Pretty sure everyone that was involved with ps4 launch is no longer with the company. I notice they dont really have a friendly face of the company anymore.
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PS5 is an obvious pre-order success, but what up with Sony's PR/Marketing strategy?
- Thread starter entremet
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Why haven't they done the things MS has done, but also why are they being reactive?
EXACTLY! Why can't Sony behave how I want them to behave?
considering the covid19, i think the current approach is fine and are working to their favor for generating ps5 buzz.
like they doing sotp and providing drip feed information where the mass keep wanting more thus talking alot about.
sure, in consumer pov the lack of information isnt good but in pr and ad/com stand point for generating buzz, it definitely killed it. like rember that sotp where they only showed the ps5 design? ppl were talking about it non stop even tho there wasnt a price tag.
if it wasnt for covid and also the protest a while back, think the information we gotten will be shifted to announced early. but it wont be change on how the information will be given i. drip feed format tho.
like they doing sotp and providing drip feed information where the mass keep wanting more thus talking alot about.
sure, in consumer pov the lack of information isnt good but in pr and ad/com stand point for generating buzz, it definitely killed it. like rember that sotp where they only showed the ps5 design? ppl were talking about it non stop even tho there wasnt a price tag.
if it wasnt for covid and also the protest a while back, think the information we gotten will be shifted to announced early. but it wont be change on how the information will be given i. drip feed format tho.
They are playing the premium/desirability angle really well. Keeping the interest at all-times high. And at the same time they HAVE showed their games running on the machine. So, even tho for me could be better, it's certainly effective.
Mix of "Show don't tell." and "Silence is golden." I guess.
Seems to be working for the most part too. It's only when Jim said stuff did I see people freaking out, interpretations of what 'could' have been said etc.
Seems to be working for the most part too. It's only when Jim said stuff did I see people freaking out, interpretations of what 'could' have been said etc.
OP
OP
It's not that all. It's a critique. No company is perfect. Some of you really take this stuff very personally. Also, we discuss game companies here. Their strategy, business, and so on. Managing a console launch is part of that.
Feel free to disagree, but to dismiss criticism as unfair is silly.
Absolutely this.
And this, lmao! Spot on.
The PR seems good but they would be better up had they told everyone from the get go what the cross-gen games are. Makes the situation more confusing.
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I am not taking anything personal. We almost to launch in an environment where COVID stopped all traditional marketing with conferences in lieu of everything we've had up to this point. I have no expectations for marketing. Get the information however you can as soon as possible.
My only issue with their communication is that they were misleading on a couple games being cross gen. They should've just said they were from the beginning. It's not like they don't still have PS5 only games at launch, so just be up front. I'm very disappointed in Horizon being on PS4.
But other than this, I have no problems.
But other than this, I have no problems.
1) Why can't Sony cater to me, a gaming enthusiast?
2) Don't they care about sales, Xbox is looking better and better to me!
3) What do they have to hide???
etc
Lol, but I am honestly surprised at the way they have been marketing this thing and would have expected a lot more detail on how BC works, so I would not be surprised if they were working hard to get that up to a respectable level (probably won't be as a consumer friendly as Microsoft's solution). Of course, this all speculation.
2) Don't they care about sales, Xbox is looking better and better to me!
3) What do they have to hide???
etc
Lol, but I am honestly surprised at the way they have been marketing this thing and would have expected a lot more detail on how BC works, so I would not be surprised if they were working hard to get that up to a respectable level (probably won't be as a consumer friendly as Microsoft's solution). Of course, this all speculation.
They'll be fine. The negative pr talk hasn't invaded mainstream social media the way the Xbox One negative publicity did. Also while Microsoft has communicated a lot better and is getting a lot more positive buzz, it is not being delivered with the same newsworthy swagger as Sony did back at the launch of the PS5. The one thing that has invaded social media is the demand for a PS5. I think the PS5 is firmly on track to repeat as market leader. It will take a major misstep in my opinion for that not to happen. It would be a different story if Microsoft had a killer launch title in combination with a cheaper price (on the Series X) and a greater supply of units (from what I've seen, they've made even less systems than Sony).
