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The debate over Microsoft/Sony's marketing strategies has been one of the foremost topics of discussion on the SR forums over recent weeks. This has mainly been bought about by the gradually more and more obscure PS2 adverts, and the recent Xbox campaign which has raised many questions over Microsoft's intelligence when it comes to promoting a product.
As discussed in detail in my "UNCREDITED GENIUS" post, I feel that maybe the two aforementioned companies haven't been given enough credit for their marketing plans, which although somewhat strange and indirectly connected with their consoles, DID achieve their point. Adverts are supposed to sell products, and they've done a great job of getting people's attention, and making discussion of these adverts commonplace wherever there's a games-player.
However, my point now is, how many types of marketing are there? From my point of view, TV commercials don't "sell" games to me. Posters don't "sell" games to me. "Websites" don't sell games to me. Any hardware/software I buy is usually bought because I enjoyed a previous version and thought the update (be it hardware as in the PS2 or a game) would be worth spending my money on. Alternatively, I buy games on the basis of reviews I read in magazines, on the SR website, etc.
Now, i'm hugely generalising, but i'm pretty sure that not many of us feel THAT influenced by TV commercials or printed adverts? Most of us who have been gamesplayers for some years buy our products in a similar way to the one I suggested above. Of course there are instances where a printed advert is influential in persuading us, but the majority of the time TV adverts/printed adverts, are designed to persuade those just getting into console-gaming.
The people most likely to buy products on the basis of advertising are those who are just entering the games-world, primarily parents buying gifts for their children. HOWEVER, in this instance surely adverts like the ones we're seeing from Microsoft and Sony AREN'T going to sell many consoles? Surely a parent wouldn't see one of Sony's THIRD PLACE adverts and suddenly decide on that console above the Xbox or GC?
Therefore, it's reasonable to assume that most of the products sold are sold on the basis of price, aesthetics (be it the packaging or running demo's you can watch in stores), or advice from a staff member of a particular store.
Again, it's a mass generalisation, but I know for one my parents wouldn't buy me a game/console on the basis of any adverts currently seen in magazines or on TV.
So, what's the one form of marketing that REALLY does work? Well, it's reviews. The chances are, the majority of gamesplayers read reviews and even if they deny ever taking much notice of what is said, it's more than likely that all reviews have a subconscious effect on our decisions to buy hardware/software.
If this be so, then just WHO are the Microsoft/Sony adverts really aimed at? It's not us, the gamesplayers, it's not those looking to buy consoles/games for the first time, so who are they trying to attract? Well, the answer is, they're probably not. They're probably just trying to attract attention to their product in an effort to sell to anyone who may happen to be drawn in by the strange approach to the TV commercials.
As far as influencing me (and i'm sure many of you) goes, there's only one type of marketing. Reviews (from magazines, websites, or recommendations from friends). Re-inforcing a point I made on an earlier post, word of mouth is preety much the only type of marketing that has any effect on us.
As discussed in detail in my "UNCREDITED GENIUS" post, I feel that maybe the two aforementioned companies haven't been given enough credit for their marketing plans, which although somewhat strange and indirectly connected with their consoles, DID achieve their point. Adverts are supposed to sell products, and they've done a great job of getting people's attention, and making discussion of these adverts commonplace wherever there's a games-player.
However, my point now is, how many types of marketing are there? From my point of view, TV commercials don't "sell" games to me. Posters don't "sell" games to me. "Websites" don't sell games to me. Any hardware/software I buy is usually bought because I enjoyed a previous version and thought the update (be it hardware as in the PS2 or a game) would be worth spending my money on. Alternatively, I buy games on the basis of reviews I read in magazines, on the SR website, etc.
Now, i'm hugely generalising, but i'm pretty sure that not many of us feel THAT influenced by TV commercials or printed adverts? Most of us who have been gamesplayers for some years buy our products in a similar way to the one I suggested above. Of course there are instances where a printed advert is influential in persuading us, but the majority of the time TV adverts/printed adverts, are designed to persuade those just getting into console-gaming.
