Marketing Strategy for Nintendo Gamecube
FEATURES OF APPENDIX
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§ NINTENDO GAMECUBE BUYING GUIDE
§ A GAMES GUIDE TO THE CONSOLES
§ GAMES LEAFLET FROM EDGE MAGAZINE
§ GAMING JARGON BUSTER
§ PRESENTATION SLIDES USED IN THE POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
§ NOTES AND CUES USED IN THE POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
§ BLANK SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE
§ SOME COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRES
§ EVIDENCE FOR E-MAIL CONTACT WITH THE SONY CORPORATE SITE
§ ARTICLE FROM THE BBC WEBSITE ABOUT A BOOTS ADVERT
§ ARTICLE FROM THE BBC WEBSITE ABOUT THE GAMECUBE
§ ARTICLE FROM AN ADVERTISING WEBSITE ABOUT PROMOTION
§ ARTICLE FROM THE GUARDIAN WEBSITE ABOUT THE TIMES NEWSPAPER
1.0 PLAN
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ABOUT UNIT THREE
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This unit entitled ‘Marketing’ requires me to produce a marketing
strategy for a new or existing product. The product that I have chosen
to devise a strategy for is the forthcoming video games console,
“Nintendo Gamecube”, which is released in Europe on May 3rd 2002. I
will have to carry out research about the principles of marketing; the
way that close competitors will compete when the console is released;
the strength of the brand name; possible marketing models/strategies;
analysing the possible implications of external influences, etc. in
order to produce a powerful strategy that will ensure that the product
will do well in its market.
OBTAINING INFORMATION
Information that will help me to complete this report can be obtained
from a number of different ways. Some obvious methods that will be
used throughout the report for obtaining data and information towards
the formation of the marketing strategy are:
§ The Internet: this method has become one of the most popular in
finding information since there are many search engines available on
the Internet as well as websites of the Nintendo company itself and
many other sites designed by fans and video game players from around
the world. The information provided is secondary data, but it can be
Let’s go back in time for a moment and recapture the epic crash to the video game industry in North America that took place in 1983. There was a flood of bad games that shrunk the games industry’s value from three billion dollars down to a few hundred million. The Atari 2600 system was pretty much the basic and most populated console in the states in the early 80s. Atari was mainly responsible for its lack of productions and marketing. Even the Commodore 64 and the ColecoVision had its share of failed productions along with many other brand consoles. Eventually consoles and game cartages became were sold at bargain discounts. This was great for customers not at all for the industry and the developers. Arcades were the only successful outcome the industry had but soon enough everyone was about to see the death of the video game era. While Atari failed to recover a small Japanese trading card and toy company rose to the occasion in the states and began marketing the greatest home console as we know of today, the Nintendo Home Entertainment System. Although Japan struggled to get North America to market the Nintendo system, Japan featured now and more exciting ways to play video games using the Zapper, ROB the Robot, story lines and saving data that couldn’t compare to how we used to play in the arcades.” No stranger to difficult times, Nintendo able to turn this crash into a good thing by surviving while many of their competitors did not”(History of Nintendo).
Mattel needs to be reactive to the market trend to electronic entertainment by creating video games and high tech toys that the young consumer is developing a demand for. Technology is always being developed and the trend towards electronic entertainment will continue to grow. Mattel should begin to compete in this growing market through investments in what consumers want. The supply chain for high tech toys will need to be implemented by outsourcing microchips to American, or Japanese manufacturing plants that are most efficient in quality and production. Video games and electronic entertainment may be soon deliverable online, in which Mattel will need to create a channel structure through Xbox 360 online, Playstation 3, directly, or simply through online distributors of electronic content.
For three decades, the Nintendo Company has been on the front line of the video game industry. With competitors continuing to develop new video game systems and more exciting games to play with those systems. The Nintendo Company has come up with their own ways to keep video game enthusiasts interests in mind. Even though the video gaming at home did not start with Nintendo, The Nintendo Company did start a video gaming revolution with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES in 1985. How did the first ad of the NES package have the effectiveness that appeals to video gaming enthusiasts to launch the revolution, as we know it today?
In our modern age there is a constant need to point fingers and call something evil that was only made to better people’s lives. It happened with the television, it happened with the internet, and now this epidemic has set its sights on videogames. This media has been unfairly criticized, mainly by parents, since its release. They claim it causes violence and isolation but more over, in their arrogance, claim it is nothing more than a blatant waste of time. What these people don’t see is the true nature and potential for videogames and those who partake in the experiences they have to offer. Videogames provide a person with not only the opportunity to enhance their social and analytical skills, but also offer them the potential for tangential learning.