These "problems" are greatly exaggerated.
Enthusiasts are excited, the console is sold out for the rest of the year and they have a ton of momentum. I legit have enough information on whether I want to buy a PS5.
Enthusiasts are excited, the console is sold out for the rest of the year and they have a ton of momentum. I legit have enough information on whether I want to buy a PS5.
OP
OP
I said the business realities are not affected here. The title clearly says the PS5 is a success.
They're clearly going for a less is more marketing model.
Agree that Sony has dropped the ball in communication. To be specific, Jim Ryan has dropped the ball early in this race. We should not have to rely on Geoff Keighley to get the pre-ordering information. That shit was Jim Ryan's job. I feel like Sony is on cruise control and doesn't take PS5 launch as a big of an event as they did to PS4. At this point in 2013, we already saw Shu shilling on a couch showing PS4 UI on stage. We still see none of that for PS5. It's quite baffling.
You cannot separate the business realities from the marketing strategy.
Outside of the hyper-enthusiast bubble, Sony is absolutely killing it. They are likely about to have the highest-selling launch of any console in history. Spider-Miles will clean up in Nov. Demon's will draw the core crowd. Social media engagement is off the charts. Sony is reacting appropriately to the overwhelming majority of its consumers.
They've already explained how BC works.
PS4 games will play like PS4 games. Boost mode will help games reach higher framerates and resolution if the game is unlocked. 99% of PS4 games will work on PS5.
That's all.
OP
OP
You said who cares if it is reactive and if I knew Sony's marketing plan. Of course I don't lol. I don't work at Sony. My point was an opinion. If you don't care, fine. But that's my perception based on how they've communicated.
You can disagree, but your approach is basically, is that I don't know. We obviously lol. I'm offering my POV.
Do political commentators know why Trump chose his debate style last night? No, but they provided their feedback on it. That's why I'm pushing back.
I feel like the average person completely understands what PS5 is and is excited for it. The generations thing makes sense to everyone who isn't trying to be upset about nothing and the general perception of PS5 is perfectly fine.
Resetera is typically a negative place that picks apart every little thing. You can't really expect Sony to try to cater to a site like this with people that will never be satisfied.
Resetera is typically a negative place that picks apart every little thing. You can't really expect Sony to try to cater to a site like this with people that will never be satisfied.
I mean possible enhanacements for 1st party titles and such. I don't think that's entirely off the table.
That's not BC, those are patches. And if they haven't detailed them, then they don't exist. They will talk about enhancement if they plan on doing them.
They really have been poor. All I keep seeing and hearing about is Xbox...and people 100% sold on a PS5.
I guess they don't need to sell it hard since it seems obvious PS5 is gonna "win" but they seem to be doing the absolute minimum in marketing it. MS has done a far better job this time around.
I guess they don't need to sell it hard since it seems obvious PS5 is gonna "win" but they seem to be doing the absolute minimum in marketing it. MS has done a far better job this time around.
We actually don't want them to market stuff well or spend all their budget on doing that, we should let the quality of the games/platforms do the talking, not the marketing. Otherwise we get a lot of 'bad' games shown as what people think of the medium and it hurts the industry in general.
It's a little unfair to say PlayStation has no 'personalities', Hermen Hulst just hasn't had the chance to be the 'face' of the company yet due to having no opportunities to helm conferences because of Covid. Give him a few E3 type events to helm over the next few years and I'm sure people will grow to love him as they love Shawn.
As to the main question, yes Sony hasn't gone a great job of launching the PS5 imo and it's sold well down to the sheer strength of the brand more than anything PlayStation have done. Not that it really matters, PS5 will live or die on the strength of its games over the next few years more than whatever PlayStation do or say right now. It is weird though that they seem so passive in the face of a lot of aggression coming from their main competitor.
