Was "The Road to PS5" a marketing blunder?

[robot]

In the past E3 was treated as the first and last chance to make a first impression with your system. With company-run events and now especially with the canceling of E3 people are much more likely to first hear about the new systems at different times and in different ways. This gives the companies more chances but less control. I think it's going to be difficult to predict the public's reaction to either system (PS or Xbox) but since they've mostly just released a spec list, which a lot of people don't care about, it's too early to tell. More than ever these new systems are going to live or die on their associated services rather than specs, and we know almost nothing about Sony's planned service.

 

[Deleted member 56752]

Yeah it was a blunder. Doesn't necessarily mean that there is a result that will be negative. The brand has endured way worse than a youtube video designed for devs but marketed towards general populous. PS will survive and still flourish.

 

[Deleted member 51691]

You can clearly see that it was a bad idea when all the people doing reactions were bored like watching paint dry

They should have told everyone that it was supposed to be a tech presentation beforehand

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They did tbf

 

[scabobbs]

judging by the results of this poll, and the reactions ive seen on twitter and the like.. the answer is unequivocally YES huge blunder.

 

[8byte]

It's a victim of circumstance, and anyone who can't understand that is being intentionally obtuse in order to either garner more attention for their media outlet, or because they are emotionally attached to a brand name. It was very clear what this was, and why it was happening the way it was happening.

The only thing Sony should have done differently was be more explicit that it was a technical talk only, and that there would be no reveal or games to show. Apparently calling it a "technical deep dive" wasn't really enough for some people to realize it wasn't a console reveal.

600k people were watching and #PS5reveal was trending literally right after with many highly negative posts at the top.

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Yea...600K isn't that much when there are 100,000,000 PS4 owners / fans. Most of the general public simply didn't care, and will never know this happened. This is meaningless.

 

[Altair]

They should've just done what MS had done. Do an in depth article detailing the specs. There was no reason to build all this hype for a 52 minute video of tech talk that most consumers didn't understand anyway. That should've been when they were ready to reveal the console itself and show games.

 

[Plum]

For. I think people underestimate marketing's effect on themselves.

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Ah, OK. And yeah, marketing is often seen as just the means in which content is shown instead of an integral factor in that content's success.

Being a student-of-marketing on Era is tough sometimes, I tell ya.

I agree MS should be focused on consumers. I am saying Sony is currently not doing that, which I view as a mistake. And if they are trying to get at consumers they are doing a bad job compared to Microsoft.

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Yeah, you're all right there!

 

[blastprocessor]

Microsoft are doing a far better job next generation in all aspects.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

You can complaing that Sony should have done this or that but the presentation was exactly what they promised, you can't say that you was disappointed because that, you should keep your expectations in check.

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At some point this excuse needs to go away, because EVERY Sony event and marketing thing for months now has been followed by "you should've known better and not expected so much".

It's almost like Sony is just constantly being underwhelming and people are pissed at them for that.

 

[Phellps]

It was a marketing blunder in the way that Sony did not predict that people on the internet would be completely unaware that GDC is not E3.

 

[monmagman]

For a start it wasn't in any way shape or form a conference OP.....it was a GDC talk.
As such,it was pretty much what I expected.....so,no complaints here.

 

[Deleted member 51789]

I don't think it was a smart move to have this as the next public announcement of what's planned for the PS5 - would have been good for a GDC talk, but as something that they knew people would latch onto for new information (whether or not they had flagged that it would be a technical discussion) it didn;t really enthuse, not get people excited about the things it looks like the console will do very, very well.

It won't change public perception that much though. A small, fixable blunder - nothing like the Xbox unveil in 2013.

 

[Kemono]

Sony's communication strategy in the last 2 years is one of the worst things I have ever seen from a market leader, in any industry. Not even a Microsoft infiltrator could have orchestrated something worse. Aside the Insomniac purchase nothing coming out of Playstation execs has been any good since 2017. It's just one bad news after another, and nobody in Japan is bothering to stop the bleeding, either. The complacency is real.

It's very basic marketing that if you show specs vastly inferior to the competition, you need to bring something else to the table. Sony has games that are far superior than Microsoft's. How they are unable to find a winning narrative is embarrassing, to say the least.

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Holy shit the hot takes in this thread.

The switch is vastly inferior in comparision to the Xbox One X. The PS5 and the Series X aren't even as far apart as the One and PS4 were at launch.

 

[gogojira]

Yes, it was a blunder. When GDC was canceled and Sony decided to broadcast this shit far and wide, they should have reworked the presentation and not just said "fuck it, this will do." I don't want to hear "this was a GDC talk" nonsense because what it was versus what it is turned out to be two very different things.

And that corny ass fake audience and cheap green screen didn't help.

 

[Pancracio17]

Yes 100%. Its fine on its own but there shouldve been a proper reveal first.

 

[Dreamboum]

Yes.

It will not matter.

 

[Era of not Yakuza]

At some point this excuse needs to go away, because EVERY Sony event and marketing thing for months now has been followed by "you should've known better and not expected so much".

