tempting to say i see in all i see

PS3′s Lackluster Marketing

Sunday, October 7th, 2007

Its no secret that the Playstation 3 sales have been lackluster so far. As of the end of August 2007, Sony has sold 2.9 million Playstation 3. Microsoft sold 6.7 million Xbox 360s (although they did have a ONE year head-start) and Nintendo sold 7.4 million units of the less powerful (and cheaper) Nintendo Wii. (Figures are for units sold in the USA and Japan). Although good game titles and a cheaper price point are major factors in determining a console’s success, a great marketing campaign is crucial for any console (or any product for that matter) to be successful.

A shocking study from a while back showed that only half of PS3 owners realized that they could watch high definition movies via Blu-ray. It really is shocking that most owners doesn’t even understand the full capacity of their purchase. If Playstation 3 owners don’t even know its features, what does this say about the masses? This could be ONE of the many reasons that the Playstation 3 not meeting expectations. This is not helped by the bizarre “This is Living” and to a certain extent the “Play Beyond” marketing campaign.

Wheres the Playstation 3?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_CIsfIVMU0]
But you got to admit, its pretty artsy. IMHO, its more of a short film rather than an advertisement.

Some will make you go Huh?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnmBaZV_Gh4]
And yes, that is a Playstation 3 commercial from their “This is Living” campaign

Others will make you scratch your head in disbelief…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbO3CoG9QJU]
This is reality….what reality o.O?

Then there are those that are just plain creepy.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqkNPcUMffU]
Strangely, I kept watching this again and again =x

Also, the WTF moments…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eije-NoZ7o8]
Fork? Huh?

Occasionally, we’ll get an advert that screams coolness.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyFrekxy7wg]
Although, they should add the tag “Motion-sensing technology” to help explain further.

The person in charge of this marketing push ought to be shot. Yoichi Wada, president of Japanese publisher and developer Square Enix (of the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy series), has called for Sony to establish “an unwavering marketing strategy” for the PlayStation 3 with a series of implicit criticisms of the company’s marketing efforts to date.

However, in a welcome change of pace, Sony is set to make right it’s marketing blunders. Kim Nguyen, Marketing Manager for the Playstation 3 posted this on the official Playstation Blog.

Hey everyone, I’m Kim Nguyen, Marketing Manager for PLAYSTATION 3. This is my first post and I’m happy to report that the PS3 brand campaign officially kicks off this week with our online campaign. The first of many banners will appear today and run through December. In a nutshell, the theme of this year’s campaign uses computer animation to model key PS3 iconography in a black onyx world. Phew, yeah, that’s a mouthful. Better yet, why don’t you see it for yourself. This link takes you to the “Blu-ray” banner and is just the beginning with lots more to come. Stay tuned…

What that means is that were probably going to see a whole slew of new Playstation 3 banner ads on the internet in preparation for the holiday season. Hopefully, it won’t be more of the same divided marketing from Sony who has historically played up its Blu-ray status as equally as its game offerings. What I would like to see are more adverts in traditional mediums such as the television. The general public doesn’t stay glued to their computers.

I tell you what Sony, hire me =p

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