MAY 4 Sony is reaching out to Mom, Dad and the kids in a bid to widen the appeal of its PlayStation 3.
Facing stiff competition from Nintendo’s family-friendly Wii, Sony will be heavily campaigning around the upcoming release of several all-ages games, most notably karaoke title SingStar and community building title LittleBigPlanet, streeting this fall and early 2008, respectively. Both are exclusive to the PlayStation platform, with earlier SingStar titles already available for the PS2.
Also, Sony is preparing to hype the PS3 as the most comprehensive Blu-ray Disc player available on the market. Currently, PS3 is the only device that features a Web-enabled Blu-ray player, although no studio has released a Blu-ray title boasting Web-based content.
“Our goal is to definitely widen our target base and not be so niche,” said Kim Nguyen, PS3 manager. “We are not all about shoot ’em-up bloody games. There are friendly games.”
She added, “This is high-def entertainment messaging, where we have our exclusive software titles, and we are delivering a very powerful machine. On the movie side, you have beautiful movies that you can watch on the PS3. We are going for that larger audience.”
During the U.S. PS3 bow last fall, Sony mainly emphasized the product’s superior gaming technology. Nintendo instead talked up the Wii’s ease of use. Wii ads featured various family members enjoying the system’s unique wireless controllers.
With PS3’s SingStar, players sing popular songs via a microphone attachment and are scored based on their similarity to the track’s original performer. On LittleBigPlanet, players create their own customized, virtual world and can collaborate with other PS3 users.
Nguyen said a TV, print and online blitz will push these various talking points during the back half of the year, leading toward the fourth quarter. She declined to give a specific launch date.
Wii has sold 5.84 million systems worldwide through March, Nintendo officials said last month. Launched near the same time last year, PS3 has sold 3 million units worldwide, Sony confirmed.
Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities, thinks marketing should boost PS3. He agrees that PS3 can improve upon how it singles out its Blu-ray functionality.
“What they want to do is position the consumer to start wanting the PS3 in time for Christmas,” said Pachter, figuring advertising might start as early as June. Plus, Sony “needs to educate consumers on why they need a Blu-ray player.”
Nguyen said PS3 supply has increased at retail and noted that between February and March of this year, PS3 was the only next-generation console to show a sales gain.
“The Wii was down 22%, and the Xbox 360 was down 12%, and we were up 2%,” said Nguyen, citing U.S. statistics from NPD Funworld.
However, PS3 still lagged in March sales, moving 130,000 units, compared to Wii’s 260,000 units sold and Xbox 360’s 200,000 units sold.
“The timing is definitely right [for renewed PS3 promotion], as the manufacturing issues have been ironed out,” Nguyen said. “Retailers are getting an influx of supply, so it makes sense to ramp up marketing to coincide with that.”
Through this summer, PlayStation will continue to sponsor various events designed to spread the word about PS3. In mid-March through May 5, the PlayStation AM JAM tour, starring various professional skate boarders, spread across eight U.S. cities.
PlayStation Patrol trucks, created specifically last year for people to sample the PS3, continue to tour the U.S through the year.
Also, Sony has partnered with the San Francisco Giants to promote the baseball PS3 title MLB ’07 The Show. Prior to Giants taking turns at bat, clips of the videogame will run on the team’s new high-definition scoreboard.
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