I Am You and You Are Wii
The original advertising campaign for the Nintendo Wii game console demonstrates how success can be achieved by making bold choices in a highly competitive market, and delivering what you promise to a specific audience. It’s often worthwhile to review successful advertising campaigns and examine why they worked so well. This is especially true if the wisdom gained is universal and not tied to a specific product or time period. The Nintendo Wii campaign is a good example.
For those not familiar with the Wii and its competitors, it’s important to understand that in the 1980’s Nintendo was the undisputed king of the video game console market. Then, in the mid 90s, Sony’s new PlayStation console eclipsed Nintendo, followed by Microsoft and its Xbox line. These devices delivered graphics and processing power far superior to Nintendo’s, and they quickly became the preferred choice for console gamers. By 2006, Microsoft and Sony had left Nintendo far behind. So much so there was speculation at the time that Nintendo would be pushed out of the hardware market entirely.
Nintendo knew it could not compete with the larger budgets and technology edge possessed by Microsoft and Sony. So instead, Nintendo took a bold step with both technology and positioning. Rather than expending capital trying to desperately siphon off customers from the core gamer demographic, they chose to dramatically expand the console market by creating a device to attract people who never played video games. Instead of trying to match the graphics technology in PlayStation and Xbox, they invested in creating a new interface that was simple and intuitive. In doing so, they created a game console “for everyone.” The Wii.
The handheld motion control devices they developed allowed players to move their bodies in an intuitive way: swing your arm for a tennis racket or baseball bat, punch for a boxing game. Instead of realistic imagery, they created simple sports games that everyone is familiar with: baseball, tennis, golf. Graphics were simple and quirky and encouraged group play. Their competitors' multi-player experience was online. Nintendo's multi-player had groups of people bouncing around their living rooms together, swinging their controllers to sports and dance games.
When it came time to release the product they were again competing with subsequent launches from Microsoft and Sony. The stakes couldn’t have been higher for Nintendo. But also for Microsoft and Sony. In the gamer world the main question was whether you preferred Xbox or PlayStation. Nintendo was not even part of the equation. But this time, they weren’t trying to be. They had created something new and far more accessible than anything on the market. Now they just needed their audience to see that.
When we view the TV ads for each company following that launch, it’s obvious the ads for Nintendo are telling a completely different story. Sony and Microsoft feature exciting game footage highlighting state-of-the-art graphics and trophy shots of sleek looking consoles. Nintendo shows people using the Wii. Yes, there are some snippets of the games themselves, but the ads predominantly focus on the experience of playing. We see all ages, from kids to senior adults, and by golly they sure look like they’re having fun. They’re swinging rackets, making a critical putt and dancing around together. They’re laughing and pointing and face-palming when they miss a shot. People watching saw reflections of themselves and thought: “I want to do what those people are doing!” And they went out and bought a Wii.
There was a backlash in the game world. Respected game critics trashed the shallowness of the games, and hardware gurus pointed out that the limitations of the system would make it obsolete far sooner than its competitors. But others, like visionary designer Wil Wright, thought it was the only truly “new” next generation console among the lot, and the others were just improved versions of their predecessors. Wright felt the Wii was a “major jump” precisely because it was appealing to a completely different demographic.
For the next four years Nintendo sold more units of its console than Microsoft or Sony and generated some of the largest sales in the company’s 127 year old history The Wii was hugely popular with families, often the one game console concerned parents would not merely allow, they’d join their kids playing the games. Its affect was far-reaching, both for the motion-control technology it created and the millions of new people it introduced to video games.
There is a lot more to the Wii story, but for the moment, let's look at the strategic marketing lessons we can take away from this campaign.
The first is: When faced with a competitive market, expanding user base is a much better solution than trying to squeeze more out of the existing pool of customers, especially when a competitor’s marketing budget can eat yours for lunch and ask for more. Just make sure most of those new customers are buying your product or service.
The second is: Understand who your customer is, show them how they will feel when they use your product or service, and then make sure you deliver that experience.
The third lesson is: Be bold when faced with steep odds. Nintendo’s success wasn’t magical. They offered a product for less money that appealed to a larger, untapped customer base and offered a unique experience. They then created a compelling story that showed their audience exactly what the Wii could do for them, and how it would make them feel.
That’s what I call going for the win.
Chris Parsons
