Sony is expected to give its senior Australian retail partners the red carpet treatment when they arrive in Turkey next week for the company’s global conference.
Sony is expected to give its senior Australian retail partners the red carpet treatment when they arrive in Turkey next week for the company’s global conference.
Narta managing director Kay Spencer.
Narta’s Kay Spencer is amongst the retailers being hosted in Turkey by Sony.
Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer.
Sony’s CEO Sir Howard Stringer is expected to announce some cutting-edge product technology at the conference.
Sony Australia is hosting the “who’s who” of the retail industry to an exclusive global conference in Turkey which starts on Wednesday July 23.

The list of retail guests includes Kay Spencer (Narta International managing director), Richards Uechtritz (JB Hi-Fi CEO), Gavin Hancock (Radio Rentals CEO), David Ackery (Harvey Norman executive director), Bill Harries (Retravision Australia chairman) and Lionel Lee (Bing Lee CEO). They will leave on Saturday July 19 for Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey.

Sony hosts these global conferences every two years, bringing the senior management of its leading retail partners up to date with the company’s future plans.

Sir Howard to reveal some secrets
Sony general manager, consumer AV-IT David Hargreaves told www.connectedaustralia.com that it was likely that Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer would reveal some leading edge product at the conference.
 
“Our aim is to keep our retail partners aware of where we are heading and Sir Howard will also report on how the united Sony organisation is performing,” he said. 

Hargreaves said that Sony took its retail partners to Los Angeles in 2006, and the company had enough clout to have the famous Rodeo Drive closed and a red carpet rolled out on it to receive its retail guests. 

He declined to reveal what special treatment the Australian retailers could expect in Istanbul. “I haven’t been given any hints,” he said.

However, they will be well served by the local Sony team with a host of executives accompanying them on the trip. Along with Sony CEO Carl Rose and Hargreaves, other Sony executives travelling to Istanbul include: Kiochi Suzuki (GM-consumer AV-IT marketing), Toby Barbour (head of strategy and brand development), Derek Horner (GM-customer service and operations), Nina Hearne (corporate communications manager), Colin Woodward (group manager branded channel), Noriysu Yamada (senior marketing manager-CTV) and Di Shepherd (senior product manager).