Now I know that these two competing powerhouses in the video-game system jndustry have been on the market for a long time now (xbox 360- 2005, ps3- 2006), but it would be tough to argue that their usage is in decline. With sales still skyrocketing and new games being released weekly, the popularity for these two consoles is hardly waning.
What has interested me recently about these two products is their marketing strategies. The products are basically identical. They both satisfy the needs of gamers and they both play movies as well. Apart from their different outside appearance, these systems are interchangeable. With this in mind, how have the two parent companies, Microsoft and Sony, diverged so noticeably when it comes to advertising. Xbox 360, in my memory at least, has not aired a single commercial since its creation. Maybe in the first year of production they had an introductory ad to spike consumer interest, but since that first year there has been nothing.
Recently, the PS3 has begun an aggressive ad campaign centering around a “manager” that fields questions from PS3 users. Now I am not looking to dissect the commercial and give an opinion on how funny they are..(not funny at all); I am interested in the decisions made by the two companies. Microsoft and Sony clearly have two contrasting opinions on the effectiveness of commercial advertising. One has decided, after years of not producing ads, to adopt a new campaign aimed at reinvigorating consumer interest. There are two ways to look at this. First would be to take this as a last ditch effort for Sony to generate some last ditch sales. Second, you can view this as Sony recognizing an absence of advertising by Microsoft and capitalizing on it. In my opinion the new ad campaign by Sony is futile. Advertising their console will not generate enough sales to cover the ad expense. Consumers are being swayed by new game releases, and not reduced console prices. Microsoft recognizes this and as a result uses new game releases as a way to bolster sales while saving on advertising expenses.