Sony honestly attempts to bond with potential buyers

Jul 1, 2015 15:43 GMT  ·  By

Apparently, First Flight is how Sony understands crowdfunding, by encouraging potential clients to finance possible projects made by Sony itself.

The platform is supposed to promote new business ideas in an effort to bring the company back into profitability after a few years of bad financial performance. First Flight basically means having people pre-order new devices or projects developed by Sony employees and turn them into profitable products.

The platform is limited to Japan for the moment, and already three projects are up for pre-order on First Flight. The two are MESH Smart DIY Kit and FES e-ink watch and HUIS Remote Controller.

The first is a set of eraser-sized programmable controllers that can help you devise interesting home contraptions like wearable lights switch, LEDs based on sensors and many other things. The second is basically a watch wrapped in e-ink that can change color, hue and format and pride itself for being made in Japan. The HUIS controller is only partially funded, being the most expensive of all and it's a universal remote controller for all home appliances having the same slick bicolor e-ink.

Honesty through austerity may actually help Sony pull this off

Many people will find this path a bit controversial for a company so large and influential as Sony to take, but this shows how flexible one must be to really test the market in order not to end up wasting any more money on products nobody wants to buy.

Keeping in mind that the HUIS Controller already gathered three million yen out of five, it just shows that there is indeed a public that will support such Kickstarter-esque adventure. Another wise decision is that Sony kept the First Flight limited to Japan so it can re-establish a strong market position in its home country before releasing the platform on a worldwide level.

Although being a sign of weakness, Sony manages to pull itself together in a last attempt of innovation through austerity and go back to the roots of actually caring for what its clients want, and then build it for them. If Sony actually turns this into a successful business practice, it could easily influence other companies' marketing doctrines and change the way the corporate world relates to world markets.