The XBOX Campaign

I have been gaming since I was in school. I have seen gaming evolve over time and since I am an advertising student now, here is my non-expert opinion on the recent Xbox 360 campaign.Microsoft launched Xbox 360 in India this Diwali. For me, it was surely one of the most awaited product launches. It was launched via 1400 stores all over India. Xbox was launched in two variants priced at Rs.19,990 and Rs.23,990. Microsoft amalgamated with Redington for distribution of the product in India. Adidas, MTV and Samsung are other partners associated with the launch.

The TVC creative featuring Akshay Kumar and Yuvraj Singh is quite wacky and different. In the ad, they find themselves in an almost unreal village, where villagers have super powers. All of them are doing typical village activities but with a twist. For example a village girl, while drawing water does a 9.5, 9.7, 10 acrobatic dive into the well and throws the bucket out, a man stretches his infinitely elastic head from outside the house into the kitchen and much more.Another key ingredient missing is that they haven’t included the mind blowing graphics its 20 GB hard drive can fabricate.

When I was a kid (you can still consider me one ‘cause I love staring at CGIs {Computer Generated Images}) I used to be amazed at the graphics these machines would produce on my TV. That’s one of the reasons why I want a videogame console, to see these awesome graphics whenever I want.I bought a Playstation and that’s because I got small tastes of it each time I went abroad. I played PS in malls, Sony showrooms, friends place etc. This is why I think Microsoft has got a good marketing strategy. They are giving potential buyers their first tastes of the Xbox360 by allowing them to play the Xbox 360 on a 32 inch Samsung LCD in malls, IT showroom, Adidas outlets etc. Sony had done something similar for its Playstation2 at McDonalds.

Giving the TG a taste is sometimes enough for him or her to buy a videogame. You don’t need an expensive TVC or a huge media plan.I am no “Marketing Guru” (yet) but I think if you wanted someone to buy your gaming console the campaign should have the following:- The creatives should feature actual visuals of the games - TG should be given a taste by actually letting them play.

Let me know what you fellas think, you can contradict my views or you can concur with them.

Yash