Xbox 360 has been expanded beyond mere gaming by Microsoft’s own admission, pointing to Netflix, Hulu and ESPN support as it being an entertainment brand. Xbox COO and CFO Dennis Durkin is enthused that it has expanded beyond hardcore shooter fans.
“The last 12 months have been really important for us as a brand. We do a lot of consumer testing and 12 months ago, I think, certainly, everyone would have said that the Xbox brand really is a male core gaming kind of brand,” said Durkin. “And we did a lot of testing to see, ‘Can we stretch our brand Will consumers allow us to extend our brand from that position ‘ And our testing really told us that we could, assuming you create unique experiences and provide content for broader audiences than just that core audience.
With Kinect, which in and of itself has communicated a certain brand promise to consumers about intuitive game play, about ease of use, and about sort of family friendly, if you will, our brand over the last 12 months has really expanded and I think it s in a much broader place demographically than it s ever been before, he added.
Source: IndustryGamers {link no longer active}