How should Sony be marketing the PS3 to combat Xbox 360, Wii?
My article about LittleBigPlanet the other day, asking why initial sales weren’t as high as had been universally expected, fostered a much larger debate: Sony’s marketing campaign for the PS3. Or lack of it. So, on the verge of the holiday season, how should the PS3 be marketed to combat the Xbox 360 and Wii?
The PS3 is struggling right now, and all but the most hardened Sony fanboys would admit that going into the Christmas holiday, the console’s health isn’t looking too good. It’s not due to a lack of games, as there are some big, exclusive titles now out, including the aforementioned LittleBigPlanet and Resistance 2. But there are a number of other problems.
The price of the Playstation 3 is still too high, with a price cut a necessity sooner rather than later if Sony hopes to shift serious stock to mainstream consumers, particularly in the current economic climate. And there’s the marketing. There isn’t much and what little there is doesn’t seem to be hitting the spot.
Sony is promising a major television advertising campaign starting on Nov. 21, and has released a couple of teaser videos to prepare us for the supposed onslaught. The two adverts are part of the ‘Reflections’ campaign, and are embedded below.
The first is called ‘Alley’ and the second ‘Office Park’, and both feature a quick snatch of the Playstation logo and then footage of people with games playing in the reflections. Then we get the line “Have you started your wish list?” and the Playstation 3 logo. Wow, great aren’t they?
Well, no actually, they’re not. They’re too damn subtle, with more time spent showing the ordinary people in the street than the actual games which will help sell the PS3 in higher numbers than has been achieved so far. I know Sony’s console division has made a name for itself with subtle and clever marketing campaigns but I think the time has come for something more.
Sony needs to start focusing on what will sell the console: the games, and Blu-ray. Simple as. So any TV spot should highlight the PS3’s capabilities in both those departments. Show a montage of game footage from the exclusives coming in the next few months; show how the PS3 is one of the best Blu-ray players currently on the market. Is it really that hard?
It’ll be interesting to see what form the new campaign is taking when it debuts in a few days time but my guess would be more of the subtle, arty ad campaigns that helped the original Playstation and PS2 sell in the quantities they did. But the PS3 needs something different, something mainstream, something which will appeal to gamers directly. And it needs it now before the PS3 gets left behind.
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14 Responses to “How should Sony be marketing the PS3 to combat Xbox 360, Wii?”
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November 18th, 2008
The fact that they’re not even showing games in their advertisements shows how out of touch they have become. It reeks of arrogance. Rather than advertising games and blu-ray, they have decided to do what they have done and tag the Playstation logo at the end of the commercial. To me, this is saying ‘We are so great that we don’t even have to advertise games or blu-ray’. Perhaps if they looked at the scoreboard and realised that they’re coming dead last and the gap is widening they may have come up with something different.
I am glad I jumped ship to Microsoft. If I went against my better judgement and bought a PS3 I would be pissed due to the fact that I have paid extra for a machine that plays multiplatformers worse than the 360 and only has a handful of exclusives. I’d be happy with the blu-ray player, but otherwise I would have realised that my money would have been better spent elsewhere.
November 18th, 2008
Does it really matter? Go buy the effing console you like best and be done with it! The fact is Playstation owners should be ecstatic that the xbox dropped the price and is selling well, because have you all noticed the price drops for the PS3? Same goes with the xbox. Competition is the greatest thing for the consumer.
November 19th, 2008
The PS3s overall sales are actually right on track with the 360 in terms of the console’s lifespan. Unfortunately with having the highest priced console on the market, and talk of a worldwide recession the PS3 does find itself in a very hard position coming into the holiday season. As we all know marketing has never been Sony’s strong point. They have the most to offer as far as value for price paid, but they do not do a good job of making this known to the average consumer. Yes – The Arcade Model is $200 initially, but once you add on all of the “Official Xbot” accessories the price of the console sky rockets. I would like to see Sony launch a more aggressive campaign driving some of these and many other selling points home to consumers. Something similar to the “Hi I’m a PC. And I’m a Mac” commercials.
In the end, the PS3 will sell well over the holiday season, but it could sell much better if Sony markets the product more aggressively. It is taking a very long time, but they are slowly starting to get it.
November 19th, 2008
i could tell them, but i would have to charge sony 7 figures for the campaign.
seriously tho; sony’s in for a bad holiday. i really don’t think any amount of marketting at this point will really impact. consumers will be tight with their wallets this holiday and being the most expensive console on the market without clear validation of the upcharge (barring bluray), won’t bode well. just like last xmas……
hey, they did it to themselves…noone asked for bluray or “teh cell”…and now sony gets to live with their (poor) decisions…
i agree with harry… the new commercials for the ps3 are a joke. right in line with the PS9 commercials they used to sell the ps2. wth?
