Sony’s Genius: Inside the Mind of Akio Morita

Akio Morita – Famous for international branding and marketing. He first created a name for the new Japanese brand that would appeal to all markets, especially the US market. Sony, he thought, sounded like “sonny boy”.

In 1966 he published a book that shook the Japanese business world to its core, “An Essay on the Useless School Career,” wherein he criticized Japanese companies for hiring and promoting people based on their college education. Sony was one of the first Japanese companies to base salaries partly on merit instead of solely on seniority.

Mr Morita did not believe in market research. He decided to lead the public with new products rather than asking them what they wanted. In his 1986 autobiography he said, “The public does not know what is possible, but we do.”

FEATURED STRATEGIES AND BELIEFS

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