Sony PR revisited

[Acert93]

Many will remember back about 5 months ago I did a, "Sony PR" thread aimed at forming creative ideas to get Sony back on the horse after some nasty PR gaffs. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that KK or Kaz read Beyond3D! In the last 6 months there has been a large landslide of significant bad news that has really silenced most of the good stuff. And there has been a lot of good news, but as they say in business: it takes 10 good results to offset and break even on 1 bad one.

So, if you were Sony PR how would you [honestly] spin the last six months? Off the top of my head:

• Launch Delay: Spring-to-Fall
• $500/$600 price point
• Significant E3 no-shows (where art thou Killzone?)
• General inability to demonstrate a significant software difference at E3
• Major titles slipping to 2007 (e.g. Heavenly Sword)
• BluRay Delays
• Weak BluRay launch
• Supply reduction: 4M in 2006 to 2M in 2006
• RSX Downclock
• GDDR3 Downclock
• General perception of "lost" exclusves: e.g. Assassin's Creed
• European Delay: Fall-to-Spring
• Launch Shortages: Original forcast cut from 2M to 500k

Sony has noted a lot of good stuff lately, especially on the functionality side. If you were running Sony PR, how would you honestly work PR magic over the next 6 months to get that Shiny Sony Sheen back?

 

[hey69]

• Launch Delay: Spring-to-Fall
• ** blame bleuray technical and software isues
• $500/$600 price point
• ** no surprise here if you live in the € land
• Significant E3 no-shows (where art thou Killzone?)
• ** nothing worthwile to show.. late deliverance of devkits
• General inability to demonstrate a significant software difference at E3
• **see answer above
• Major titles slipping to 2007 (e.g. Heavenly Sword)
• ** see above
• BluRay Delays
• ** see first answer
• Weak BluRay launch
• ** huh??
• Supply reduction: 4M in 2006 to 2M in 2006
• **see 1st answer
• RSX Downclock
• ** nothing concrete confirmed but i dont see this as a major thing.
• GDDR3 Downclock
• ** same as above
• General perception of "lost" exclusves: e.g. Assassin's Creed
• ** how can you loose something you didnt had? its all about the money i guess with other games
• European Delay: Fall-to-Spring
• **see first anwser aka: blame hardware
• Launch Shortages: Original forcast cut from 2M to 500k
• ** eh you realise half of your points are one and the same?

 

[expletive]

To sum it up, when was the last time Sony had relevant 'good' news to tell anyone?

 

[TheChefO]

...how would you honestly work PR magic over the next 6 months to get that Shiny Sony Sheen back?

First thing I would do is replace "this is living" with that as the official company slogan ... everyone loves tongue twisters!

Honestly I don't know how you spin that list into a positive but then I'm no marketing expert... although everyone loves new RT tech demos so tgs should bring back the "sheen".:smile:

 

[Titanio]

None of what you've listed really matters in the wider scheme of things. Only a relatively very small number of people are paying enough attention at the moment. The vast majority, if they've heard about PS3 at all, would not have exposure to such issues.

Sony's marketing is not the problem - for the vast majority. They may be having a rocky time online at the moment, but see the above paragraph. Generally, Sony's marketing is top-class, and most people will only see the message Sony wants them to see. It's easy to forget that when you're like you and me, in the loop on every little up and down.

Their issue at this point? Blue laser supply. That's what they've really got to worry about, IMO.

(If you're looking for the next opportunity for good PR as far as that 'tapped in' online community is concerned, though, TGS will hopefully provide an opportunity. And they have got this news out of the way in advance of that..probably learned that from E3)

 

[patsu]

Oh look ! UFO !!!
Diversion tactics.


Ok just kidding...
At this point, I think they have to rely on the product quality to speak for them. I see little need to spin backwards, other than to apologize like what Ken did at the end of his announcement. They need to spin forward instead. Much needs to be done in the near future.

Also they should separate the "Playstation" brand as an experience/concept instead of just focusing on PS3. The Playstation network is a good way to start (e.g., allowing people to register as a "guest" user even if they don't have a PS3 yet). Would be nice if they reward all Playstation fans (PSPs, PS2s and PS3) after all these disappointments by... ahem...

