Dodece said:
platformmaster918 said:
Dodece said:
For Sony to fix its marketing it must first address the root cause of its problem. I think it has been made painfully clear over the past five years that Sony hasn't practiced due diligence when it comes to market research. Microsoft was successful with its advertising, because it was willing to spend the time. Getting to know their audience. This might come as news to some, but Microsoft paid members of their staff to be dedicated trolls on gaming forums, and this is a straight up fact. A number of former employees have confessed to doing this years before the 360 had actually launched.
This not only gave Microsoft invaluable data, but it gave them actual experts about this demographic. Which is why Microsoft's marketing resonates with gamers. Go to any gaming forum, and ask the members what they want to see in advertising. The first response you will get is real game play footage. What do Microsoft commercials have a lot of. You guessed it game play footage. The second response you would likely get is that gamers want to know the story. What do Microsoft commercials have a lot of. You guessed it a story. The third response would probably be good music, and you guessed it Microsoft puts a lot of emphasis on the sound track.
Compare that to Sony's efforts. Which are largely live action, abstract, and poorly orchestrated. Which is about as far from what gamers want as you can get, and we could explain to them why if they just asked. Why do any of us want to see the game play. Sure we want to see what we are buying, but if we don't see it where do our minds go first. We assume the game sucks, because they are refusing to show it to us. The same holds true for story, and as far as music is concerned. That is what is supposed to touch you emotionally.
Sony isn't doing itself any favors if it is pawning the job off on advertising agencies, because they are going to just offer up the same generic advertising. That they use for all of their other products. Gamers are not generic at all. You can't just create awareness with us. You need to get us fucking psyched about something. Happy go lucky is never going to turn us on like stroking our passions will. A hundred generic commercials aren't going to be half as effective as one well aimed shot.
The real irony is that Sony can spend less, and get more if they spend the time learning about what makes their audience tick. Thinking they know isn't the same as actually knowing. Hell it would go a long way to making their games more attractive, because they would have a better idea of what we want. Why we are turned off isn't some kind of deep mystery. We aren't that complex, and the fact that they haven't figured us out. Is proof that they just haven't even bothered to try. I guess they don't want to get their hands dirty.
By the way those Kevin Butler commercials were like the worst. I can understand why fans of the platform might have thought they were cool, because they were like a echo chamber of their sentiments. However speaking as a outside observer I found them rather disconnected from the product. Which is why the character ended up being used to mock the platform. By the way a character that can be construed as a pompous ass talking down to other people. While funny at times. Could also come across as a literal representation of the company and its product. |
KB is a genius spokesperson for the platform and helped PS3 take off in 09. People love guys who act pompus look at other ads that are popular. The most interesting man in the world ring any bells? Sorry but KB ads were hilarious and I know many people who had no interest in PS3 until they started airing. His mockery of Wii and Kinect was priceless and true.
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There isn't any evidence for what you are saying. The PS3 saw a hundred dollar price cut in the fall of that year. That took it down to three hundred dollars. The campaign may have had nothing to do with the increase in sales. The campaign may have been detrimental to the brand, but the new price point was not only able to salvage the situation, but make headway in spite of the campaign.
I wouldn't characterize the most interesting man as being a pompous ass. There is a difference between a pompous character, and a character that is both pompous and a ass. Just as their is a difference between a brave soldier and a cowardly soldier. The difference in this case is the character of Kevin Butler likes to attack people, and make fun of other people. The most interesting man just seems to be a fun guy to hang out with. He isn't insulting others for not drinking the same beer that he drinks.
Vague claims about groups of people are just that vague. They carry no weight with me, because people can just imagine them up. Statements like these only seem to give your arguments more weight in your own eyes. I don't know these people, or if they existed in the first place. In other words your argument is just plain moot. I can't verify your honesty in this matter. Such claims don't necessarily hurt you, but they never give you any credibility either.
Your last sentence echos my claims about the echo chamber. They seem true and hilarious to you, because you probably already held those beliefs. I can tell a racist some black jokes, and he would probably laugh his ass off. That doesn't mean those jokes are actually funny or true for that matter. To him they are both, but to most of us they are neither.
Kevin Butler was a short lived mascot that didn't even make it to two years, and the only reason he probably lasted that long is that the campaigns that came before his were the stuff of nightmares. He wasn't good enough to keep his pretend job, and that is saying a lot. His virtue was that at best he was entertaining, and at worst he was annoying. Which was progress as compared to creepy, incomprehensible, ludicrous, or dull as dog shit. I personally don't think he moved a lot of hardware on his own, and I don't think he was all that good for the brand. What he was though was progress in the right direction. I think he just made the brand seem safe, but safe isn't the same as successful.
By the way I am a little disappointed that you fixated on Kevin Butler. He is a topic that has been talked to death. Microsofts troll data mining is like a unspoiled wilderness in comparison. You see this is why we can't have nice things on these forums. Everyone passes them up in favor of junk food. Come on bite into things that will make you strain your brain just a bit. Help bring the conversation up a notch or two.
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