@west-phoenix-az
They are using a particular marketing strategy. A unique psychological phenomena is at play. Imagine being brought into a plain white room as part of an experiment. Inside the room is a chair, a table, and a upside down cardboard box is on top of the table. The researcher tells you to have a seat, and that under the box is a spectacular new pet for western homes. However you are not going to be permitted to look under the box till much later in the day.
Human beings are driven by curiosity. Hour after hour you look at the plain box and keep trying to figure out what kind of animal could it be. Your imagination wanders. You start to try and deduce what the creature is probably like. With the absence of data you have nothing else you can do. After a time you desperately start to try and get around the rules. You smell the box, you listen to the box, you even feel the box.
Eventually the researcher begins to bring in more people for the unveiling one at a time, and while your new friends are happy to discuss about anything else. Eventually the conversation resolves around what is in the box. You each start to speculate, and present theories. Suppose the researchers told each subject something a little different, or some small unimportant detail. Eventually everyone in the room is very excited to find out what is under the box. The anticipation begins to be very unbearable. You might even really want this pet no matter what, because it has been denied to you like a sick twisted form of reverse psychology.
This is how a marketing campaign like this works. They generate greater interest with less information. Then when they do release the information they maximize the effect. By that point they have anticipation on their side and public interest without spending a single dime that they do not have to.
I also don't think its bad for Microsoft that perhaps for two solid weeks this game will pervade public consciousness for a couple full weeks. That will generate a lot of pressure on consumers to pick up their console right then and right there to be a part of the excitement. This is obviously just one strategy. The opposite was Smash Brothers. Which was like little spurts of air going out of a balloon. Like a constant taunt on consumers for months on end. Which has probably driven up sales. I do not think this marketing strategy would have worked for Brawl. I do not think Brawls strategy would work for Grand Theft Auto.
Enjoy the break while you have it. A couple weeks from now it will be Grand Theft Auto all the time for an entire month. Which I think will really help Microsoft's console sales especially in North America. With the same kind of impact the marketing blitz brought Halo 3.
Existing User Log In
New User Registration
Register for a free account to gain full access to the VGChartz Network and join our thriving community.