The Wii was Nintendo’s fifth game console, designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, released as a direct successor of the GameGube. Its original codename was “Revolution”, but was later renamed Wii in order to symbolize the concept of two people playing together (as Wii is a homophone of “we”). The main focus of the Wii was to introduce a revolutionary level of player interaction, instead of paramount graphics or maximum power that drove its competitors (Wii, n.d.; Wii: The Total Story, n.d.). There is no doubt that the Nintendo Wii brought video game playing to the next level, being the first major console that required body motion to play interactive games, which in turn only took “approximately 45 months to reach the ‘30 million units sold’ milestone, making it the fasting selling console of all time” (Purewal, 2010). As of 2010, the Nintendo Wii was the fastest selling console since its launch (Wii, n.d.; Wii: The Total Story, n.d.).
Abstract: The following research is designed to provide the reader with an understanding as to how Microsoft and Sony have developed as a company throughout the years. The research will show the combined efforts of two large companies and there mark into the gaming industry. Microsoft and Sony’s environment, company, and leadership styles are what have kept the company on the leading edge of technology. However, where do the companies begin to mark their niche into the market will be interesting to see with the difference in the two companies and their corporate ideas. The research will also focus more on the market issues, design issues, and economic impacts of the corporate wars going on. Thus, the research will provide the user with a better understanding of Microsoft and Sony’s position for market control of the gaming industry.
The author’s primary sources for this article include the original Pokemon games released for the Game Boy Color, the Pokemon anime, information about Nintendo sales of Pokemon related television shows, products and merchandise in the late 1990’s and interviews with the creator of Pokemon, Satoshi Tajiri.
This paper will detail a strategic marketing plan for a new product that is ready to “go to market”. A strategic marketing plan is important when presenting a new product or service because it ensures that the maximum amount of profit can be obtained for the product. A good strategic marketing plan provides focus and helps to pinpoint opportunities. A strategic marketing plan incorporates an executive summary, target marketing, place, product, pricing and promotional strategies, and a distribution plan.
In the next pages, you will find information about the marketing strategy and market position of Apples’ iPod. In the Introduction there is a short glance back to the past in order to distinguish successful marketing campaigns from that time. The discussion concentrates on the market share which iPod holds and the moment and the application of the marketing mix which explains the success of the product among its competitors. Finally, there is information about the target markets and the future objectives of the product.
Nintendo worked hard to make the first consoles that helped them get a jump start in success, but unfortunately it had a downfall that almost crushed their company’s reputation. In 1980, one of Nintendo’s skilled inventors Gunpei Yokoi, saw a man playing with his calculator, which gave him an idea, a small game that runs on batteries (Ryan 10-11). The Game & Watch was that game and it was released in 1980 which allowed the player to watch a ball and keeping it airborne with buttons (Ryan 10-11). Later on, Nintendo made TV consoles. In 1983, the Nintendo Entertainment System or the NES was released and games like “Super Mario” and Legend of Zelda” became pop...
Back in the day, the common household paraded around Nintendo’s latest gaming console, and goggled at every E3 unveiling. Shingeru Miyamoto, a once major gaming producer, had dominance over any other company, and ran competitors into the ground. Twelve years ago, Playstation stood no chance against the empire Nintendo built. Even when the Nintendo Wii entered market, Sony’s Playstation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox360 initially lost profits while Nintendo raised millions (Kuchera). Nowadays, however, when comparing Nintendo to other gaming kings, the general public favors anything non-Nintendo.
To conclude this critique of Sony, the term essay project was divided into six distinct segments to organize and explain every aspect of the requirement thoroughly. As I have shown, Sony belongs to a market structure branded as an Oligopoly. There are a small number of competitors in each of its small sectors whether it is from its gaming department or its photography department among others. Sony’s history spawns at the wake of the Second World War. Throughout its history, Sony has both invented and cultivated products that have been brought to the consumers. The products were mentioned in the essay early on in accordance to the history section. Currently Sony is experiencing a positive streak, especially in its gaming department as the PlayStation 4 has been recently released. Concerning Sony as a whole, the corporation is doing exceptional as well.
Personal computers experienced an explosive growth going from being a toy for electronics hobbyists to a full-fledged industry. The video game industry also reached a new point of popularity, becoming an major industry by itself in 1982. In the beginning of the 1980's Nintendo tested the handheld market by releasing their new system the game & watch. “Nintendo began selling the "GAME & WATCH" product line in Japan” (1) and it instantly became an success. The system's were “...the first portable LCD video games with a microprocessor.” (1) Each Game & Watch was able to play only one game due to its LCD display being pre printed with an overlay but the “game & watch games were created to make use of cheap LCD screens, a re purposing of elderly technology that were described as: ‘Lateral Thinking of Withered Technology,” (8) the G&M went on to sell over 43 million units worldwide. In the 1983s caused by a variety of factors, the entire video game industry crashed for America. During this time however Nintendo was tired of creating ports for other systems, deciding to branch into the realm of console development. “Having achieved success with the Color TV Game 6 and 15 systems, Nintendo’s CEO Hiroshi Yamauchi wanted to design a more serious home computer disguised as a toy, one to appeal to the entire family: a family computer; or ‘Famicom’.” (7) The Famicom also known as the Nintendo Family computer or as
Too often, a marketing function is misunderstood, because many people do not understand what is meant by ‘Marketing’.