Sony - one of the pre-eminent global consumer electronics brand which has enjoyed unparallel brand equity and loyalty is surprisingly a classic case study for what a brand should not do to erode its own brand standing in the market place. Over the last couple of years, Sony has been gradually but surely slipping from its ivory tower and failing to keep up with many of its followers turned competitors such as Samsung, LG and the others. What did Sony do wrong? How could such an iconic brand get into trouble?

One of the fundamental tenets of a brand's success is its ability to do two contradicting things very well- maintain consistency (in brand image, brand personality, key performance indicators such as quality, features, price points and such) and constantly change in order to stay in tune with the changing times. Doing these two things simultaneously is a big challenge for any brand - even for a brand such as Sony. This task becomes more difficult for an established brand such as Sony because of the brand's well established brand systems that often leads to corporate arrogance and complacency.

A quick look at Sony's brand path over the last couple of years clarifies this point very well. A major factor contributing to Sony's global dominance for so many years was the brand's leadership position in innovation, cutting edge designs (in that age), and its ability to anticipate hidden consumer needs and cater to them. This philosophy manifested in the form of Walkman, VCR, PlayStations to name a few. In retrospect, this sustained success may have come at a cost - a cost that is costing too much for the brand now.

There are many reasons for Sony's fall from the top. As other young competitors such as Samsung learned the mistakes of excessive and unrelated diversification and channeled their resources around one or two dominant businesses, Sony still seems to have stuck up in multiple businesses: consumer electronics, music label, online music store, semiconductors, a motion picture company and financial units to name the dominant few.

This diversification not only drains the brand's resources to a great extent but also diverts the brand focus from the core of the brand. Additionally, Sony had years of complacency and lack of focus has opened the market in many sectors to younger, much agile players such as Samsung, LG, Apple, Nokia and others that are attacking Sony on multiple fronts. This combined blow from other brands that have become market leaders in businesses that Sony was once a leader is turning out to be very lethal.

What should Sony do to regain its lost brand supremacy? It seems ironic that for a solution Sony may want to look at a brand that prides itself on structuring its brand plan based on Sony's - Samsung Electronics. Sony should first regain its lost focus and the best way to do this is to come out of businesses that do not contribute to the overall brand standing in the market place. Secondly Sony should revamp its departments that have a direct impact on creating strong customer perception for the brand - R&D, design, and marketing. In other words, Sony needs to elevate the marketing function to the boardroom and enable marketing to take a lead of the business and the strategy. It cannot be left to a functional department.

Samsung is surging ahead based on its world-class sleek designs, customer focused innovation and strong brand campaigns. Sony can do a lot good to take a look around and then decide to refocus on its brand all over again. It starts with its leadership and the willingness and ability to take some substantial actions at the boardroom level.