What is your opinion of the way Sony has handled the marketing of the PS3?? - Page 2 - Blu-ray Forum

Septimus Prime · 01-07-2009, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rike255

But did you know about the Ps3 beforehand? I honestly believe that the commercials they make ONLY appeal to people who are already interested/informed about the product. It does nothing to draw people in if they don't know what the commercial is talking about. THAT is the problem.

I completely agree. I read your earlier post and thought to myself that they are marketing to a niche—the prosumer—while their competitors are targeting the general consumer. Reading that post and the ones talking about Sony not advertising enough, I came to the realization that Sony really advertises PS3 mostly on niche channels, like History, Discovery, Cartoon Network, et al.

Meanwhile, I see Wii and 360 commercials on network channels like CBS, and I think that makes all the difference.

mikejet · 01-07-2009, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Septimus Prime

I completely agree. I read your earlier post and thought to myself that they are marketing to a niche—the prosumer—while their competitors are targeting the general consumer. Reading that post and the ones talking about Sony not advertising enough, I came to the realization that Sony really advertises PS3 mostly on niche channels, like History, Discovery, Cartoon Network, et al.

Meanwhile, I see Wii and 360 commercials on network channels like CBS, and I think that makes all the difference.

That may be true but if there are gamers that don't own one but want a Blu-ray player they would be hard pressed to not buy the PS3. I mean why wouldn't you?

A funny thing happened over the weekend though. I took wanted over to my wife's parents house to watch and it wouldn't play on their 301. I had to do a firmware upgrade on it. Their son said "See, this wouldn't have happened if you had just gotten the PS3!" and that's true since their house has a Wi-fi router.

It's not just Sony though, the sales person at Best Buy had them get a regular Sony BD player and never mentioned the PS3. So stores aren't supporting it much either.

Branden · 01-07-2009, 08:08 PM

D. and i'm only giving sony a passing grade simply because blu-ray won the format war.
sony needed/needs to make commercials that are informative instead of just fun. a bunch of game/movie images projected onto buildings in some generic inner city doesn't tell anyone anything useful.

b0bby · 01-07-2009, 08:14 PM

i just saw a ps3 commercial for the first time, well since i can remember the other day. some girl walks in and was like what is that. the dude was like its a media player thing and names off movies from the video store, naming guy flicks and she says some chick flick name. i watch a lot of tv and this was the first console ad that i can remember of, there are some game ads like LBP. pretty shtty marketing imo.

PS. were there commercials pre launch and during launch period for the console? i dont remember any but of course i have bad memory.

Steelmaker · 01-07-2009, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b0bby

i just saw a ps3 commercial for the first time, well since i can remember the other day. some girl walks in and was like what is that. the dude was like its a media player thing and names off movies from the video store, naming guy flicks and she says some chick flick name. i watch a lot of tv and this was the first console ad that i can remember of, there are some game ads like LBP. pretty shtty marketing imo.

PS. were there commercials pre launch and during launch period for the console? i dont remember any but of course i have bad memory.

There were those horrid "eye of the beholder" commercials that had creepy dolls and flocks of ravens in what looked to be a padded room. My god those were terrible!

The one where the PS3 turns into a giant octopus were better. They were cooler to look at but I still don't think they were informative enough. The commercials where games and blu rays are being projected on people's shirts and the sides of buildings are retarded. They don't inform the consumer of ANYTHING (isn't that the whole point of a commercial? To educate consumers about a product?).

Like I said, I think an actual INFO-mercial would do wonders for the PS3.

gillies · 01-07-2009, 08:58 PM

I only got a PS3 because the Best Buy near me was out of BluRay players right after HDDVD went belly up. The sales kid at Best Buy told me that everyone had been sitting on the fence in terms of what to purchase (BluRay vs HDDVD), and once BluRay won the format war, they were all sold out and didn't know when more were to come in.

I had a new 1080p television and wanted the BluRay bad, so the Best Buy kid suggested I get a PS3. At the time, I didn't know a darn thing about them. The kid told me about all the capabilities the PS3 had and, considering it was selling at the same price as a BluRay player at the time, I had to ask him what the catch was. It's heading toward a year of ownership now, and I'm very happy to say there was no catch - the PS3 f'n rocks as a media center device, and my mom and brother were so impressed they purchased one as well.

To answer the OPs original question: I agree with those who suggest marketing the PS3 as a media center. I'd also suggest advertising toward to Boomer crowd. The kiddies already know why to buy it, but many don't have the cash. Get grandpa to buy and appreciate it, though, and watch the kids get one for Christmas next year!

