Orchestrating Strategic Innovation at Sony Music
We helped the global executive team to align on an innovation strategy and build intrapreneurial leadership capability through a bespoke experiential programme.
Context
Sony Music Entertainment (SME) is a global powerhouse in the music and entertainment industry, home to legendary labels including Columbia, RCA, Ministry of Sound, and Relentless — and artists ranging from David Bowie and Mariah Carey to Travis Scott and A$AP Rocky.
But with the rise of streaming platforms and on-demand access, the industry’s value chain is being redefined. SME, operating across that full chain, faces both competitive pressure and significant opportunity — requiring innovation not just in product or technology, but in leadership and mindset, to stay in tune with a shifting industry.
Sony Music asked Studio Zao to help design an approach to get the global executive leadership team aligned on a strategic approach to innovation and explore how to lead and enable intrapreneurship across the organisation.
Approach
Designing a Strategy Sprint for Strategic Alignment
We created a bespoke leadership programme, combining a high-impact four-day sprint with tailored executive coaching. Our approach was designed around three core principles:
Grounded in business reality — Rooted in Sony Music’s specific market context, challenges, and strategic ambitions
Executive-led and iterative — Co-developed with internal stakeholders and aligned to the style and dynamic of the 10-person global leadership team
Experience-first — leveraging experiential learning, speculative design, and lean innovation principles to bridge vision and execution
A Shared Vision and Practical Platform
The sprint was structured to shift perspectives, surface insight, and drive strategic clarity across key domains of innovation:
Day 1 — Envision the Future
Explore macro trends, emerging technologies, and evolving audience behaviours to imagine future value chainsDay 2 — Baseline the Today
Examine the current business model, innovation portfolio, and internal enablers and blockersDay 3 — Place Strategic Bets
Define a set of global innovation hypotheses, mapped to business priorities and market dynamicsDay 4 — Formulate the Roadmap
Create a pathway for experimentation, capability building, and leadership enablement
This was supported by post-sprint coaching sessions to translate insights into practical steps and embed momentum.
Impact
The programme enabled Sony Music’s global executive team to:
Align around a shared innovation thesis, informed by both global market shifts and internal capability
Establish a structured portfolio of tangible, testable strategic bets
Initiate a pipeline of innovation experiments — activating cross-functional talent to develop and validate new propositions
Lay the groundwork for fostering an intrapreneurial culture across the organisation
By combining strategic insight with experiential learning, Sony Music is now better equipped to evolve its business in tune with the next generation of consumer and industry change.
“Working with Studio Zao has been a real pleasure. Not only do they bring diverse and innovative strategic thinking, but they also truly partner with us, share insights, and take on feedback to co-create a great output. They also understand the importance of talent in corporate innovation. I look forward to continuing to work with them on future projects.”