Sony

Background

Sony Group Corporation, commonly known as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation formed on May 7, 1946 in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan and currently headquartered in Kōnan, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional electronic products (through Sony Corporation, previously known as Sony Electronics), the largest video game console company (through PlayStation) and the largest video game publisher (through Sony Interactive Entertainment). Through Sony Music Entertainment, it is one of the largest music companies (largest music publisher and second largest record label) and the third largest film and television studio (through Sony Pictures Entertainment), making it one of the most comprehensive media companies.

Contents

1st Tag (1979-1984)	2nd Tag (1984-1986)	3rd Tag (Early 1980s)	4th Tag (Early 1980s-Late 1990s)	5th Tag (1986-1989)	6th Tag (1989-1990s)	7th Tag (1995-2000)


8th Tag (2000-2005)	9th Tag (2005-2011)	10th Tag (2009)	11th Tag (2009-2014)	12th Tag (Late 2013-May 19, 2021)	13th Tag (May 19, 2021-)

Unused Tags

Contents

Tag (2021)

1st Tag (1979-1984)

Visuals: On a black background with RGB lights, the Sony logo in chrome is seen as the letters merge back. The screen then zooms out to reveal the "It's a Sony" campaign logo (a 7x7 grid of dots made to resemble a trail in the shape of a stylized "S" with "It's a Sony" at the bottom) of the time in red on a white background.

Variant: An extended version exists.

Technique: Motion-controlled/CGI animation by Japan Computer Graphics Lab.

Audio: A short 4-note new age-inspired sounder, along with a deep-voiced announcer (Brian Matt) who says "It's a Sony."

Availability: Seen on commercials from the time frame.

2nd Tag (1984-1986)

Visuals: There is the "It's a Sony" logo (sans text) in 3D on a white background. The camera then zooms in to reveal the Sony logo in silver.

Technique: CGI by Japan Computer Graphics Lab.

Audio: Same as before.

Availability: Seen on commercials from the time frame.

3rd Tag (Early 1980s)

Visuals: On a blue-black gradient background is the Sony logo in white. The logo then shrinks and morphs to form the "It's a Sony" logo, also in white.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A pop-synth theme with a choir singing the line from before.

Availability: Seen on commercials from the time frame.

4th Tag (Early 1980s-Late 1990s)

Visuals: Essentially just the white Sony logo on a black background. The tag is still.

Technique: A cutting effect.

Audio: Just the familiar "It's a Sony" announcer.

Availability: Seen on most of Sony's international commercials from the time frame.

5th Tag (1986-1989)

Visuals: On a black background is the "It's a Sony" print logo in red, with the "It's a Sony" tagline in Japanese. The text turns into the Sony logo via a wipe effect.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: A beep, followed by the announcer of the 1st logo.

Availability: Seen on many commercials from the time frame.

6th Tag (1989-1990s)

Visuals: On a black background, gray CGI spheres form the "It's a Sony" logo in a diamond pattern, which then turns red afterwards. The tag then fades to the Sony logo in white.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The familiar "It's a Sony" announcer in most cases. Commercials for Sony cassettes have a different announcer say "It's a Sony cassette", or just "Sony cassette."

Availability: Seen on many commercials from the time frame.

7th Tag (1995-2000)

Visuals: There are various, differing shots, each with the word "Digital Dream Kids" on them. Each of them has a different, colorful design and each shot can be seen for a split second until it cuts to another shot. Lastly, the camera cuts to the Sony logo on a black background.

Variant: On the commercials for Sony's "Maximum Television" ad campaign, a row of twelve spherical lights flash in one-by-one on a black background, forming an "M" made out of indigo lines. The text "SONY MAXIMUM TELEVISION" appears below before it cross-fades to a smaller-sized Sony logo.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: A futuristic synth along with the "It's a Sony" voice.

Audio Variant: On the "Maximum Television" variant, several whooshes are heard as the "M" flashes in, which is followed by a jail door slamming shut and an echoing choir when it's done forming. An male announcer says over the sounds, "Maximum Television. Only from Sony."

Availability: It was seen on the commercials for Sony's "Maximum Television" ad campaign, one of which can be spotted on the 1996 VHS release of Jumanji and also on Japanese commercials from that period.

8th Tag (2000-2005)

Visuals: Against a colored background is spinning text in a font made of dots. After half a second, this fades to the Sony logo on a black or white background.

