WOMEN ELITE 2008: SONY--On the cutting edge

Blu-ray Disc isn’t just for men, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment senior executive VP of worldwide marketing Lexine Wong worked hard to represent the interests of her gender during the format’s launch. At the time, Wong was one of the few high-ranking female executives promoting Blu-ray to retailers and consumers.

“It was the early adopter phase, and we were still talking about the geeks, but it became about chic geeks as well,” Wong remembers. “There are women who are on the cutting edge, with things like the iPhone, and we wanted to reach them as well. Women often make the decisions on consumer electronics so they can entertain their families.”

Wong, who went to UC Berkeley and has an MBA from NYU, leads a team of executives that includes a large number of women at the VP level and above, including several international female executives, such as Malisa Scott, general manager for Germany.

For some time in home entertainment, men have primarily commanded the top positions.

But Wong believes she and other women have used assets such as social intelligence to power themselves through the ranks. She believes it’s a trait that comes from “doing so many things, having to be the moms and going to work combined. You’re always looking out for everybody, whether that’s a co-worker or your kids.”

That drive to communicate especially helped Wong navigate within the larger Sony Corp. infrastructure, where engineers are just as important as the studio executives.

“It’s very male-dominated as a technology company,” Wong says. “I’m definitely one of the people at the studio that has relationships with the engineers.”

Wong also is grateful to work under studio worldwide president David Bishop, who has supported her career goals. Additionally, Wong is inspired by Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal, one of the few women leading a major studio.

“David treats everyone equally, whether you are a guy or a girl,” Wong says. “You can manage your respective division and do what you know how to do.”