Lately, the console wars haven’t quite been as fiercely competitive as in recent years. Pete from Dragonchasers sort of touches on this by talking about lack of exclusivity, but more than that, it seems the folks with the purse strings over at the three major companies are seeing that price probably talks a bit more than games (though they come in a very close second). But besides that, there’s something to be said about advertising that isn’t more of the same.
So it is that Sony appears to be launching a bit of a tongue-in-cheek, funny ad campaign in an attempt to move consoles. Where before Sony attempted to wow its potential customers with its high tech and hardware powerhousing, these days the features have taken a secondary seat to presenting the PS3 in a funnier light. The image from this entry is of a commercial highlighting the price drop on the PS3, where Sony makes fun of themselves for their constant denial about what everyone knew was an inevitable price change to stay competitive. Another commercial talks about a frustrated girlfriend that consults Sony’s VP of “Enough is Enough” because her man hasn’t hooked up the PS3 to the Internet yet, poking at another weakness that Sony has tried to downplay in the past (i.e. XBox Live being better than the Playstation Network).
I do have to say that going comedic can only really help the PS3. People remember funny, and even cheesy, more than they do serious sales. There’s a time and a place for serious sales, but when you’re trying to sell a product that has seemed a bit too pricey and bulky (two issues Sony has solved with a $299 price point and the new PS3 Slim), you need to make your ads memorable. And creating commercials where you don’t take yourselves seriously translate a little into when people are making buying decisions.
I can tell you this – I remember the two comedy commercials for the PS3 vividly, but ask me about how PS3′s Little Big Planet was marketed and I have no idea what they did. It just goes to show that Sony’s ad direction reflects a new strategy for not just their consoles – but of everything (check this funny Peyton Manning/Justin Timberlake commercial about their other products, for example). I think it’ll eventually pan out – especially in the course of the holidays, where console decisions could be made not just in the store, but on your TV screen. I’m looking forward to more funny PS3 ads.