Reputation of PlayStation, Sony brands take a hit

The Sony and PlayStation brands have taken a huge hit following last month's massive attack by hackers on the PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment.
Sony shut down the PlayStation Network on April 20 after discovering the breach and announced on April 26 that customer personal data had been compromised. The networks remain down; Sony spokesman Patrick Seybold says that the company is working to relaunch them "as soon as possible."
Sony had a mediocre buzz score of 24.3 on YouGov's daily consumer perception tracking BrandIndex until the breach dropped its score to a lackluster 7.6 among adults 18 and older, says Ted Marzilli of the Palo Alto, Calif.-based research firm.
Sony had been one of the top three electronics brands, but now ranks behind Apple, LG, Hewlett-Packard, Kodak, Dell and Samsung, he says.
Meanwhile, the PlayStation 3's score took a worse hit, falling from a score of 16 to a bottom-dredging -9.8. By comparison, during the same period, the Nintendo Wii's score rose from 21.3 to a game-industry-topping 29.1, and the Xbox 360 went from 13.9 to 11.5.
YouGov surveys 5,000 U.S. respondents daily about brand positive or negative feelings.
The prompt shutdown of the network, increased security and $1 million identity theft insurance plan for consumers were good moves by Sony, Marzilli says. "But it also waited too long before it notified the public about the breach."
Two other informal polls also suggest that Sony's reputation is taking a hit.
Three out of 10 respondents to a recent USA TODAY Game Hunters poll about the Sony network breaches say they don't trust Sony to protect their personal data. Still, 54% of the more than 2,100 respondents said they will continue to use their PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Portable online.
"I understand that this type of breach could have happened with any company that holds consumer information," says Terence Johnson of Memphis.
But Ryan Brooks of Little Rock says that he "will be less likely to automatically assume that Sony equals quality, without question. This incident will always come to mind," he says. "It may not ultimately affect purchases, but I will always remember it. I never had my credit card number with them and certainly won't in the future, new security or not."
Most consumers complain that Sony should have let them know sooner about the possible compromise of personal and financial data. (Sony still has not said whether hackers got access to credit card data.)
"Sony has so badly mismanaged this … they effectively created Xbox customers," says Scott Puckett of Bloomington, Ill. "I don't blame Sony for being hacked, (but its) response has redefined 'woefully inadequate' and 'too little, too late.'"
Another poll on video game news site Kotaku.com found consumers even more upset at Sony. More than half (51%) of the more than 11,000 who responded said they had a negative opinion of Sony in light of the hack, and 49% said the incident made them like the Sony brand less.
"This is a huge negative blow for Sony in terms of opinion and the brand," says Kotaku.com editor Brian Crecente. "Every time they miss a weekend, things are going to get worse."
However, Sony can recover, he says. "The long-term reality is, once they get this fixed, it will be a matter of Sony making good. People pretty quickly are going to bounce back."