It’s a Sony

Sony is renowned the world over for producing top-of-the-line digital technology, audio devices, gaming set-ups, mobile technology and a whole range of other electronic devices. It holds an almost 55% market share in imaging sensors, making it the category’s largest manufacturer and the second biggest camera manufacturer worldwide. It also sells PlayStation consoles that once again makes it a front runner, owning 45% of the console market share and an impressive 13% of the entire gaming market in 2022.

Sony may be a huge entity now, but it grew from very humble beginnings in the aftermath of World War II. With Japan’s economy still reeling from the war, Masaru Ibuka established an electronics store in Tokyo in 1946, under the moniker of ‘Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo’ which means ‘Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation’. When taking the step-up to become a multinational company, it didn’t stick to this name as the initials TTK were already in use by Tokyo Railways; besides, Americans found it difficult to pronounce the name.

The name Sony arose through a combination of the Latin word for sound (Sonus) as the company primarily dealt with audio technology during its initial years; it also took inspiration from the phrase ‘sonny boys’ which, when translated into Japanese, meant smart and bright young men. This name change initially faced a lot of resistance as the higher-ups believed they spent years making the former name known in the market. However, the name was finally changed to Sony in 1958 and the rest is history.

Sony’s success obviously stems from the quality of products that they deliver but a subtle stimulus was the fact that its name is catchy, easy to remember and is language- and geography-agnostic. Thus, transcending the language barrier in its race to conquer global markets. Sony is an ideal example of a brand that adopted a global approach by changing its name to reach its target audience.