In yet more news to show that the next gen is indeed coming, SCEA has announced that they’ve brought on a new ad agency after working with Deutsch/LA for 6 years (almost the whole PS3 generation). -PSLS
Skip the mascots, just show sexy, mind-blowing games and a $349 price tag. And have the damn thing out in September. If they beat MS to the start, they'll trump this gen.
I'd love it if we just had one sku too. No one really wants the crap sku.
that one way of doing things but given what previous generation have taught us (and advertising 101), you want it to have a mass appeal to it. Consoles that have came out on top have all manage to expand the video game market as a whole. PS1 ability to play CDs, Ps2 ability to play DVD, and Wii with Wii Fitt. I also believe ps3 being one of the best blu-ray players also helped it. I think Ps4 should be like your personal assistant (siri, Svoice, Google Now). One thing people have to give Nintendo is the Tvii does it right!
@ Muerte. Historically, its the tech-enthusiasts and fanboys who buy first; those are the ones you need to appeal to at the outset. In any generation. Mass market penetration comes later in the cycle alongside price-drops and family oriented software.
Here is my pitch. Get CHUCK NORRIS in the commercial and make him fight highly detailed, incredibly realistic Kratos or Nathan Drake and let the fight draw or something and have him say a quirky line like "It's tough to win when the competition is this good... even for me!" then the camera pans out. He is actually sitting in his living room, playing a PS4.
The background blurs out, a PS4 image drops in from the top with a great tag line or something. Like they had IT ONLY DOES EVERYTHING. Change it to something else that leaves a great impression.
I'd prefer two SKU's. One for rich bastards, and one for poor (old) students like me with a contract!
Doesn't hurt anyone, right? Plus, you could reach a bigger market with a less steep price point.
I'm all for options!
I don't know why, but I sort of feel like PS4 will dominate the next generation. Maybe it's because MS proved lackluster twice, and Nintendo didn't bring anything nearly as revolutionary to the table as motion controls did. After all, touch is not a new thing for home consoles, motion was.
Also, I would like to return to the old school ads they had in the 90s and early 2000s. Some of those campaigns were interesting and out-of-the-box thinking :) (freaky as hell, too!)
They need a new ad agency as the one they had clearly wasnt working! Partly why Xbox was so dominant was ads. You hardly saw ads for PS3 compared to 360 in the states. I know this and I like in the UK!
I know Sony doesn't advertise enough but even when they did hey dnt show what they are selling ps3 wise. Even in their TV commercials they show their other products. Just focus on one at a time
Watch the resistance 3 ad and it's more for Kevin butter and ps move than actually showing how great resistance3 is.
Show gameplay Show block buster moments Show what reviewers are saying
Add kickass music to that, no need for any mascots
Sony Publish quality games let that quality show itself. Adding mascots only takes away from the product itself
As a hardcore gaming enthusiast, Michael commercials were okay for me. But to the average gamer (not even necessarily a casual gamer), the Michael commercials came off as a bit geeky and cringe-worthy. I mean, u have all these grown men dressed up as fictional characters, yelling out "for michael" and the point/message of all that is not made entirely clear to the average person watching the video. It looked like a strange, dark, weird cosplay convention. Every facet of those commercials had "insider" clues to them that only hardcore gamers (like the type to make n4g accounts) would understand. So much of the commercial's message was understated, making it feel like the average gamer had to decifer it. The hardcore gamer may understand what's going on, but then again the hardcore gamer already keeps up with the happenings in the industry.
So, I think that showing ACTUAL gameplay footage, mentioning positive review ratings in the advertising, etc is a smart way to go. No gimmicks.
Well while the Michael ad was good, that was the only good thing to come out from them lol, if i were sony i would hire actual playstation network users, they have the passion and i think some of them would do a better job than all those marketing companies lol.
i would love to see " Universe of Entertainment" coming back again with a new slogan for psvita " Entertainment on the Go"
If this means MORE ads then fine, thats great. However this company came up with really good ad ideas this generation. The problem wasn't the content, it was the lack of slots. It took them a while to get away from "being serious" and to Kevin Butler, but even the serious ones put interest in things.
Like I said, more slots, thats all they need. You can have the worst commercials ever, but have enough slots to hammer it home, and you are gold. Look at Geico.
It's about time sony, i can't even imagine how well the ps3 would be doing if it actually had good advertising. They got good towards the middle but died off.
I agree, it is about damn time! Sony used to have good advertisements during the PS1 and Ps2 days and they used to be shown all the time. I barely saw any commercials for the PS3, whereas the Wii and 360 were shown constantly.
I am glad Sony went with a different company. They had some good ideas but failed hard overall for the PS3.
Here is to hoping the PS4 and Vita will get better advertisements and shown more regularly.
It will be interesting to see what this fresh meat can do for Sony's marketing... Hopefully we'll see more PS3 logos after game ads? And maybe some better and more frequent exclusive advertisements.
Finally, besides the Michael commercials for Playstation All Stars all of Sony's commercials suck for selling their items. Like when Resistance 3 came out, they showed Kevin Butler with the playstation move controller and shooting Chimera that weren't from the game. No gameplay at all, that wasn't a resistance 3 commercial it was a Move controller commercial.
and the morphing commercials that aired when Sony dropped the price the first time! beyond that! the commercials for Sony's Hardware were crap. I didnt like the Micheal ad and the one for PS All stars could have been better
The important thing is to not try and make something award winning, but something that actually sells hardware/software.
Michael was good I don't see why they fired themm, although they did Kevin Butler aswell which was the best thing which came out of them
Sony are really trimming the fat latley...getting in shape and cutting the weak loose ends from this gen.
Well while the Michael ad was good, that was the only good thing to come out from them lol, if i were sony i would hire actual playstation network users, they have the passion and i think some of them would do a better job than all those marketing companies lol.
i would love to see " Universe of Entertainment" coming back again with a new slogan for psvita " Entertainment on the Go"
please no weird crying baby student film commercials
If this means MORE ads then fine, thats great. However this company came up with really good ad ideas this generation. The problem wasn't the content, it was the lack of slots. It took them a while to get away from "being serious" and to Kevin Butler, but even the serious ones put interest in things.
Like I said, more slots, thats all they need. You can have the worst commercials ever, but have enough slots to hammer it home, and you are gold. Look at Geico.