It's almost like Sony is just constantly being underwhelming and people are pissed at them for that.

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You can say that you don't want/like what they are showing but the were very clear about what Cerny was going to say.

The Road to PS5

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PS5 lead system architect Mark Cerny provides a deep dive into PS5's system architecture and how it will shape the future of games.

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[Wamb0wneD]

No, and anybody making a big deal out of it needs to grow up.

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Good thing you dont work in marketing lol.

It just wasnt the right message to send to base costumers. No way around it.

 

[Tyaren]

I didn't like it. It was dry, boring, underwhelming and I couldn't even bear to watch it till the end. Did it hurt Sony/PS5? I don't think so. Did it help their case? Probably not either. They've got another chance though when they fully reveal the console, what it looks like, what its features are and most important of all, its amazing exclusive games.

 

[Traxus]

The name was really bad. Even knowing what to expect seeing the YouTube title made me second guess.

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Definitely should've named it "Technical PS5 Mathematics Lecture for Developers in the Style of Bob Ross"

 

[Doom_Bringer]

they said it would be a technical deep dive and it was. I don't know what everyone was expecting. A PS4 feb type event would have been cool, but the virus has screwed everything up

 

[Fisty]

It was fine, I really dont know what people need/expect for events like this. Specs were communicated, new features explained, differentiators revealed. There is 6+ months for everything else people want

 

[Vimto]

I hope they do another stream with actual content for gamers soon

 

[PlanetSmasher]

You can say that you don't want/like what they are showing but the were very clear about what Cerny was going to say.

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Then they should've shown something else or edited the presentation with some more content that actually shows OFF said hardware. Video footage to actually demonstrate its capabilities, or even tech demos, would've gone a long way.

They can keep going "we're telling you in advance this is gonna suck don't get mad at us", but they have to accept people are going to be mad at them. This has been their marketing strategy for at least a year and a half now and it's exhausting.

 

[Geode]

Welp accidentally voted no, but meant yes. Huge fucking blunder from Sony, marketing such a tech talk as something the general public should tune into is stupid as fuck.

Nope, it was just boring number and tech talk and nothing more. Not even a 20 second demo to showcase faster loading times or anything.

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Lame, thanks!

 

[Psrock1]

Marketing wise, what does MS has left ? price?

Sony hasnt shown anything, they still control all the marketing.

 

[finalflame]

Bunch of armchair marketers on ERA, apparently.

 

[Traxus]

The generated hype was wasted on ASMR tech talk, putting everyone to sleep.

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Someone joked last night "Cerny ASMR" but it truly was that same level of energy. I got real Bob Ross vibes.

 

[Darkstorne]

It was a marketing blunder in the way that Sony did not predict that people on the internet would be completely unaware that GDC is not E3.

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Nor did they realize that Microsoft being so forthcoming with next gen info and even game trailers for months now had set an expectation among consumers.

This tech deep dive would have been received completely differently had it been AFTER a proper console reveal trailer like Microsoft put out at the VGAs.

 

[Ruu]

It was a huge misstep. They should have just dropped it without any advance notice on their youtube channel. Giving it a day for hype to build wasn't the greatest idea. They pushed it out to hype it up on their consumer facing social media pages and while it seemed like they tried to set expectations they didn't do that well enough.

As long as the "real reveal" however is fine nobody will remember this but if the reveal is only "ok" I could see people being like "hmmm sony's kind of dropping the ball here lately." They are usually pretty good at their grand reveals (PS3 not withstanding) so they'll probably be ok.

 

[Orbit]

I look at the Switch reveal to be one of the best handled console reveals ever. It was digestable, provided visual examples of what the switch can do, and also provided a price point and release date. While I don't think this makes me look at Sony in a negative way - and i actually did quite enjoy listening to the entire presentation - it was definitely odd that this was labeled 'road to ps5' like it is something every consumer would want to see and get people pumped for ps5. also, it was really disappointing to not even hear more information about when the 'big reveal' would actually occur...it makes me wonder if sony is very unsure if console will release this year.

 

[Devilgunman]

The talk was pretty much what I expected, but still it's baffling that Sony push this out as the first PS5-focus presentation. This is far cry from the PS4 2/21/13 announcement when we got a tech demo 20 min in.

 

[fog]

I don't think it's that important to the general public.

For most people, it's the games that count, not the specs driving them and that's where the 'war' will be won and lost. Microsoft have more powerful hardware, Sony has the current generation software pedigree.

 

[jviggy43]

Kinda Funny daily and Gary covered this well. Especially with everyone being at home and looking for ways to entertain ourselves this was not the presentation people were looking for. And its completely on Sony for having the audience change and not to change their approach. If youre admitting your presentation was made for a different audience youre admitting you didn't do anything to change the presentation.

 

[Draper]

Cerny went off about the possibilities of ear imaging.

Can't possibly see how that was a blunder.

 

[Roliq]

They did tbf

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I supposed they did but in that case they should have either dropped it without announcement or gave it a different title because for the more casual audience you need to be really specific as "The Road to PS5" can give people some expectation that the whole thing will not be a tech talk

Also, i think the whole backlash is bigger thanks to the current situation in the world with people inside their homes looking to relax

 

[gofreak]

I think any time there's a communication mismatch, you can call that a blunder.

