Xbox One S.: Brand Loyalty In The Video Game Industry

III. SWOT ANALYSIS

A. Strengths

1. Market: Currently, billions of dollars are spent in the video game market every year (Video Game Industry, n.d). With that much money being circulated, the demand for video games is evident and the Xbox console is in a very strong market.

2. Customer loyalty: Brand loyalty in the gaming industry has a history that dates back to the first video game console and usually plays a role during the launches of new consoles (Ford, n.d.). Xbox implemented the “Gamerscore” since the release of the Xbox 360 (Qualls, 2016) that allows its users to keep track of all their achievements from every Xbox game ever played, including older consoles; encouraging consumers to remain loyal to Xbox.

3. Exclusive video game titles: Xbox One S offers exclusive video games titles only available to Xbox game consoles (King,

Gamer generation: As the population grows older, more adults are coming from a generation of video games, in fact, the average age of a video gamer is 37 years old (Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry, 2015). Marketing to this demographic can be very beneficial as this group likely has more input on spending.

4. Online Network: Xbox offers free Xbox Live Silver membership; something that its rival Sony console does not. There is an opportunity to make Xbox Live Gold membership free or give a limited subscription with purchase of the Xbox One S.

5. Chinese market: Up until three years ago, China had a ban on all foreign game consoles (Peckham, 2014). The Xbox One was the first outside gaming system to be sold in the country. China’s huge population and Xbox One being a pioneer there, opens opportunities to expand throughout the country.

6. Internet access: Over the years, internet access has been expanding throughout the globe, rising from 43% of the world population in 2015 to 47% in 2016 (Taylor, 2016). With more people gaining access to the internet, Xbox will be able reach more consumers.

D.