I don't know if I've ever even seen a PS3 commercial?

BoneWSO · 01-07-2009, 09:23 PM

It would be awesome if Sony could get the two guys who do the mac and pc ads to do a PS3/360 ad with the microsoft guy touting the games of the 360 but it is RROD, and the mac guy spout off all the things he can do with a PS3 and he's sitting there actually playing a PS3, never having any hardware problems. I think it would be a great commercial.

jono_0101 · 01-07-2009, 09:36 PM

from a marketing perspective, i think where sony needs to improve is to show all of the other capabilities of the PS3. i mean, even if you arent a gamer or anything i think its pretty safe to say most people know the PS3 is a game console. but honestly, the biggest selling point they need to be addressing in their commercials is the blu ray capability.

i think there are likely a lot of people that dont know that the PS3 has a built in blu ray drive, or if they do, there are still people out there who dont know what blu ray is. everytime i am in the aisle at best buy i hear at least one person ask, "what is blu ray?" and everytime i rent one, the clerk asks if i know its a blu ray because apparently a LOT of people return them after they discover they need a special player to play them. the biggest problem with selling the PS3 is the price, and showing that it is not only a game console, but also a blu ray player will help justify the price for people on the fence (for both next gen gaming and high def movies), and there are still a lot of consumers on the fence for the taking

just my 2 cents

lettucenpico · 01-07-2009, 10:03 PM

PS3 is a powerful gaming system, but yet it hasn't really shown what it can do. Hopefully in the next few years they will put out games that can handle the cell power that the PS3 has. It is worth every penny with the playstation 3. Being able to watch blu ray movies, play games, media center for the price, is nothing to be complaining about. A stand alone blu-ray player can cost u 300-600. One thing that PS3 needs to fix is there NETWORK. We all can agree that they need to fix it. Other than that, PS3 is worth having.

Blu-Generation · 01-07-2009, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lettucenpico

PS3 is a powerful gaming system, but yet it hasn't really shown what it can do. Hopefully in the next few years they will put out games that can handle the cell power that the PS3 has.

The PS3 showed its power with Uncharted in 07 and MGS4 last year.
What do you mean by "in the next few years?" You have Killzone 2 coming next month.

That one really show the power of the cell. If anyone still don't think it does, they need to get their eyes check.

Golden Kintaro · 01-07-2009, 10:59 PM

Sony is doing a very poor job of handling their advertising campaign for the PS3. I concur with the statements tossed about that most current PS3 owners bought the system because they had already done their research. Sony was, and still is using their PS3 to fight two battles - the high definition and console game fronts. I like an intriguing commercial as much as the next guy but seriously, some of the commercials are just too abstract and accomplish nothing in terms of trying to introduce and sell the PS3.

Someone earlier said that a normal commercial showing a videogame causes most people to switch off in their head and start channel-flipping. That may be, for people not interested in videogames in the first place. There isn't much that would sway their opinions. For people like us, it's a good tactic, because we need to see what games are on the system. There should be two waves to their advertising strategy: Commercials solely for videogames, and commercials solely for showing off the Blu-ray player and other media center capabilities.

lettucenpico · 01-07-2009, 11:01 PM

I just now started playing Uncharted, heard good stuff about it since it came out. MGS4 was good on there graphics, just think they can have done better. Hopefully Square will show the true power of PS3 with the Final Fantasy 13 series.

kingofgrills · 01-07-2009, 11:12 PM

How should Sony handle marketing of the PS3? Here are my thoughts:

1) Quit letting the CEO, that British guy, from ever uttering another word about the PS3 or Blu-ray outside of Sony's walls. Everytime he mentions something in the press, it's negative, and reporters plaster it everywhere.

2) Fire the current ad agency. The need to find an agency that can clearly relay the simple message that the PS3 has fantastic games, is a fantastic Blu-ray player, and does a whole bunch of other major stuff like acting as a PC media extender. We don't need to see more ads of hovering PS3s in white rooms, or murky pictures of Resistance 2 or Motorstorm: Pacific Rift playing on the side of brick apartment buildings. People who don't already know those games or have a PS3 won't have a clue as to what they're watching. They could learn a few things from the simple and clean 360 and Wii ads.