Variants: The animation at the beginning changes colors, patterns and text depending on the commercial.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A random ditty depending on the commercial, followed by the "It's a Sony" voice from before (here trimmed down to just "Sony"), which is heard during the first half, along with another female voice saying the name, which is then heard when the Sony logo is seen.

Availability: Seen on many commercials until early 2005. Also attached to the end of PlayStation commercials.

9th Tag (2005-2011)

Visuals: On a white background with teal circles is the text "like.no.other". The screen then fades to a teal background, and the Sony logo flashes in.

Variants:

A black and white version exists.
Sometimes, the URL of the Sony division is seen below, such as Europe.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A futuristic synth ditty, followed by the "Sony" voices from before.

Audio Variants:

Sometimes, the ending theme of the commercial would play.
Sometimes, an announcer would say "Like no other." The rest is the same.

Availability: Seen on commercials from the time frame such as the iconic 2005 "Paint/Colour Like No Other" commercial. Also attached to the end of PlayStation commercials.

10th Tag (2009)

Visuals: The camera zooms out of mist to reveal a light blue background. A black paintstroke then draws various objects such as tree branches and a flying bird. Another black paintstroke obscures the camera and reveals a light blue background with energy flowing throughout. A light then wipes in the Sony logo, which is made out of light blue energy. The logo then brightens, shrinks and explodes until the whole screen is engulfed in white.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The opening sounds of the reel.

Availability: Only seen on a sizzle reel.

11th Tag (2009-2014)

The formation of the logo
The finished product

Visuals: On a black background, a multicolored light darkens to reveal the Sony logo in white, similar to the 3rd logo, as the light shrinks to the dot in "make.believe" below.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Sony's now-famous sounder, which is a "ding" sound in G-major. On international commercials, this is pitched to A-flat. Early commercials have the "Sony" announcer following the "ding". On American ads, a different voiceover says "Sony."

Availability: Seen on commercials from the time frame. Also attached to the end of PlayStation commercials from the time in America.

12th Tag (Late 2013-May 19, 2021)

The formation of the logo
The finished product

Visuals: On a black background, the light flashes between the "O" and "N" in the Sony logo, in white, which fully lights up the logo.

Trivia: This was also used as Sony's motion logo from 2013 until March 2021. Sony continued to use this logo until October 2021 following the reveal of the company's new motion logo.

Variant: Sometimes, the tag animates at a faster rate, or cut.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: Same as the previous tag.

Availability: Seen on commercials from the time frame. Sony continued to use this tag until October 2021 following the reveal of the company's new motion logo.

13th Tag (May 19, 2021-)

The formation of the logo (black background with white text)
The finished product (black background with white text)
The formation of the logo (white background with blue text)
The finished product (white background with blue text)
The formation of the logo (white background with black text)
The finished product (white background with black text)

Visuals: On a black background, a spectrum of colors appears around the Sony text, then fades out.

Trivia:

This was also used as Sony's current motion logo since May 19, 2021. The concept of this logo can be seen here.
The motion logo was filmed with practical effects as opposed to CGI, as it was done to capture the effect of the Sony logotype "breaking the boundaries". You can see the behind the scenes video here, as well as a case study here.
The colors used in the motion logo use six colors in accordance to represent the synergies among Sony’s diverse business lineup, people, and society. The following colors appear as follows: dark orange (Game & Network Services), magenta (Music), dark yellow (Pictures), dark blue (Entertainment, Technology & Services), dull teal (Imaging & Sensing Solutions) and dark purple (Financial Services).

Variants:

There are two white background versions of the logo that are exclusive to Sony-related promos and commercials. The only differences between these two are the multicolored backdrop and the logo's color (black and blue, respectively). This was because of the use of Sony's Motion Logo Generator software, allowing Sony to create a number of variations, based on various contents and various colors, using a unique system called "Omoiiro", designed by Sony CSL researcher, Alexis André.

Technique: Live-action.

Audio: Same as before.

Availability: Seen on commercials from the company.

Unused Tags

Tag (2021)

Visuals: On a white background, colorful geometric shapes move and trail around. The shapes then form a black Sony logo on the right side of the screen.

Technique: CGI done by yU+Co, directed by Garson Yu and designed by Allen Yeung. More information can be seen here.

Audio: Unknown, as there are only style frames.

Availability: This appears to be unused.