 

[Nesh]

Here we go again. None of these are anything major. But there is this tendency these days to make the smallest thing sound like its something huge.

 

[TheChefO]

None of what you've listed really matters in the wider scheme of things. Only a relatively very small number of people are paying enough attention at the moment. The vast majority, if they've heard about PS3 at all, would not have exposure to such issues.

Sony's marketing is not the problem - for the vast majority. They may be having a rocky time online at the moment, but see the above paragraph. Generally, Sony's marketing is top-class, and most people will only see the message Sony wants them to see. It's easy to forget that when you're like you and me, in the loop on every little up and down.

Their issue at this point? Blue laser supply. That's what they've really got to worry about, IMO.

Agreed - sony marketing is top notch. However the problem is this bad press has been leaking out to the general news sites and while I agree most people won't know the details, they will see bad press for sony/ps3. If any marketing team can turn it around though, it's sony's.

 

[Titanio]

Agreed - sony marketing is top notch. However the problem is this bad press has been leaking out to the general news sites and while I agree most people won't know the details, they will see bad press for sony/ps3. If any marketing team can turn it around though, it's sony's.

Only launch/pricing issues ever slip out into the mainstream, which makes up a very small part of the above list.

 

[TheChefO]

Only launch/pricing issues ever slip out into the mainstream, which makes up a very small part of the above list.

There are also a few articles on mainstream news sites regarding Sony's financial troubles etc and how they are banking on ps3. Again Joe consumer wouldn't remember all the details just that it was negative news for sony/ps3.

 

[Bobbler]

Honestly, I don't think there is any amount of PR they could do to make people forget the last 6 months or so. They just need to actually release the product and show all their cards and let people decide -- of course they need to advertise with the normal barrage of tv/magazine/etc. ads, but there isn't much they can say right now that'd remove the sour taste in people's mouths.

I imagine a ton of exclusive game announcements during TGS would help things, but I doubt that'd happen -- they've played all their big name exclusive cards already (FF, MGS, DMC, etc.) and outside of DQ there isn't much left with regards to big name third party games that are still platformless (which is why a ton of exclusive new ip/sequels to non triple A ip would be necessary).

Sony has been fumbling a bit too much lately, and it's kind of sad to see. And as much as I want a hi-def video/disc format in my console, it's clearly been a huge pain in the ass for them and likely the root cause of quite a few of the issues listed (pricing and delays, mainly). What's worse is there isn't much of a choice if you're gaming tastes are like mine -- Wii won't be a replacement, and 360 is still too much like Xbox1 in terms of games... if I didn't want a PS3 enough to pay the price, I'd be stuck for the next 2-3 (which is likely how long it'd take for another platform to truly take it's place if that were necessary).

One thing to look forward to is the bad news like we've seen in the last 6 months generally stops after the product is released, and it's all about the games at that point -- generally positive news from there on out (except for complaints about shortages, as we experienced with 360). Another nice thing is most of the poorly written and completely silly speculation articles that pop up everywhere can stop or at least not be quite as common.

edit: as Titanio said the general news that the world sees is a bit different than the internet -- I was mostly talking about the internet here.

 

[liolio]

The average know the price.
the average european joe know or will very very soon know about the delay.
Yhe average don't care anyway, he don't even think in buying a 600euros $ console.
More if we look to xbox360 sale figure, the average joe don't evne think in buying a 400 euros dollars console.
So he don't care about delay.
What the average joe will see and it 's worse if he's european it's that he will be able to buy a
250 euros xbox when the ps3 will launch if h'es european and in fact it's same if he 's american (ps3 supplid units price...).

 

[Arwin]

I guess I've answered these questions in my mind so often already, I might as well type them out here.


[*]Launch Delay: Spring-to-Fall

- Their own words: "they wouldn't launch if there weren't any games." Obviously, we know that they also just weren't ready. In which case, "we really aren't ready yet" will do just fine.


[*]$500/$600 price point

- their own words: "it's worth it". Maybe something like "we encourage our users to think and weigh for themselves whether they are getting what they pay for"


[*]Significant E3 no-shows (where art thou Killzone?)

