony brand from now on. Everyone else will just think "oh, they must have fixed it by now" and move on.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    2. Re:No brainer by ivan256 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      People know what "battery" and "fire" are. It was on the news a lot (for something like a product recall)

      Almost everybody associates the problem with Dell, not with Sony. Quite honestly, they are right to. Dell sold the batteries, and they should have tested them to see if they were faulty. They also should have designed their chargers to prevent the problem.

      Almost nobody with an exploding Sony battery purchased a package that said Sony on it anywhere.

  2. All they need to do is by blowdog · · Score: 5, Funny

    Take $200 off the PS3 and all is forgiven

  3. No such thing.. by Ozzeh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There is no such thing as bad press. If your brand is in the news and keep people talking about your brand, it's more likely to be remembered.

    Sad but true..

  4. The write-up is wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I bet it is painfully uncomfortable being sandwiched between Oprah and the National Football League.

  5. Not So Sure by HRbnjR · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I was originally planning to sit on the fence regarding the HD-DVD/Blu-Ray format war until a dual format player was released.

    And then I heard Sony was using their licensing agreements to prevent such a device.

    Sony just refuses to do what is best for the consumer, be it root kits, memory card interoperability, or licensing rules like this.

    I can certainly say that *my* image of them has tarnished over time, and I am now seriously thinking about buying HD-DVD just to spite them.

  6. Oh? by LikeTheSearchEngine · · Score: 5, Funny

    Moral: Build a better PlayStation and the American consumer will forgive all else.

    They didn't even have to do that, apparently!

    *Ducks.*