Probably the main reason the Xbox didnt sell more units (24 million versus Sony's 85 million) is that they only focused on the hard-core, teenage male gamer. Sony and Nintendo focused more on children, families and women with a softer brand and more appealing product.
Microsoft is saying that it is trying to change all that with the 360. They have a much nicer brand image now and the unit itself looks great. The family-friendly games however are lagging behind.
The first real kid title is Viva Pinata and this is a great article about the whole VP strategy. Much more than a game, VP is a whole onslaught of products - a video game, a TV show, a website, collectable toys, and electronic figurines. Wow! Few companies have the money to launch so many related products at the same time.
What remains to be seen is whether a grand strategy and a big bag of money can buy the kind of creativity and buzz that creates hit products. Sometimes the smallest ideas and adversity foster the most creative and compelling products.
However they do it, as an Xbox owner, I hope that more kid-friendly titles show up soon. Wherever they come from, they will be appreciated by system owners even if the holiday commercials are out of hand.
Microsoft Tries to Raise 'Candiosity,' Aims at Kid Market with 'Viva Piñata'
October 17, 2006
Wall Street Journal
Fox Television last month began airing a new Saturday morning cartoon called "Viva Piñata," about a world where colorful piñatas compete to be chosen for children's birthday parties. But the real force behind the TV show -- and an onslaught of affiliated ventures -- is Microsoft Corp., which hopes the piñatas can help it crack open the secret to selling more Xbox 360 game consoles to young children.
The broad push behind the piñatas is now coming into full view. New TV ads for game and the Xbox 360 start airing this week that feature a purple and green piñata horse named Horstachio trying to persuade a group of children to let him down from a tree. The segments are part of Xbox 360's big holiday campaign that promotes game titles and the console on TV, in print and online.
And in the New York showroom of Playmates Toys Inc. on Wednesday, 70 or so tradable Viva Piñata figurines and a hand-held electronic game -- made by Playmates -- will be unveiled. The toys offer more avenues for marketing partnerships that would connect Viva Piñata with kids when they step away from their TVs and are designed to link the components of a piñata universe that has been carefully concocted to boost the videogame.
It's all a sharp contrast to past Xbox efforts, which have often been dark and violent. After years of focusing primarily on young adult males ranging from teens to thirtysomethings, Microsoft wants to broaden Xbox's market by going after kids, women and even people over 40. It's a risky move because it could alienate Xbox 360's core audience.
The campaign is the first salvo in what is likely to be one of the biggest holiday ad battles in years. Xbox 360 ads will begin airing just weeks before rivals Sony Corp.'s PlayStation and Nintendo Co. launch massive ad efforts to hype their new consoles, the PS3 and Wii, respectively. Microsoft plans to spend about $50 million on its holiday push, according to a person familiar with the matter. Analysts and ad executives expect videogame makers to spend about $100 million between them promoting consoles and game titles during the fourth quarter.
