Renewing the Aiwa brand * Strengthening and expanding Sony's electronics business

TOKIO, January 8 (PROTEXT/PRNewswire) - Sony today announcesits strategy for renewing the Aiwa brand and introduces a newAiwa logo. The logo symbolizes the dynamism of the renewed Aiwabrand as it creates business for a new era and it will bedeployed globally, starting with products in the domestic marketfrom February 2003.

Sony envisages Aiwa as a brand targeted mainly at youngpeople, offering simple and easy-to-use products for the "privatespace" where you can enjoy your individual lifestyle.

As Aiwa's brand development moves forward, the Aiwa BusinessCenter (established December 1, 2002; Masaru Hirauchi, President)will use Sony's production and sales platform to build operationsthat respond speedily and efficiently to changes in the market.

In the Japanese, American and European markets which aremature in terms of AV products, a new brand image will be createdfor Aiwa. The emphasis will be on cutting-edge products such as"Net MD" and digital still cameras which can connect to PCs,allowing consumers to quickly and easily enjoy content (movies,music etc.). This will be accompanied by an aggressiveadvertising campaign.

In the Latin American, Asian, Middle East and other markets,growth potential is still envisaged for AV products. For thesemarkets, Aiwa will work to strengthen its product appeal anddevelop business strategies optimised for each region.

Furthermore, for the American market which is distinguishedby the prominence of large-scale retailers and distributors, AiwaStrategic Accounts Partnership, Inc. (ASAP) has been establishedon November 1, 2002 to handle the sales and marketing of Aiwaproducts.

ASAP will endeavour to create a new marketing model whichwill reduce operational costs to the lowest possible level. Fixedcosts will be strictly controlled, while Asian production centreswill be directly linked by a supply chain to majordistributors/retailers in the United States.

Sony aims to strengthen its overall electronics business bycreating new opportunities for the Aiwa brand as it moves intopreviously unexplored areas, and also to offer customers theenhanced choice of the Sony or Aiwa brands to fit their usage orlifestyle requirements.Notes to EditorsAiwa in EuropeJanuary 8, 2003 - "2003 will be one of the most exciting years inthe history of the Aiwa brand in Europe," commented DomingoJaumandreu, Managing Director of AIWA Marketing of Europe. "Thenew Aiwa logo that was announced globally today symbolizes atotal commitment by the Sony Corporation to re-establishAiwa as a youthful and potent force in consumer electronics, andthe European market plays a very important role in these plans,"he added.

Aiwa will create its own distinct brand personality centredon the themes of personal, youthful and energetic, and Europepresents Aiwa with unique marketing opportunities. This is truein both Western Europe, where Aiwa has a solid brand heritage,and in the rapidly growing Eastern European markets, whereconsumers' demand for outstanding value for money givesAiwa a strong advantage over the competition.

The core of Aiwa's new brand strategy will be the productsthemselves. While developed from the same R&D, engineering andmanufacturing base as Sony products, and reflecting Sony'sreputation for quality and innovation, Aiwa products will havetheir own unique design and a complementary market position toSony.

Jaumandreu further commented, "Aiwa's focus during the nextthree months will be directed at our retail and distributorpartners. As an added value brand, we will seek to retain andfurther strengthen our business relationships with a broad baseof professional dealers and distributors across Europe. In orderto maximize exposure and accessibility for the new Aiwa brand,it is important that our products are stocked by a very widerange of quality retail outlets and not just concentrated inlimited channels."

Aiwa will invest fully in increasing the awareness and imageof the brand and its new logo, which will appear on all newmodels launched in Europe from April 2003. Major consumeractivities will commence from late spring.

"Aiwa already has great brand heritage; the new logo offers apoint of focus for our intensive marketing and brand-buildingprograms across Europe. To ensure that retailers and consumersare in no doubt about the identity of the new models especiallyduring the early phase of awareness, a clear and simple messageof 'enjoy AIWA' will also appear on all new models, both on thecarton box and on stickers on the products," said Jaumandreu.

Aiwa Marketing of Europe will launch uniquely positioned NetMiniDisc PC recorders, USB-connected DVD Hi-Fi products, MP3-compatible portable audio products and great value, all-in-oneaudio/video combination systems.

Many more dynamic new products targeted at younger consumerswill follow. "Aiwa will become a new source of innovative,demand-expanding products for the European market, where manybrands are failing to offer truly exciting productdevelopments," concluded Jaumandreu.To view the new Aiwa logo, please visithttp://www.aiwa-net.com/newlogo orhttp://www.sonyeurope.com/presscenter/PressShow.xContact:Kiyohiko SumiyaManager, PRCorporate Communications EuropeSony Europe GmbHKemperplatz 1, D-10785 Berlin, GermanyKiyohiko.Sumiya@eu.sony.com+ 49 30 2575 5160 /+ 49 30 2575 5174

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