It wasn't a mismatch for everyone, but for some, sure.

I think longer run it doesn't matter. Once the games demonstrate the benefits of Cerny's approach, it will be looked on more fondly probably - and I wouldn't put it past Sony's devs doing just that, and for even some multiplats to surface more surprises than a simple tflop comparison might suggest. And there's plenty of time for that yet.

 

[xmonkeyofevil]

I found it fascinating, and in a vacuum I think it's fine. The problem is that Microsoft just dropped a ton of XSX info Monday, including showing what the SSD and system architecture would be able to do. The video showing the load time comparisons (which should be pointed out may very well be seconds slower than what the PS5 will be capable of doing,) and the video showing the resume state between the five different games did wonders for the XSX. Cerny's talk today just had the misfortune of having to follow those.

 

[Plum]

You can say that you don't want/like what they are showing but the were very clear about what Cerny was going to say.

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That doesn't provide any meaningful information at all.

"The Road to PS5" can mean literally anything in the age of "Samsung Unpacked" and "Nintendo Direct."

The tweet itself fails to explain that there will be no games, tech demos or hardware shown. It gives no indication as to the format (deep dive doesn't mean long university lecture) or the intended audience either. Additionally the fact that it was pinned and given a Youtube premiere shows that Sony wanted the general public to tune in, so they at the very least knew that people were excited about it.

Bunch of armchair marketers on ERA, apparently.

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You're literally on record as stating that the only people who care about the information released so far are "bickering console warriors." Don't throw stones and insult people if you've made such an incredibly ignorant take like that.

 

[Carmelozi]

Bunch of armchair marketers on ERA, apparently.

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While I don't think it was not bad, it does not offer the best first impression for casuals. It's too technical and not so interesting for this type of people, they want games, games and games. But I'm not worried for Sony, they'll do great things to promote this.

 

[Mochi]

I think they probably should have released this particular video in the same format after an official reveal, and it's a bit of a marketing blunder but I don't think it will matter in the long run as long as they find a good price for their machine.

 

[Dinoegg_96]

I think from a pure marketing perspective it was not smart to lead with the GDC presentation, even though I think a lot of the anger/frustration about this is caused by people not having the proper expectations going into this--Sony was very clear about what this was going to be, and nothing in the presentation surprised me. But regardless of the content of the presentation, it's not a great way to introduce people to the console, and the (otherwise very good) lecture should not have been put in a position to be the lead-off event for the PS5.

But honestly, a deep dive into the PS5 architecture led by one of its system architects was never going to be about games or pricing or any of the consumer-focused stuff people apparently expected. I'm baffled but I guess not surprised at how many people were expecting this.

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I agree 100% with this comment. It's not like sony tricked people into thinking this was going to be a PS5 reveal event, it was either people not paying attention or the media reporting it as such.

HOWEVER, I definitely think this was a blunder. Anyone with half a brain could have seen this scenario coming. They should've announced this alongside a date for the PS5 reveal event.

 

[asmith906]

I thought it was very informative. People are mad at what they didn't show vs what they did show. I feel like I learned a lot.

Once we get the full reveal with games literally none of this will matter.

 

[A1an]

This is just the first video from Sony, there is plenty of time yet before PS5 and Xbox are released, nobody is going to make up their mind this far ahead, also most Xbox owners will get the Xbox and most PS4 owners will get PS5 and it is really between the people that own PS4 and Xbox to which they will buy first.

 

[mztik]

Definitely not what I expected and I've seen other in-depth hardware/gaming discussions from Cerny.

 

[DarthWalden]

I mean I know at the end of the day games are the only thing that really matters but in terms of pre release marketing this gen is almost a complete flip flop of last gen.

Just contrast this to the PS4 reveal event, Cerny came on stage and revealed a ton of the new features, some of the new games and all of the specs. It was so much more interesting and generated so much more excitement.

 

[Askherserenity]

I still can't understand why or how it's been slowly revealed this way.

Like...it's so strange.

Microsoft's reveal was also different than usual but felt like there was atleast a bit more structure to it?

 

[jpv_13]

No.

The price point and the games are still the two most important factors.

XBOX is still going to have two models too, and we haven't seen anything about Lockhart yet.

If Sony comes in at a lower price point than the Series X (say more powerful than Lockhart at a similar price point to Lockhart) then I think that's all that will matter.

Especially since I feel like people will default to Sony having the better exclusives from a game perspective.

As somebody who thinks that the Series X looks awesome, I'm still worried about the price point. I don't see any way that it's under $500 USD, maybe even $600 USD. Which will be really hard to justify in Canadian dollars.

 

[Estarossa]

600k was the live numbers right? Then the video would have had a few million unique viewers. And the impressions I've read outside of this website have been pretty dire as well. A major misfire by Sonya.

 

[Deleted member 8674]

PS5 marketing was bad from the start. This is a continuation. Honestly who ever is responsible should be fired because it is really bad.