- Dianne Segovia, manager of marketing of Nintendo for Latin America was interviewed by Gamedots and she weighted in some things Nintendo about advetising.

- on the lack of Xenoblade Chronicles X advertisement for Latin America she said:

“Splatoon was a new IP and we had to start from scratch in terms of introducing it to the public. Mario Maker was a title that served as a celebration of 30 years of Super Mario Bros, and that’s why we had to make a big deal; it was truly a grand celebration, not just any video game launch.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is an RPG, a game for RPG and Xenoblade fans. We didn’t do anything too big because the audience for the game already know it exists and is already attentive of its release.”

- on Nintendo commercials being perceived as childish, the marketing manager said:

“It depends on the game. Right now, to promote the Wii U, we’re launching commercials directed towards parents who have young children who don’t know much about the console. They are the target audience right now, and thay’s why sometimes the commercials can seem a bit childish.

Games like Super Mario Maker had two commercials, one for kids and one for adults. This was done so that the adults could be appealed by the nostalgia, and the kids would be attracted to the use of GamePad and other novel elements.

In Splatoon’s case, we used a song for the commerical. The commercial’s design made it look like the game was only for kids.

For situations like these, to attract adults, we bring the game to public spaces so the general public can get to know the game and play it.”

http://nintendoeverything.com/nintendo-on-xenoblade-chronicles-x-marketing-audience-for-commercials-latin-america/

What do you think of this explanations and Nintendo's overral approach to advertisement?

Clearly Nintendo predominately cater for children, nothing nobody didn't already know.

I was under the impression that one of the goals of marketing was to introduce your product to people who didn't yet know they want it? Nintendo's approach would seem to consist of throwing a commercial or two out there to let the people who were already going to get it know that it's releasing.

Their systems and games always show such ambition, but their marketing is little more than a white flag. It's just a joke and a damn shame as well, as the Wii U (in my experience) continues to be the most unique and fun experience of the three. Sony or Microsoft (or Apple, anyone who knows how to market a product) would have this thing selling like hot cakes.

That's a poor attitude for them to take.

Someone at Nintendo forgot to study FF7 as a case study on how to make a big console JRPG bust wide open into public consciousness.

Sure, she is partially right about XCX.But that could be said about any big game.Any game that has hype behind it will have its followers and they will always know every last bit about it.The point of marketing and making commercials is to cater to those who dont know about it.Specially since with XCX, a game that has a gigantic potential to be a big game for Wii U and the next big franchise for Nintendo.I knew Nintendo marketing team wasnt that good, but its really dissapointing to hear this lack of faith, for lack of better word, from the manager of marketing.

Those are some pretty basic marketing notions, but they are not wrong.

I believe she is quite right about XCX, if the user base was huge you could get people who don`t play RPGs to to try it out, but as it is, the game is not enough to sell the system to non-rpg fans and rpg fans already know about it.

As far as i know, game commercials are rare here in Brazil, unless we are talking about really big IPs like CoD, FIFA and AC. I remember seeing some more during the PS4/X1 launch, but after some months it went silent again.

They are a kids-centric brand (that doesn't mean only kids can enjoy their products, just that they focus on kids first more often than not).

It's not much different in the US ... most of their marketing is on kids/cartoon networks. You go for 6-8 months without seeing a Nintendo commercial on regular TV channels, but if you flip to a kids network, you can see one in like six minutes.

They're not helping with their perceived stereotype.

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Nintendo is mainly tageting kids, so it shouldn't come off as surprising, I guess.

Very true, I have 2 kids so my TV is usually on channels like Disney/Nickelodeon/Cartoon Network and I see Nintendo advertisements all the time.