A3.5 - The Power of Word of Mouth

The cheapest and most effective tool that any marketer can use to promote a product is word of mouth - but some of the time, it's not the company themselves making the buzz about their own product.

The Wii U is a brand new console - one that plenty of avid video gamers (mainly the ones that will keep track of anything new in the gaming industry) will be excited to learn about. And now with the Internet becoming so much larger and giving so many people new opportunities, there has been a new door opened for advertisers that costs them no money at all -  in fact, they earn more money than what they spend.

Let's Play is not a new phenomenon but in the last year it has grown to the extents that there are now YouTube channels in the top 100 most subscribed that are just people playing a video game for people's entertainment. They can average 2 million views on each of their videos each day and they are effectively promoting the product for free.

The example that I have given above is the most subscribed Let's Player on Youtube, Felix Kjellberg - a Swedish YouTuber better known by his username PewDiePie. At last count, he has over 5.5 million subscribers meaning that every single video that he posts is reaching that amount of people every single day. 

For the Wii U, this is a very good way of showing off what the console can do to a more mature audience - mainly those aged 18 to 25. The game that Felix is playing in this Walkthough is the first game to be released with the Wii U called ZombiU.

Not only does he show off the improved graphics whilst commenting on the quality of previous Nintendo products, he shows live game-play and gives his opinions through out - pretty much giving the audience a video review of the game.

It's an endorsement of sorts as so many more people are likely to watch this and hear of the Wii U and it's games through people like PewDiePie than they are watching TV. It's free niche marketing.

A3.4 - Mind Mapping Ideas

A3.3 - Case Study

To be able to further understand how to market the Nintendo Wii U, I have looked into other cases of video game/console marketing.

Recently, the Japanese company Sony spent 50 million dollars on the marketing campaign for their latest handheld console - the PSVita.
The "Never Stop Playing" campaign aimed to have adverts spreading across TV and the Internet - with the results reaching Facebook, YouTube and other social networking sites and billboards starting in North America before spreading to the various parts of the world the console was being released in.

Posters, such as the one above, were spread across North America in the run-up to the release of Sony's most anticipated console to date - using simple techniques to get passersby to look at the poster. The four symbols (the square, X, triangle and circle) are key features of all of the Play Station models so anyone familiar with those consoles will be immediately aware that they are looking at an advertisement for a Play Station product (even if they don't read the name on the console shown or the product name in the top right hand corner).

Also, showing characters from popular Play Station products (like Little Big Planet) creates more interest for those who loved the original version of the games.

And the placement of the posters was key. Putting them just anywhere wouldn't really work as effectively, so placing them in areas like a bus stop works well because you are guaranteed views - either from people walking by, people waiting for a bus and even those on the bus as it pauses to allow people to board.

The trailer above was released at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) in 2011 as a teaser for things to come - a first look at the console even when it was still in production. It started to build the hype amongst fans of the PSP and other Sony games by showing off the quality of the graphics, probable gaming titles and general features that make the PS Vita a unique console.

And that was the point of it - to show off the unique selling points of the PS Vita (such as it's pressure/touch sensitive back which helps manipulate environments in certain games).

During the initial release of the PS Vita, Sony created a specific YouTube channel dedicated to videos of trailers, teaser clips and general advertisement for the console. One of the most viewed videos on the channel was also released as a television advert - one of the above the line marketing techniques that helped to give the PS Vita further promotion.

It is an effective video too as it takes into consideration the growing trend of playing games online with other people - showing that this console yet again has a unique selling point as other handheld consoles can go online but this one takes it to the next level of having connectivity like Xbox Live through Sony's Playstation Network.

And though it is primarily for males, they try to incorporate the growing number of female gamers by giving a woman a powerful gaming role rather than the cutesy games that females are normally shown to be playing. They could have had her playing something simpler but they put her in a boxing ring against a man twice her size - increasing it's attempts to be gender equal.

Sources:

• cnet News, used 5/2/13 - http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57377041-1/sony-spending-$50-million-on-ps-vita-marketing/
• Never Stop Playing, used 5/2/13 - http://www.behance.net/gallery/PlayStation-Vita-Poster/3006323
• Bus Stop Poster, used 5/2/13 - http://www.psvitahub.com/2012/04/ps-vita-ad-ridicules-iphone-gaming.html

A3.1 - Brief Ideas