LudicrousSpeed said:
Can I see your Chart of Spin so we can check the math? I doubt Nintendo or MS have ever done any spinning that would out spin Sony at the start of last gen but lets see your metric. Also, MS is a huge company with a market cap over ten times the cap of Sony and Nintendo combined last I checked. That doesn't sound like the type of results you get by thriving off image. In reality it seems Sony's current financial straits is what you get off of trying to thrive off image alone. Or the PS3. But that's just me. |
Stop talking about the financials if your main point was to prove me wrong about Microsoft being primarily about image. If you're going to prove me wrong, focus on that point and stick with it.
Microsoft comes from the personal computer world and are thriving off of the artistic vision of Apple, which they are applying to every product they make. The vision in itself of the product is visual marketing marketing. Much like what Steve Jobs wanted, was a product that could sell itself. The OS is visual marketing. This is where they thrive when they aren't facing apple, because that is a battle of wits where Microsoft will always lose against Apple and and thrive against lesser competition like Sony and Nintendo. Sony and Nintendo don't yet understand, but have more heart where it counts....making games. Microsoft has yet to make classic IP's themselves. They are a marketing machine and like Apple made people believe in the all in one product. Sony inspired them to come to consoles and duke it out over here because Sony's gets it, but they aren't sure how to market it and appy it yet. Problem is Sony's marketing sucks 31 flavors of ass, but when it comes to tech they can pump it out all day. Its all about output, but who sees it? From 3D TV's that play two players on one screen with 3D glasses to project Morpheus, Sony continues to add and add concrete structure and Microsoft just bets on the creations of others to measure up (not to say Sony doesn't either, but their internal output exists in a greater light). Microsoft knows Sony is out to turn gaming into an entertainment lifestyle. Of course those are loftier heights than Nintendo had originally planned as a simple gaming macine that everyone could enjoy. Microsoft understands marketing, OS, layout, cohesive color scheme, and more on a level that neither their competition don't understand but they understand what matters to gaming at its core.
Microsoft also has another type of marketing. Its called PR and spends loads trying to paint the Xbox as a revolution when from the start it was only the Pepsi to Sony's Coke. Pepsi has more aggressive marketing in the US, but worldwide....Everyone else knows its Coke that dominates. They live by rules of snuffing out bad press quickly, which makes their marketing ten times greater than any marketing Sony or Nintendo could do for their PR as well. Until hiring Phil Spencer, Microsoft was also the least trusted and tight lipped company when it came to answering to the press, hence why Spener promised to be more...and I quote "transparent". In other words....they are ready to be trustworthy now. When Sony gets in trouble, they get slammed and move on. When Microsoft gets in trouble if it isnt a huge mistake it is quickly snuffed out or not commented on. MIcrosoft was actually arguing the value to DRM to consumers who were not impressed. You cannot talk your way out of that....which is why Phil Spencer had to put his head on the chopping block last year and ended up being the most liked guy at Microsoft because for once people got a little bit of honesty.
Look at the launch of the Wii U, PS4 and Xbox One. Which brand had the bright lights, spectacle, celebrities and pretty much every lavish detail involved in grand American Marketing? Microsoft. It make Sony and Nintendo look boring compared, even though their development teams are hard at work at games that will make even Microsoft blush in the coming years. Come on....I mean... I don't think Sony or Nintendo would fork out the money for Usher to be at their E3 show some years back. No...Dead Mouse? Jason Sudeikis? The list goes on and on. It was like a private Grammy Party. Different type of marketing from the other two, wouldn't you say?
Nintendo understands the marketing of characters, Sony understands the marketing technology, but Microsoft.....heh.....they understand how to market an online- based lifestyle and much like Apple have spent decades funneling people into it. Oh yeah...they also took Halo from Apple too. They have a wierd relationship with that comapny.