3) Sony needs to really beef up the dev kits it gives to game developers. The tools need to allow for easier management of Cell, including better anti-aliasing support and SPE management. All PS3 games that want to should have the ability to look like Killzone 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, Uncharted, or Ratchet and Clank. It's not really a marketing thing, but it really is. Nothing markets a system better than kick @ss games. If it were made easier to develop games of that caliber, PS3 would become lead platform for non-exclusive games in a heart beat.

4) Sony needs better in-store Kiosk management. Often, the demos I see on PS3 kiosks in Gamestop and other retailers are weak. The people viewing those screens and touching those controllers are the same ones walking in to buy a Wii or 360. The kiosks are the spot where Sony has pretty much the last opportunity to grab a new buyer before pulling the trigger. Triple A title releases, such as Killzone 2, Resistance 2, and Heavy Rain should be hitting as playable demos in the retailers perhaps even before they hit PSN. Leaving the top tier game demos as Gamestop or Core exclusives is a big mistake and wasted opportunity.

Sony just needs to market the crap out of a simple message:

"PS3. The best games. The best movies. The best experience."

Blu-Generation · 01-07-2009, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lettucenpico

Hopefully Square will show the true power of PS3 with the Final Fantasy 13 series.

So far they already did, especially with VersusXIII.
Have you seen the in-game screenshots? They look lovely.

As for what I think about the way Sony is handling the PS3 commercial/marketing, I think they are doing poorly.

Golden Kintaro and kingofgrills, I agree with both of you.

Sony just needs to beef it up, with the right method, the PS3 will sell like crazy.

Cyorg · 01-07-2009, 11:23 PM

They should have stayed along the same lines as the black octopus commercials... They were cool. They got you pump up about the PS3. And they were televised frequently... Not only do the new commercials suck, they're hardly even shown. No wonder I keep hearing that the PS3 is dying.

reiella · 01-07-2009, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

I suggested this in another thread but to be honest, with all the PS3 can do it's impossible to explain it all in a 30 second commercial. That's why I suggested they actually consider doing some infomercials. Why not? If it's good enough for Ron Popeil it should be good enough for Sony.

I also suggested that they look at getting a spokes person. Someone who is popular and would be influential. This is often a successful strategy. The most recent example I can think of is the Brooke Shields Volksvagen "don't have babies just for German engineering commercials." Those are really funny and I'll bet anything they have proven to be successful.

My biggest gripe with Sony's advertising (besides there not being enough of it) is that it seems that they are trying way too hard to be edgy and clever. I dont' understand why they don't make their commercials more straight forward and say "hey, here's the PS3 and this is what it can do." Plus I don't understand why they don't go after M$ more directly in their commercials. Remember all of the "Sega does what Nintendon't" commercials? Those were very successful. Look at all of the Apple commercials that go after M$ windows. Those are such simple commercials but they have a huge impact.

"Hi, I'm a PS3" "And I'm a XBox!" Commericals would be funny, but prolly a bad idea

.

Could even get the same guy to play the XBox as the guy that does the PC

.

An informercial though? Why not just announce QVC as the sole supplier of PS3s to the US.

Part of the problem is that Sony really doesn't want to shot themselves [and their other technology partners with the BDA] with over-emphasizing in the marketing how great of a deal the PS3 is as just a Blu-Ray player. Part of the reason for the whole switch over was so the CES can start making money again

.

Steelmaker · 01-08-2009, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reiella

Part of the problem is that Sony really doesn't want to shot themselves [and their other technology partners with the BDA] with over-emphasizing in the marketing how great of a deal the PS3 is as just a Blu-Ray player. Part of the reason for the whole switch over was so the CES can start making money again

.

See I don't get that. Why go to the trouble of putting a blu ray player in your machine if you're not going to tout that as one of the advantages to owning it??

MOONPHASE · 01-08-2009, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reiella

"Hi, I'm a PS3" "And I'm a XBox!" Commericals would be funny, but prolly a bad idea

.

why not? Mac does that all of the time to Windows

Maximus · 01-08-2009, 01:22 PM

It has been weak at best.

Far too quirky and niche. SCE should have gone for getting the bloody message across instead of having a thumb penis and masturbation to footy...

dahoover · 01-08-2009, 02:10 PM

I love my PS3 and all the games I have bought but they really need to market their games. They rely too much on word of mouth, unlike Microsoft who markets their big games like crazy.

I think that is why sales were not as impressive as we thought they would be on games like Resistance 2 and Littlebigplanet. I really hope they provide a massive marketing campaign for Killzone 2 because that game could sell several millions of copies if marketed right.

