Sony is the most powerful brand says study

So, Sony's been having a rough couple days ... eh, disregard that. Sony's been having a rough week. Fine, fine -- month. But there's a silver lining -- none of this has hurt Sony's brand power. AlixPartners, a global corporate-advisory firm, says after surveying more than 5,000 consumers that Sony is #1 in their minds.

The company's press release states, "The AlixPartners Brand Power Index draws a clear distinction between mere popularity, which a brand can achieve temporarily through discounting, etc., and true brand power, which the index measures on a consumer trust-versus-distrust formula." Sony came in first place followed by Johnson & Johnson and Kraft. Dell and Hewlett-Packard were the only other consumer electronics in the top ten and they were way at the bottom. No word on Microsoft or Nintendo brand power.

There's no arguing Sony's brand power and it's a good sign that in 5,000 consumer's minds it's the tops. Thing is with the PS3 nobody had issue with the brand power, just look at the sales of the PlayStation 2 -- that thing is still a money making monster. Not to mention at $130 the PS2 is worth every penny for a family. A DVD player and an amazing game console in one small neat little package. Sony's problem with the PS3 isn't brand, it's price. Forget us as gamers and techno-babble Blu-ray freaks who will fanboy flame-out and just spend money. Sony execs should talk to the single mother waiting at the bus stop in the morning, go to a neighborhood barbershop, find a sixth-grade elementary school teacher to talk to. Nobody will ever deny Sony's brand power, but people are stuck at $600 as a jumping-off point for a game console.