I still see a lot of folks commenting on the impending PS3 sales cut and how much it will increase sales of the PS3. Obviously a $299 price point would definitely move more systems. The problem is at that price the PS3 will be once again bleeding money at a time when Sony needs to start making money. Sony needs to be profitable anywhere possible after the abysmal year the company had last year.
Another argument I have seen lately is the average consumer not seeing the value of the PS3 at $399 vs an Xbox 360 at $199. I think my solution would help close the value gap even at twice the cost.
If I were doing the marketing/packaging of the system this is what I would do:
1. Take it down to 1 SKU with a price tag of $399. It would inlcude a 120 gig hard drive so the Elite 360 would not have an advantage. Hard drives are dirt cheap and the extra cost of increasing from 80 gig to 120 gig would be small.
2. The system has been promoted as a Blu-Player since day 1 so include a remote control for movie watching. This one to me is just common sense. How many people out there have a wife/girlfriend that never pick up a game controller? You want to market it as a Blu-Ray player, fine. But every other one comes with a remote control.
3. Include a pack in movie. Sony has it's own picture studio so including a catalog movie on Blu-Ray (Spiderman 3, I Am Legend) would once again be another low cost addition.
4. Pack in with two games. I would pack in a couple of older quality games that would appeal to multiple age ranges. Ratchet and Clank ToD and GT5 Prolouge come to mind but you could also use Heavenly Sword, Resistance 1, or Uncharted as well. Or you could let the consumer pick two out of the 5. Since these are all Sony titles the cost would once again be small.
5. Include an HDMI cable. Sony is selling a sophisticated piece of electronics and is not providing the correct means to connect it. HDMI cables are dirt cheap to make so why not include one?
6. Include a coupon for 10% off a Sony Home Theater system or Sony HD TV. Hey, if the person is buying a PS3 you'd might as well give them incentive to upgrade another part of their set up with one of your products.
7. Finally advertise the system as the essential HD Experience. If someone is thinking of upgrading to an HDTV or already owns one, market this package as is if there TV would not be whole without a PS3. Blu-Ray players are already being pushed upon people buying HDTV's why not make it a no brainer. For an extra $100 would you not choose this package over a stand alone Blu-Ray Player? For gamers looking to upgrade to the current generation of systems this would be a pretty sweet package as well.
By doing the above things I believe Sony increases the value of the PS3 package greatly without adding significant cost. They can keep the price at $399 (which they need to do for quite some time still), and should increase their install base significantly and be able to turn a profit on the package.
What are your thoughts on this?
