Sony’s recently redesigned PS3 came with a price drop to $299, and a look at the future of their message of an all-in-one entertainment device. Their marketing has centered around somewhat eccentric commercials that portray PS3 as an experience, but in this economy, Sony is shifting to showcase the value of owning a PS3.
From Ad Age:
The character of Kevin Butler is part office drone, part smart-ass customer-service rep in the new style of ads that are more feature- and benefit-driven than any previous PS3 work. Nine creative executions with Kevin Butler at their center will address the different capabilities of the now-almost-3-year-old video-game console, pointing up everything from Blu-ray-movie playing to wireless connectivity. The tagline is “It only does everything.”
Peter Dille, senior VP-marketing, Sony Computer Entertainment America, joked that Kevin Butler is “the Shell answer man at Sony,” changing jobs and swapping out ridiculous titles in each ad.
“Humor, and especially irreverent humor, has been part of the PlayStation brand for a long time,” Mr. Dille said. “The price move [to $299 last week] to us is only half of the story. … We believe [the new ads] will work hard to reposition the PS3 for a more mass audience.”
The new commercials showcase Kevin Butler (played by actor Jerry Lambert) in a series of customer service discussions with everyone from a rumor-mongering blogger to a concerned girlfriend that doesn’t understand why her beau hasn’t hooked his PS3 into the Internet. His response to the latter? What s wrong with him?!
This is head-and-shoulders above Sony’s previous marketing campaigns for PS3, and ties together the new price in a great way for increasingly budget-conscious consumers. Take a look at a couple of the videos below:
