The manufacturer will move closer to parent Sony with new brand message

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ony Ericsson announced a major image overhaul yesterday as part of its drive to regain market share at the high end of the mobile handset market.

The image overhaul will see Sony Ericsson moving closer to Sony under the umbrella of Sony’s new brand message ‘make.believe’ (make dot believe) which will be carried on all Sony Group products.

The image overhaul will also include a revamped Sony Ericsson website and ‘liquid logo’, and massive marketing campaign to showcase the start of ‘make.believe’ which will include a ‘spark something’ viral campaign for the new Satio, Aino and Yari phones due to be launched this Autumn.

Sony Ericsson also released details of a new transparent handset today, known as Pureness, which is aimed at a niche market of twenty-something design conscious customers.

The move reinforces Sony Ericsson’s bid to regain its status as the market leader in providing innovative, cutting edge handsets in the face of competition from RIM and Apple.

A major restructuring exercise over the past 12 months has seen the joint venture cull some of its lower and mid-range handsets in favour of developing high end products such as the Aino, Satio and Yari and niche products such as Pureness handset.

‘Fusing communication and entertainment has been at the core of Sony Ericsson’s offering since the start of the joint venture. “Make.believe” aligns Sony Ericsson with the Sony Group companies and reflects the coming together of communication and entertainment. By re-aligning our brand and adopting ‘make.believe’ we further highlight our entertainment offering to consumers,’ said Cathy Davies, head of brand strategy at Sony Ericsson.

David Hilton, UK marketing director said the move positions the company closer to the Sony family as part of a move to recapture ground at the high end of the market. ‘This is the third stage of our evolution. We believe we will be the market leader once again for cool, high end handsets, producing more innovative phones with clearer market needs.’

Via Mobile magazine