The people most likely to buy products on the basis of advertising are those who are just entering the games-world, primarily parents buying gifts for their children. HOWEVER, in this instance surely adverts like the ones we're seeing from Microsoft and Sony AREN'T going to sell many consoles? Surely a parent wouldn't see one of Sony's THIRD PLACE adverts and suddenly decide on that console above the Xbox or GC?
Therefore, it's reasonable to assume that most of the products sold are sold on the basis of price, aesthetics (be it the packaging or running demo's you can watch in stores), or advice from a staff member of a particular store.
Again, it's a mass generalisation, but I know for one my parents wouldn't buy me a game/console on the basis of any adverts currently seen in magazines or on TV.
So, what's the one form of marketing that REALLY does work? Well, it's reviews. The chances are, the majority of gamesplayers read reviews and even if they deny ever taking much notice of what is said, it's more than likely that all reviews have a subconscious effect on our decisions to buy hardware/software.
If this be so, then just WHO are the Microsoft/Sony adverts really aimed at? It's not us, the gamesplayers, it's not those looking to buy consoles/games for the first time, so who are they trying to attract? Well, the answer is, they're probably not. They're probably just trying to attract attention to their product in an effort to sell to anyone who may happen to be drawn in by the strange approach to the TV commercials.
As far as influencing me (and i'm sure many of you) goes, there's only one type of marketing. Reviews (from magazines, websites, or recommendations from friends). Re-inforcing a point I made on an earlier post, word of mouth is preety much the only type of marketing that has any effect on us.
Exactly. Developers send their games to magazines for reviewing purposes, and then have to hope for a good review to encourage people to go out and buy the game.
How many games do you see that DON'T get reviewed in a magazine? It's the NUMBER ONE way of selling games.
How many games do you see that DON'T get reviewed in a magazine? It's the NUMBER ONE way of selling games.
fair point there,
can i just add as well that reviws are also the cheepest form of advertising a console or a game, they're pretty uch free and you dont have to spend a million pounds per cm2 in the edge to advertise ou product....
can i just add as well that reviws are also the cheepest form of advertising a console or a game, they're pretty uch free and you dont have to spend a million pounds per cm2 in the edge to advertise ou product....
The debate over Microsoft/Sony's marketing strategies has been one of the foremost topics of discussion on the SR forums over recent weeks. This has mainly been bought about by the gradually more and more obscure PS2 adverts, and the recent Xbox campaign which has raised many questions over Microsoft's intelligence when it comes to promoting a product.
As discussed in detail in my "UNCREDITED GENIUS" post, I feel that maybe the two aforementioned companies haven't been given enough credit for their marketing plans, which although somewhat strange and indirectly connected with their consoles, DID achieve their point. Adverts are supposed to sell products, and they've done a great job of getting people's attention, and making discussion of these adverts commonplace wherever there's a games-player.
However, my point now is, how many types of marketing are there? From my point of view, TV commercials don't "sell" games to me. Posters don't "sell" games to me. "Websites" don't sell games to me. Any hardware/software I buy is usually bought because I enjoyed a previous version and thought the update (be it hardware as in the PS2 or a game) would be worth spending my money on. Alternatively, I buy games on the basis of reviews I read in magazines, on the SR website, etc.
Now, i'm hugely generalising, but i'm pretty sure that not many of us feel THAT influenced by TV commercials or printed adverts? Most of us who have been gamesplayers for some years buy our products in a similar way to the one I suggested above. Of course there are instances where a printed advert is influential in persuading us, but the majority of the time TV adverts/printed adverts, are designed to persuade those just getting into console-gaming.
The people most likely to buy products on the basis of advertising are those who are just entering the games-world, primarily parents buying gifts for their children. HOWEVER, in this instance surely adverts like the ones we're seeing from Microsoft and Sony AREN'T going to sell many consoles? Surely a parent wouldn't see one of Sony's THIRD PLACE adverts and suddenly decide on that console above the Xbox or GC?
