That the greatest success story in business is written not by an individual but by masses, who are the end users of all businesses, is a popular saying for those familiar with management theories. And no one has realised this fact more acutely than Keiichi Sakamoto, Managing Director, Sony, India, who has made his brand a fast moving product in Indian market. In fact, he once said: "My goal is to grow consumer's mind share and the market share of Sony. This will be done through more direct communication to the end consumer, through the shop front and the Internet and call centres. We have to raise the brand profile through direct touch points with the consumer."

And true to his objective Keiichi has no doubt achieved his goal. When Keiichi Sakamoto took over as managing director of Sony India in 2003, he brought with him over 16 years of rich experience working in Sony. His idea, when he joined Sony India, was to make Sony the leading brand in all segments in the country. And steadily and gradually, Keiichi is inching towards his cherished dreams. Prior to coming to India, Sakamoto had worked for Sony in Canada, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand, besides Japan. His tenure in India has seen the company expanding its presence in all directions. It was under his hat Sony revived the Aiwa brand. Sakamoto also oversaw the Sony opening up a nationwide service network with 160 centres.

"Increasing our presence in smaller towns and cities is an important objective for us this year. Expansion of the service network will be followed by further development of sales channel through trade partners," Sakamoto said when the target was met by 2004-end. Sakamoto is clear in vision about Sony in India. "The focus will be on the needs of Indian customers and to provide audio-video (AV) systems to match their lifestyle. The company also aims to create a new lifestyle solution based on IT and to promote AV/IT connectivity among Sony products," he said in an interview once. In fact, it goes to Sakamoto's credit for ensuring state-of-the-art high technology products were introduced timely for consumer use in India. Launching of high definition-ready products has helped strengthen the company's position.

In line with the strategy, Sakamoto also continued to work closely with Sony's trade partners to expand the local market and offer its customers wider range of Sony products at affordable prices. It was under Sakamoto that India became a key base for Sony's R&D activities through Sony India's Software Architecture Division (SARD) located in Bangalore. SARD has contributed to many of Sony's hit products, including AIBO, CLIE, VAIO PC and digital TV. With Sakamoto at the helm of affairs, Sony can only hope to grow from strength to strength under the stewardship of this great market strategist.