As to the main question, yes Sony hasn't gone a great job of launching the PS5 imo and it's sold well down to the sheer strength of the brand more than anything PlayStation have done. Not that it really matters, PS5 will live or die on the strength of its games over the next few years more than whatever PlayStation do or say right now. It is weird though that they seem so passive in the face of a lot of aggression coming from their main competitor.
It's not a joke, it's weird how we critique marketing on here.
They're clearly doing a good job with the mainstream audience with their "our brand is the hot shit and check these first party games out" Nintendoesque minimalist approach, but for some reason they just stopped engaging almost entirely with their most hardcore fanbase, they basically don't seem to care about that anymore, and while it probably doesn't affect their sales overall it's still disheartening for us gaming enthusiasts.
Honestly, I think they were caught off by how well Microsoft's ecosystem strategy has been put into place. They didn't invest the kind of resources into that unlike Microsoft and they didn't think they needed to. Time will tell on how this all shakes out.
I think the marketing doesn't work for Era but has been more than effective with the masses. Miscommunication is felt for us that are paying attention to every detail. Enthusiast will jump with both feet to next gen without much pandering because the games are there.
The other way you could look at this is, with a month and some change still to go, they potentially have dozens of massively exciting announcements left to make. So they could theoretically sprint to the finish line.
I mean we still don't have hands on impressions or know anything about the UI which is sounding like a major shake up, while Microsoft has already played pretty much every card.
I mean we still don't have hands on impressions or know anything about the UI which is sounding like a major shake up, while Microsoft has already played pretty much every card.
Honestly, I've just been getting PS3 flashbacks the entire leadup to this gen. Sony feels like they're so unbelievably confident right now that they feel justified in this "radio silence followed by occasional spurts of information" strategy they've been doing for the past two years.
It also probably doesn't help that Jim Ryan is honestly just not a good public leader. I don't know anything about how he operates behind the scenes, but his public-facing interviews are always very bad ("why would anyone use this?", etc) and his presence in Sony events is markedly less charismatic than most of Sony's past leaders. Even Andrew House felt like a better showman than Jim does right now. Sony needs a better spokesperson than they currently have.
Now, for clarity, I don't like Phil Spencer all that much either, and I feel like his "tell people exactly what they want to hear all the time, even if you know you'll have to backpedal it in a month" strategy isn't the ideal way to sell a console, but at least Xbox is communicating with their fans. By comparison, Sony is acting like they already have this in the bag when Microsoft has been making a lot of very strong moves to knock them off their perch.
It also probably doesn't help that Jim Ryan is honestly just not a good public leader. I don't know anything about how he operates behind the scenes, but his public-facing interviews are always very bad ("why would anyone use this?", etc) and his presence in Sony events is markedly less charismatic than most of Sony's past leaders. Even Andrew House felt like a better showman than Jim does right now. Sony needs a better spokesperson than they currently have.
Now, for clarity, I don't like Phil Spencer all that much either, and I feel like his "tell people exactly what they want to hear all the time, even if you know you'll have to backpedal it in a month" strategy isn't the ideal way to sell a console, but at least Xbox is communicating with their fans. By comparison, Sony is acting like they already have this in the bag when Microsoft has been making a lot of very strong moves to knock them off their perch.
I mean the system is going to sell but it's painfully obvious they got some things they really need to get out in front of and the longer they wait the more negative speculation will continue. Addressing cross saves for starters. What the hell is going on there.
The global hype for PS5 is astronomical so it seems that they do something right, but yeah a few things could be clarified. But it is not worrying nor arrogant that we haven't seen stuff like the UI and such features yet, it's 2 months til release it'll arrive.
However Sony really had to do a 180 regarding their marketing approach. Late last year they were gladly announcing that they would be at over 1000 events this year or similar, which obviously didn't work out. So in this case COVID is really the culprit of the current "secrecy"
However Sony really had to do a 180 regarding their marketing approach. Late last year they were gladly announcing that they would be at over 1000 events this year or similar, which obviously didn't work out. So in this case COVID is really the culprit of the current "secrecy"
I swear I see 5 of these threads everyday lol. PATIENCE is a virtue.