November 19th, 2008
Yes the recession is going to impact the sales of PS3 because it too expensive. I got an email today listing a Huge amount of stores that are closing locations or going out of business completely. People are not spending money. I’ll post the list for you guys to see.
Circuit City stores… most recent (? how many)
Ann Taylor- 117 stores nationwide are to be shuttered
Lane Bryant,, Fashion Bug ,and Catherine’s to close 150 store nationwide
Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after January
Cache will close all stores
Talbots closing down all stores
J. Jill closing all stores
GAP closing 85 stores
Footlocker closing 140 stores more to close after January
Wickes Furniture closing down
Levitz closing down remaining stores
Bombay closing remaining stores
Zales closing down 82 stores and 105 after January.
Whitehall closing all stores
Piercing Pagoda closing all stores
Disney closing 98 stores and will close more after January.
Home Depot closing 15 stores 1 in NJ (New Brunswick)
Macys to close 9 stores after January
Linens and Things closing all stores
Movie Galley Closing all stores
Pacific Sunware closing stores
Pep Boys Closing 33 stores
Sprint/ Nextel closing 133 stores
JC Penney closing a number of stores after January
Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores.
Wilson Leather closing down all stores
Sharper Image closing down all stores
K B Toys closing 356 stores
Lowes to close down some stores
Dillard’s to close some stores.
Sarah
November 19th, 2008
PS1 – CD
PS2 – DVD
PS3 – Blu-ray
Kev – Blu-ray was the correct way for Sony to go. They have always been on the cutting edge of technology with there consoles. Should they have downgraded to be like the 360? Sony is way ahead of the curve this time around. The PS3 is arguably one of the best consoles ever built. The innovation comes at a price though. It will end up out selling the 360 in the long run once it becomes a little cheaper. At two years in the race, the PS3 is even with were the 360 was.
I can not wait until the 720 or Phoenix is released with blu-ray in a few more years. Then xbox will finally be comparable to the PS3…. And I will have the PS4.
November 19th, 2008
@Barnabe Jones – I agree.
Sony needs to start slapping MS around (maybe they should call Steve Jobs for some pointers
)
and start showing off yer fookin games instead.
Oh and a fat price cut wouldn’t hurt either
November 19th, 2008
SW: If it were my call, there commercials would mirror the Mac commercials. Maybe even hire the same actors. “Hi. I’m a 360. and I’m a PS3”… see? The commercial writes itself.
CAD: While all of the stores closing is pretty depressing, I think there is hope on the horizon. Today the Associated Press is reporting that “Consumer prices plunged by the largest amount in the past 61 years in October as gasoline pump prices dropped by a record amount….” The price of gas is going down and everything else is following. This means people will have extra money to spend. We are not quite out of the woods just yet, but things are slowly turning around.
November 19th, 2008
Harry,
I don’t know, I’ve been looking at the big GOTY contenders, and the following, I believe, are the most likely candidates:
MGS4 (PS3 exclusive)
LittleBigPlanet (PS3 exclusive)
Gears of War 2 (360 exclusive)
Resistance 2 (PS3 exclusive)
Fable 2 (360 exclusive)
All great, all exclusives. Just looking at that small sampling, how can you say you’d be “pissed” if you had a PS3? You know I prefer my PS3, but it’s not like I go around saying “Gee, I sure would be bored if I only had a 360…”
-Arvis
November 19th, 2008
2008 was a huge year for triple A titles, but I think my vote is going to Wii Play. That game was just…. Wow!
November 19th, 2008
Chris,
I was referring to the multiplatform games rather than exclusives.
Both systems have great exclusives, I’d love to get my grubby hands on Resistance 2, so that’s a given.
November 20th, 2008
Microsoft makes better commercial Sony is pathetic already making stupid commercial.
harry sachz:
I bet you will love Resistance 2 is a fantastic game a truly must have.
November 20th, 2008
Harry I agree with the commercials reeking of arrogance. But at the same time, I do think they are pretty cool.
I want to know what Sony put down for ‘intended target audience’ for those ads. Can’t see many young children pointing and crying ‘ I want that one!’ while they watch them on the TV.
I don’t watch TV as such, so could somebody enlighten me on how often Sony puts ad for their exclusive games on the telly? (rather than the console itself, as above).
November 20th, 2008
Sony doesn’t do very much ads for anything on TV weird. And they still manage to sell a lot imagine if they actually cared about lying in ads like Microsoft. They might just be able to bring the Sony Bank to America hopefully they will make better commercial like Microsoft did. Microsoft did a commercial that a bunch of games formed a huge Xbox 360 pretty nice.