Sony Spunks A Cool Million - 'Kooky' New Ad Inside
Xmas marketing focus on Uncharted, Singstar and Ratchet
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe unveils its Xmas marketing plans today, with a cool £1 million allocated to a new, slightly strange TV ad campaign and a focus on pushing three key PS3 titles – Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, Ratchet and Clank and Singstar (pictured).
It’s a key first Christmas for Sony’s PS3 in the UK, with immense pressure to give the PS3 a much-needed sales boost. The new television advert is called "the entertainers” and was put together by SCEE’s agency TBWA/London.
The ad firmly positions the console as an "entertainment super computer” that plays games as well as storing music, films and photos.
Alan Duncan, marketing director at SCEE says that, "The new campaign is designed to showcase the wealth of entertainment available on PlayStation 3."
"To compete in such a competitive market it is important for Sony to get a multi-media message out there to differentiate the product from rivals", said Piers Harding-Rolls, games analyst at Screen Digest.
The last Screen Digest figures at the end of the third quarter this year show that the Nintendo Wii has sold 1.19m units in the UK, the Xbox 360 has sold 1.55m and the PS3 is in third place having shifted 450,000 units.
The Screen Digest forecast for 2008 puts the Wii at 3.9m, Xbox 360 at 3.8m and PS3 at 3.5m in the UK. Tune in this time next year to double check how accurate that forecast was!
Let's hope that TBWA manages to avoid getting this one banned...
To see the new PlayStation 3 TV ad cast your eyes downwards.
It’s a key first Christmas for Sony’s PS3 in the UK, with immense pressure to give the PS3 a much-needed sales boost. The new television advert is called "the entertainers” and was put together by SCEE’s agency TBWA/London.
The ad firmly positions the console as an "entertainment super computer” that plays games as well as storing music, films and photos.
Alan Duncan, marketing director at SCEE says that, "The new campaign is designed to showcase the wealth of entertainment available on PlayStation 3."
"To compete in such a competitive market it is important for Sony to get a multi-media message out there to differentiate the product from rivals", said Piers Harding-Rolls, games analyst at Screen Digest.
The last Screen Digest figures at the end of the third quarter this year show that the Nintendo Wii has sold 1.19m units in the UK, the Xbox 360 has sold 1.55m and the PS3 is in third place having shifted 450,000 units.
The Screen Digest forecast for 2008 puts the Wii at 3.9m, Xbox 360 at 3.8m and PS3 at 3.5m in the UK. Tune in this time next year to double check how accurate that forecast was!
Let's hope that TBWA manages to avoid getting this one banned...
To see the new PlayStation 3 TV ad cast your eyes downwards.
Companies:
SCEE
Games: Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction SingStar Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Games: Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction SingStar Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
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Comments
KillKillKillKill!!!!!!!!!!! 23 Nov 2007 12:54
1/13
I do not see the 360 selling another 2.2m in the UK by the end of 2008. Why would it? If it's only sold 1.55m in 2 years what is going to make sales more than double? These are the 360 exclusives for next year and I don't see them boosting sales more than Gears of War or Halo 3 did:
Banjo-Kazooie 3
Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2
Dogtag
Fable 2
Magna Carta 2
Mobile Ops: The One Year War
Ninja Gaiden 2
Too Human
Just for fun here are the PS3 2008 exclusives:
Metal Gear Solid 4
Gran Turismo 5
Final Fantasy 13
Tekken 6
LittleBigPlanet
Killzone 2
L.A. Noire
The Agency
Coded Arms: Assault
Eight Days
FIA World Touring Car Championship
The Getaway 3
Ni-Oh
Red Dead Revolver 2
Heavy Rain
Infamous
White Knight Chronicles
Haze
Banjo-Kazooie 3
Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2
Dogtag
Fable 2
Magna Carta 2
Mobile Ops: The One Year War
Ninja Gaiden 2
Too Human
Just for fun here are the PS3 2008 exclusives:
Metal Gear Solid 4
Gran Turismo 5
Final Fantasy 13
Tekken 6
LittleBigPlanet
Killzone 2
L.A. Noire
The Agency
Coded Arms: Assault
Eight Days
FIA World Touring Car Championship
The Getaway 3
Ni-Oh
Red Dead Revolver 2
Heavy Rain
Infamous
White Knight Chronicles
Haze
Gaz 23 Nov 2007 13:27
2/13
Whyy aren't Sony Europe using the US ads? They're spot on and really make me excited about PS3, this stuff is just crap...