- Guerilla set themselves very ambitious goals in 2005, and they have vowed not to come out until they have something to show that matches those expectations well enough. (I wouldn't do it myself, but cheaper marketing types could point to Forza 2 and the backlash it is getting right now as part of the reason)


[*]General inability to demonstrate a significant software difference at E3

- their own words: we're very far considering how many months there are still to go before launch. (and how true that is for some of us )


[*]Major titles slipping to 2007 (e.g. Heavenly Sword)

- a good game deserves to get the time it needs. Of course, this is within reason, but we have some nice games at launch, and the PS3 has plenty of other features to tide you over in the meantime.


[*]BluRay Delays

- it's a tough pill to swallow, but many developers agree with us that BluRay is really necessary for the next-generation of gaming, and you can trust us that having a quality BluRay player in your Playstation 3 will have all sorts of added benefits, like more detailed graphics, higher fidelity sound, region free games, exclusive content for games, magazines with lots of trailers and game demoes for those without an internet connection, and so on.


[*]Weak BluRay launch

- By the time the Playstation 3 launches, you will see the true power of the BluRay disc for movies, supporting all the features that the BluRay standard has made possible.


[*]Supply reduction: 4M in 2006 to 2M in 2006

- we are extremely sorry, but the blue ray diode problem unfortunately is causign us a full month of production delays. We have tried our best to prevent this from interfering with the PS3 production planning, but we unfortunately have failed. [strike]Everyone who is even remotely possible for this will be publicly executed as soon as this mess is cleaned up.[/strike] There are a lot of things that could have gone wrong, and we are extremely frustrated that we managed to get so close to getting everything right, but failed at this last detail. We offer our sincere appologies and promise we will make up for it and do our utmost to get the PS3s out to you as soon as possible.


[*]RSX Downclock

- developers so far have always worked with a lower clock-speed than the final one, so you will see that games will look great. The difference is a very small one in terms of overall performance, but allows us to build the graphics chip cheaper and quicker, so we will be able to offer you price reductions earlier in the console's lifecycle. It has also contributed to being able to avoid having an ugly external power adapter, and the very silent operation of the PS3 which you will surely appreciate while you are enjoying the high-fidelity sound that the PS3 games and BluRay movies will be able to produce.


[*]GDDR3 Downclock

- In this case, we have brought the GDDR3 memory performance in harmony with the rest of the system, with a sufficient cost and power consumption decrease to make that fraction of a performance loss worthwhile.


[*]General perception of "lost" exclusves: e.g. Assassin's Creed

- As always, we regret the over-enthusiasm of some media to assign labels to titles prematurely. Ubisoft has a history of being a respectable multi-platform producer. We are confident that the PS3 will be the best platform to play this title on, with support for the new 6-degrees of motion controller and the extra space on the BluRay disc.


[*]European Delay: Fall-to-Spring

- we were really committed to getting the Playstation 3 out to our loyal fans in Europe this year, against expectations. Regrettably the launch numbers are now so small that we had no choice to make a tough decision. We have chosen to delay the European launch because this would be more in line with our previous hardware release schedules - meaning that at least this way, the time between the launch of the ps2 and the ps3 remains similar across the different regions.


[*]Launch Shortages: Original forcast cut from 2M to 500k

- Since our capacity near launch time is approximately one million consoles per month, a delay of just one month in the blue laser diode production unfortunately has that drastic an effect on our launch shipment numbers. The good news though is that with such a large production capacity, we will be able to make up for those shortages soon.

 

[-tkf-]

The average know the price.
the average european joe know or will very very soon know about the delay.
Yhe average don't care anyway, he don't even think in buying a 600euros $ console.
More if we look to xbox360 sale figure, the average joe don't evne think in buying a 400 euros dollars console.
So he don't care about delay.
What the average joe will see and it 's worse if he's european it's that he will be able to buy a
250 euros xbox when the ps3 will launch if h'es european and in fact it's same if he 's american (ps3 supplid units price...).

The average consumer wants a - P L AY S T A T I O N - not a Microsoft console

 

[Acert93]

• General perception of "lost" exclusves: e.g. Assassin's Creed
• ** how can you loose something you didnt had? its all about the money i guess with other games

That is not the only example (GTA4 for example), but on AC, an anecdote outside the forums. I think it is clear, even from the B3D thread, a LOT of Sony fans expected it to be an exclusive. Just read the thread.