01-07-2009, 08:58 PM	#26
gillies Member Member since:Aug 2008 Location:Avondale, AZ	I only got a PS3 because the Best Buy near me was out of BluRay players right after HDDVD went belly up. The sales kid at Best Buy told me that everyone had been sitting on the fence in terms of what to purchase (BluRay vs HDDVD), and once BluRay won the format war, they were all sold out and didn't know when more were to come in. I had a new 1080p television and wanted the BluRay bad, so the Best Buy kid suggested I get a PS3. At the time, I didn't know a darn thing about them. The kid told me about all the capabilities the PS3 had and, considering it was selling at the same price as a BluRay player at the time, I had to ask him what the catch was. It's heading toward a year of ownership now, and I'm very happy to say there was no catch - the PS3 f'n rocks as a media center device, and my mom and brother were so impressed they purchased one as well. To answer the OPs original question: I agree with those who suggest marketing the PS3 as a media center. I'd also suggest advertising toward to Boomer crowd. The kiddies already know why to buy it, but many don't have the cash. Get grandpa to buy and appreciate it, though, and watch the kids get one for Christmas next year! I don't know if I've ever even seen a PS3 commercial? Last edited by gillies; 01-07-2009 at 09:06 PM.

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01-07-2009, 08:08 PM	#23
Branden Senior Member Member since:Jun 2007 Location:Calgary, Alberta 4K collection:28 Blu-ray collection:558	D. and i'm only giving sony a passing grade simply because blu-ray won the format war. sony needed/needs to make commercials that are informative instead of just fun. a bunch of game/movie images projected onto buildings in some generic inner city doesn't tell anyone anything useful.

01-07-2009, 08:14 PM	#24
b0bby Blu-ray Guru Member since:Sep 2008 Location:North Carolina Blu-ray collection:153	i just saw a ps3 commercial for the first time, well since i can remember the other day. some girl walks in and was like what is that. the dude was like its a media player thing and names off movies from the video store, naming guy flicks and she says some chick flick name. i watch a lot of tv and this was the first console ad that i can remember of, there are some game ads like LBP. pretty shtty marketing imo. PS. were there commercials pre launch and during launch period for the console? i dont remember any but of course i have bad memory.

01-07-2009, 09:23 PM	#27
BoneWSO Active Member Member since:Oct 2007 Location:United States of America Blu-ray collection:199 Trading Score:1	It would be awesome if Sony could get the two guys who do the mac and pc ads to do a PS3/360 ad with the microsoft guy touting the games of the 360 but it is RROD, and the mac guy spout off all the things he can do with a PS3 and he's sitting there actually playing a PS3, never having any hardware problems. I think it would be a great commercial.

01-07-2009, 09:36 PM	#28
jono_0101 Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Aug 2008 Location:St. Louis Blu-ray collection:164 Trading Score:7	from a marketing perspective, i think where sony needs to improve is to show all of the other capabilities of the PS3. i mean, even if you arent a gamer or anything i think its pretty safe to say most people know the PS3 is a game console. but honestly, the biggest selling point they need to be addressing in their commercials is the blu ray capability. i think there are likely a lot of people that dont know that the PS3 has a built in blu ray drive, or if they do, there are still people out there who dont know what blu ray is. everytime i am in the aisle at best buy i hear at least one person ask, "what is blu ray?" and everytime i rent one, the clerk asks if i know its a blu ray because apparently a LOT of people return them after they discover they need a special player to play them. the biggest problem with selling the PS3 is the price, and showing that it is not only a game console, but also a blu ray player will help justify the price for people on the fence (for both next gen gaming and high def movies), and there are still a lot of consumers on the fence for the taking just my 2 cents

01-07-2009, 10:03 PM	#29
lettucenpico Power Member Member since:May 2008 Location:O-town FL Home Theater Gallery:4 Blu-ray collection:45 Trading Score:3	PS3 is a powerful gaming system, but yet it hasn't really shown what it can do. Hopefully in the next few years they will put out games that can handle the cell power that the PS3 has. It is worth every penny with the playstation 3. Being able to watch blu ray movies, play games, media center for the price, is nothing to be complaining about. A stand alone blu-ray player can cost u 300-600. One thing that PS3 needs to fix is there NETWORK. We all can agree that they need to fix it. Other than that, PS3 is worth having.

