The once almighty Sony hasn't had it easy lately (laptop battery recalls, the resurgence of Nintendo and its Wii, losing ground to Apple and others in the consumer electronics mindspace...I could go on for half the blogosphere). But kudos to its European team for putting together an Oprah-styled, Pow! marketing moment of epic proportions to launch Sony's PS3 over in London last week.
Putting aside worries about gang thuggery messing things up like they did Stateside, the company decided to go with another one of those midnight launches with Virgin Megastore. Although those are pretty common in the newprodlaunch game, how Sony played it was more than spectacular.
Here's the eyewitness description from the Eurogamer blog:
"Sony played the hour before midnight carefully, with a little something to keep the crowd going at regular intervals. First, a laminate number was picked, and the owner was told he'd be getting his PlayStation 3 for free. Later, it was confirmed that the first 150 people to buy a console would also get a free copy of Resistance: Fall of Man.
But it wasn't until that 11:40pm Sony UK boss Ray Maguire came forward to address the crowd, and Sony brought out the really big guns. Standing in front of a large flatscreen television, Maguire said:"This is a 46-inch Bravia W series. It's an award-winning flat panel. And do you know what the good news is guys? I'm going to give you one free."
The immediate response from the crowd was a mixture of cheers and confusion - a sort of collective, "Whooo... Ooo... Er, What?" But yes, Maguire said, Sony was giving away 125 top-of-the-range televisions worth around GBP 2000 each, adding, "Every single one of you in this queue is going to get one."
Then came the proper cheers, followed by big old whoops and applause. This wasn't a free game, a free controller, a free HDMI cable; this was a real reward for sticking with Sony. Worth two thousand pounds."
Maguire and his Sony brethren not only have guts, but smarts, too. Yeah, this stunt cost Sony about a quarter-million bucks (wholesale, that is), but that's pocket change compared to the publicity it has already generated. It also signals to Nintendo and Xbox (who have mischievously marred previous PS3 launches with stunts of their own) that Sony isn't sitting back and allowing its ass to get kicked anymore.
But as the cherry on the sundae, the prize itself is a key salesperson. The PS3 games become an eye-popping showcase on a high-end, high-def Bravia, generating oohs, ahhs and word-of-mouth that will continue to flow for months.
And, in the great Surprise spirit, will also keep folks wondering what Sony will do for an encore. (Thanks for this, Gabriel!)
Two who waited...and what they got!