Therefore, it's reasonable to assume that most of the products sold are sold on the basis of price, aesthetics (be it the packaging or running demo's you can watch in stores), or advice from a staff member of a particular store.
Again, it's a mass generalisation, but I know for one my parents wouldn't buy me a game/console on the basis of any adverts currently seen in magazines or on TV.
So, what's the one form of marketing that REALLY does work? Well, it's reviews. The chances are, the majority of gamesplayers read reviews and even if they deny ever taking much notice of what is said, it's more than likely that all reviews have a subconscious effect on our decisions to buy hardware/software.
If this be so, then just WHO are the Microsoft/Sony adverts really aimed at? It's not us, the gamesplayers, it's not those looking to buy consoles/games for the first time, so who are they trying to attract? Well, the answer is, they're probably not. They're probably just trying to attract attention to their product in an effort to sell to anyone who may happen to be drawn in by the strange approach to the TV commercials.
As far as influencing me (and i'm sure many of you) goes, there's only one type of marketing. Reviews (from magazines, websites, or recommendations from friends). Re-inforcing a point I made on an earlier post, word of mouth is preety much the only type of marketing that has any effect on us.
As discussed in detail in my "UNCREDITED GENIUS" post, I feel that maybe the two aforementioned companies haven't been given enough credit for their marketing plans, which although somewhat strange and indirectly connected with their consoles, DID achieve their point. Adverts are supposed to sell products, and they've done a great job of getting people's attention, and making discussion of these adverts commonplace wherever there's a games-player.
However, my point now is, how many types of marketing are there? From my point of view, TV commercials don't "sell" games to me. Posters don't "sell" games to me. "Websites" don't sell games to me. Any hardware/software I buy is usually bought because I enjoyed a previous version and thought the update (be it hardware as in the PS2 or a game) would be worth spending my money on. Alternatively, I buy games on the basis of reviews I read in magazines, on the SR website, etc.
Now, i'm hugely generalising, but i'm pretty sure that not many of us feel THAT influenced by TV commercials or printed adverts? Most of us who have been gamesplayers for some years buy our products in a similar way to the one I suggested above. Of course there are instances where a printed advert is influential in persuading us, but the majority of the time TV adverts/printed adverts, are designed to persuade those just getting into console-gaming.
The people most likely to buy products on the basis of advertising are those who are just entering the games-world, primarily parents buying gifts for their children. HOWEVER, in this instance surely adverts like the ones we're seeing from Microsoft and Sony AREN'T going to sell many consoles? Surely a parent wouldn't see one of Sony's THIRD PLACE adverts and suddenly decide on that console above the Xbox or GC?
Therefore, it's reasonable to assume that most of the products sold are sold on the basis of price, aesthetics (be it the packaging or running demo's you can watch in stores), or advice from a staff member of a particular store.
Again, it's a mass generalisation, but I know for one my parents wouldn't buy me a game/console on the basis of any adverts currently seen in magazines or on TV.
So, what's the one form of marketing that REALLY does work? Well, it's reviews. The chances are, the majority of gamesplayers read reviews and even if they deny ever taking much notice of what is said, it's more than likely that all reviews have a subconscious effect on our decisions to buy hardware/software.
If this be so, then just WHO are the Microsoft/Sony adverts really aimed at? It's not us, the gamesplayers, it's not those looking to buy consoles/games for the first time, so who are they trying to attract? Well, the answer is, they're probably not. They're probably just trying to attract attention to their product in an effort to sell to anyone who may happen to be drawn in by the strange approach to the TV commercials.
As far as influencing me (and i'm sure many of you) goes, there's only one type of marketing. Reviews (from magazines, websites, or recommendations from friends). Re-inforcing a point I made on an earlier post, word of mouth is preety much the only type of marketing that has any effect on us.