I always contemplate the necessity of planning in advertising. I don't mean planning as in knowing when we need to get an ad out the door for a media flight type of thing, but planning as in the discipline within advertising. Having studied planning techniques intimately in grad school, I understand how it can be effective to the launch of a new product or campaign, but a variety of brands don't really care about what planning as to say about their brands. Once a campaign is launched, unless it fails miserably there is no reinventing of the wheel. It is all about the messaging that works and even if it has been months (or worse, years) some brands stick to the same message without considering what planning can bring to their brand's campaign success. Acting as the "voice of the consumer" as we advertising nerds like to claim, planning is the process of using research techniques to uncover what the consumer really thinks, feels and how they interact with brands in their daily lives. Seems kind of intuitive right? Wrong. Most brands don't want to know the truth about their consumers, because it can be very scary (as witnessed by Tory Burch and her fantastic flats).
When I saw this commercial for the new PS3 by PlayStation, I immediate stood up and cheered for Sony...not really, but you get the point. They either either have unbelievable intuition about who their consumers is, or they have tuned into the benefits that planning can provide to a great campaign. I am going to have to go with the latter. On the surface, PlayStation is a gaming console that you would think attracts young teenage boys who are a bit nerdy and overweight, who run home after school to play the latest games and get online to challenge their friends. They wear weird t-shirts, maybe even smell a bit and they don't do anything but eat, sleep and game. Not here. This is not the gamer that Sony is targeting in these ads, nor is it even close to the age range that we might normally attribute to the gaming consumer (if we didn't know any better).
It is clear that the Sony strategy is different than what they have executed before. And stand out against their competitors to gain consumer attention. Most commercials for gaming systems are usually flighted around the holidays, showing off the newest games that these machines offer. Price points are usual something that are focused on at the end of the spot and they are only for the sake of the consumer bargaining with their parents for it to appear under the tree (or menorah) and it is never a large focus of the commercial. Sony has utilized both their "low" price of $299 and the capabilities of the new PS3 system and made it attractive to a whole new gaming consumer...the slightly older guy who loves to play games but has a job, life experience and maybe even a girlfriend.
It is obvious that Sony took the time to figure out exactly who their consumer is for the PS3. They understand that the device is not just about playing games but it must act as a multimedia console for these gamers. They want the ability to download movies and connect to the Internet while they play, but at the same time they are the ones who are buying these systems for themselves. They don't need elves or Santa suits with shiny bows to help convince someone else that it is the perfect gift for them. They are independent shoppers who are concerned with the price just as much as the capabilities and they understand that the PS3 has everything that they are looking for in a gaming console. The banter of the commercial is both intelligent and witty and you definitely leave without question of how much the product costs OR what it's capabilities are (as they are constantly repeated). Plus the actor featured does look remarkably like Jonah Hill, which is not a bad thing to add to its instinctual humor. It is a great example of looking into the insight that real consumers provide and going against the grain with a product that we all THINK we know who is consuming...
In this case, I see planning as a necessity for campaigns...and it only makes me want one.
No comments:
Post a Comment