Anyhow, my anecdote: I was in Walmart on Sunday and checking out the new 360 demos. A sales rep came up and we started to talk and we were talking about the PS3. I asked him what games he was looking forward to and he said, "Assassin's Creed and Heavenly Sword". I said, "Did you know that AC is now officially announced for the 360?" and his response was a whiney, "Nooooooooo!" I asked what the problem was and he said, "I wanted it exclusive". And then we went on talking about how hot HS looks and how they are using 1 SPE for hair alone.

I thought it was only the fan**** and trolls online who expected AC to be exclusive and were "devastated" when it was announced on the 360. Turns out real people in real life have had a similar reaction. He had no clue it was 360 bound and it was one, among many, reasons to get a PS3. He is a JRPG fan, so I told him the PS3 is by far the right console for him regardless of any changes like that, but I did find it interesting. Just as interesting is that he thinks the footage shown so far is "in game realtime being played" CGI and cut scenes really do work...

• Launch Shortages: Original forcast cut from 2M to 500k
• ** eh you realise half of your points are one and the same?

Of course they aren't! They are all independant events. They may be related to the same behind the scene issues, but they are distinct events across a 6 month period. From a PR perspective, in the media and to consumers, each are independant points.

 

[hey69]

hey , the guy that did the preorder for one of my PS3's told me the 20g version isnt upgradable . and you cant do alot with it (his words)

I acted as a dumb bitch offcourse.. just laid the 20€ on the table and left for the preorder

 

[patsu]

Where ops and engineering fall short, marketing goes into overdrive. But the best marketing is to let the truth speak for itself. There is really no need to spin/cover up *even* if bad news are out there. PR is just a small department, usually outranked by mainstream marketing groups.

Marketing goes into overdrive because it needs to adjust the value and packages against new expectations and changes (since the last commitment). e.g., MS may have more games than originally planned, what now ? Most/all marketing plans have an expiry date on them.

PR will support by spinning forward the current and also adjusted plan. The PS3 site will stay up (but the TV media slot should get delayed), new interviews need to be scheduled, ...

Let the execs do their job. They are paid handsomely to make difficult decisions and swallow grenades for the group.

 

[nelg]

This just in ..................... Sony renames the PS3 to the PS3.5!


I kid.

 

[RobertR1]

Acert,

Most of this could have been avoided by being a bit more honest. First at E3 2005, all sorts of crap was flung our way. Then E3 2006 came around and the story changed and it has continued to change ever since, for the worse as you pointed out in your bullet points.

At some point, they might want to consider being honest and upfront with your consumer. This has been Sony's flaw as of a few years now. They've grown arrogant and really for no good reason whatsoever. They need to stfu and let the product speak for itself, something they've not been doing for a while now. You still have people defending them to no end and constantly giving them the benefit of doubt, which I find shocking.

For me, enough of this PR and marketing BS.

 

[Acert93]

I am off to work shortly, but kind of sad I see no suggestions for PR

As for this stuff not impacting consumers, I do remember a lot of complaining by non-Xbox fans about shortages, software, warranties, cost, game delays, etc. This stuff does set a general tone that does filter down. Obviously 1 or 2 negatives is not a big deal, but for the hardcore fans who have been following the PS3 for years and are ready to slap $600 down on launch day, now finding out about further negative news, I am not sure how it can be said to be no big deal.

I am on board on the "the games will wash away a multitude of sins" camp. Just launching and getting good games out will offset much of the bad vibe on certain issues. But that only emphasizes the delay and huge shortages. It was just last week we were told adamently that Kaz was mistaken because KK said so. Now that adamcy is gone. 50% of the units and the 2nd biggest market in the world has to wait until 2007.

Surely this is dissappointing to consumers with $600 who wanted a PS3 this holiday as promised.

One solution: Sony should be packing in 2 controllers and a killer app in Europe to start with. That is one PR method to make EU customers feel like first rate customers. Delays suck, but getting, say, Heavenly Sword and 2 controllers? Lets kiss and make up!