01-07-2009, 10:59 PM	#31
Golden Kintaro Active Member Member since:Nov 2007 Location:Orange County, CA 4K collection:43 Blu-ray collection:264 DVD collection:1	Sony is doing a very poor job of handling their advertising campaign for the PS3. I concur with the statements tossed about that most current PS3 owners bought the system because they had already done their research. Sony was, and still is using their PS3 to fight two battles - the high definition and console game fronts. I like an intriguing commercial as much as the next guy but seriously, some of the commercials are just too abstract and accomplish nothing in terms of trying to introduce and sell the PS3. Someone earlier said that a normal commercial showing a videogame causes most people to switch off in their head and start channel-flipping. That may be, for people not interested in videogames in the first place. There isn't much that would sway their opinions. For people like us, it's a good tactic, because we need to see what games are on the system. There should be two waves to their advertising strategy: Commercials solely for videogames, and commercials solely for showing off the Blu-ray player and other media center capabilities.

01-07-2009, 11:01 PM	#32
lettucenpico Power Member Member since:May 2008 Location:O-town FL Home Theater Gallery:4 Blu-ray collection:45 Trading Score:3	I just now started playing Uncharted, heard good stuff about it since it came out. MGS4 was good on there graphics, just think they can have done better. Hopefully Square will show the true power of PS3 with the Final Fantasy 13 series.

01-07-2009, 11:12 PM	#33
kingofgrills Blu-ray Guru Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Dec 2007 Location:PDX Home Theater Gallery:31 4K collection:5 Blu-ray collection:81 Trading Score:31	How should Sony handle marketing of the PS3? Here are my thoughts: 1) Quit letting the CEO, that British guy, from ever uttering another word about the PS3 or Blu-ray outside of Sony's walls. Everytime he mentions something in the press, it's negative, and reporters plaster it everywhere. 2) Fire the current ad agency. The need to find an agency that can clearly relay the simple message that the PS3 has fantastic games, is a fantastic Blu-ray player, and does a whole bunch of other major stuff like acting as a PC media extender. We don't need to see more ads of hovering PS3s in white rooms, or murky pictures of Resistance 2 or Motorstorm: Pacific Rift playing on the side of brick apartment buildings. People who don't already know those games or have a PS3 won't have a clue as to what they're watching. They could learn a few things from the simple and clean 360 and Wii ads. 3) Sony needs to really beef up the dev kits it gives to game developers. The tools need to allow for easier management of Cell, including better anti-aliasing support and SPE management. All PS3 games that want to should have the ability to look like Killzone 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, Uncharted, or Ratchet and Clank. It's not really a marketing thing, but it really is. Nothing markets a system better than kick @ss games. If it were made easier to develop games of that caliber, PS3 would become lead platform for non-exclusive games in a heart beat. 4) Sony needs better in-store Kiosk management. Often, the demos I see on PS3 kiosks in Gamestop and other retailers are weak. The people viewing those screens and touching those controllers are the same ones walking in to buy a Wii or 360. The kiosks are the spot where Sony has pretty much the last opportunity to grab a new buyer before pulling the trigger. Triple A title releases, such as Killzone 2, Resistance 2, and Heavy Rain should be hitting as playable demos in the retailers perhaps even before they hit PSN. Leaving the top tier game demos as Gamestop or Core exclusives is a big mistake and wasted opportunity. Sony just needs to market the crap out of a simple message: "PS3. The best games. The best movies. The best experience."

01-07-2009, 11:23 PM	#35
Cyorg Special Member Member since:Jul 2007 Location:San Antonio, TX. PSN ID: Cyorg Blu-ray collection:62 Blu-ray reviews:1	They should have stayed along the same lines as the black octopus commercials... They were cool. They got you pump up about the PS3. And they were televised frequently... Not only do the new commercials suck, they're hardly even shown. No wonder I keep hearing that the PS3 is dying.

01-08-2009, 01:22 PM	#39
Maximus Super Moderator Top contributor Member since:Nov 2006	It has been weak at best. Far too quirky and niche. SCE should have gone for getting the bloody message across instead of having a thumb penis and masturbation to footy...

01-08-2009, 02:10 PM	#40
dahoover Expert Member Member since:Jan 2008 Location:Bloomington, Indiana Blu-ray collection:230 DVD collection:107 Blu-ray reviews:2 Trading Score:25	I love my PS3 and all the games I have bought but they really need to market their games. They rely too much on word of mouth, unlike Microsoft who markets their big games like crazy. I think that is why sales were not as impressive as we thought they would be on games like Resistance 2 and Littlebigplanet. I really hope they provide a massive marketing campaign for Killzone 2 because that game could sell several millions of copies if marketed right.

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