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Charliemouse 23 Nov 2007 14:00
3/13
What a load of old art school wank.
S.A.P.S. was better than this...
S.A.P.S. was better than this...
zoydwheeler 23 Nov 2007 14:09
4/13
I quite like it. It's memorable. I think it will work and help to shift the £299 PS3s over the next couple of months... And I cannot think of Nintendo or Microsoft ads that come close to this in terms of style.
Charliemouse 23 Nov 2007 14:13
5/13
It depends; are they just showing this or will there be any gameplay footage or box art or anything . Style over substance?
zoydwheeler 23 Nov 2007 14:22
6/13
Does the general casual consumer give a flying fcuk about gameplay footage?
Charliemouse 23 Nov 2007 14:33
8/13
zoydwheeler wrote:
Does the general casual consumer give a flying fcuk about gameplay footage?
Um yes. Hugely. There's no point telling them that the games look beautiful as a poodle without backing it up. Even a few seconds of Lair would help!
zoydwheeler 23 Nov 2007 15:46
9/13
lol @ "no point telling them that the games look beautiful as a poodle"
I'm not sure of the thinking behind it, I must admit. Perhaps it's the show a little bit of leg and leave them panting for more thing?
I'm not sure of the thinking behind it, I must admit. Perhaps it's the show a little bit of leg and leave them panting for more thing?
config 23 Nov 2007 17:30
10/13
What is SCEE doing?
Is it trying to kill any hope of PS3 succeeding?
That advert, like all the This Is Live ads before it (not to mention the previous generation's Third Place), is a fscking shambles.
Is it trying to kill any hope of PS3 succeeding?
That advert, like all the This Is Live ads before it (not to mention the previous generation's Third Place), is a fscking shambles.
Saurian 23 Nov 2007 17:39
11/13
I seem to remember a lot of these 'exclusives' were also supposed to exclusives in 2007 as well. Quite a few of your list will not see release in 2008 for the same reasons. Some are not exclusives at all. And you have missed out one hell of a lot of the 360 exclusives, most likely to try to prove your point. Must admit, Drakes Fortune does look interesting, and I would like to see more of that. But nothing else on the PS3 side is remotely interesting.
The reasons 360 will sell well are that the 360 already has around 200 games out for it, has backwards compatibilty, and has a brilliant Live service, all of which PS3 sadly lacks.
The reasons 360 will sell well are that the 360 already has around 200 games out for it, has backwards compatibilty, and has a brilliant Live service, all of which PS3 sadly lacks.
Plasmoid 25 Nov 2007 14:53
12/13
There is a very good reason why the PS3 ad's are completly different.
In the Us the 40gb is now going for $399 rrp, so your average joe gamer ( or his parents ) can walk in and pick one up and go home and play terrible games all day.
Over here its what, £299 rrp. So your average John gamer with the equivalent of $600 in his back pocket.... yeah, slight problem there.
They PS3 is selling to average people, interested in gaming and blu-ray a little over in the US. Here you have to be a hardcore gamer with an insane fanboyish interest in blu-ray to consider buying one... and you probabaly already have. But then there is also the artsy yuppy types with more money then sense, and will like this ad and pretend to understand it... and maybe even buy it.
In the Us the 40gb is now going for $399 rrp, so your average joe gamer ( or his parents ) can walk in and pick one up and go home and play terrible games all day.
Over here its what, £299 rrp. So your average John gamer with the equivalent of $600 in his back pocket.... yeah, slight problem there.
They PS3 is selling to average people, interested in gaming and blu-ray a little over in the US. Here you have to be a hardcore gamer with an insane fanboyish interest in blu-ray to consider buying one... and you probabaly already have. But then there is also the artsy yuppy types with more money then sense, and will like this ad and pretend to understand it... and maybe even buy it.
PreciousRoi 26 Nov 2007 03:19
13/13
Yeah, the US ads are actually effective. I am impressed with the latest (US) PS3 ads, even if they are "sound and fury", they absolutely do an effective job of making the PS3 look like all that and a bag of chips. I'm sure this latest round of ads has the folks in Redmond sitting up and paying attention, we'll see how they translate into actual PS3 sales. Sony needed this (the US ads) months ago, might be too late now.