At today’s MI6 conference, Sony’s SVP of Marketing and PlayStation Network, Peter Dille of SCEA made some pretty interesting statements.
In a discussion on “Refining the Digital Living Room” Dille made it clear that the vision of the company is to make the PS3 and the PSP brand the center of entertainment in a unified manner. Not a new message, but his arguments were clear: compared to ten years ago, the way people consume entertainment today is through a simpler and powerful tools, like the iPod and ‘net-connected TVs.
According to Dille, Sony has had more success with the PlayStation brand in the last year, citing a unified SCEA Metacritic score of 91.3 rating percent, the introduction of PlayStation Move, the introduction of 3D and 3D Bravia sets this summer, and the transition to bringing PSN to more devices. When questioned about PSN on Sony VAIO computers, Walkmen, and Sony Ericsson phones, Dille was clear that those talks are happening, with Kaz Hirai leading that charge.
This success, as Dille says, is in part thanks to the “It Only Does Everything Campaign.” Compared to the crazy “baby in the white room” ads of the past (designed to “get people to say ‘what the…?!’ and look into the PS3”) says Dille, Kevin Butler represents a compete about-face. He mentions that those initial advertisements, as well as the early $600 price tag, created an intimidating and arrogant impression on gamers and consumers, and that with these new ads, “The arrogance, I think, has gone away.”
With plans for more original content like The Tester, as well as Sony Pictures TV pilots, cross-over advertisement, such as the AXE-branded character in Pain (complete with double-pits-to-chesty move), Dille wanted to make it clear that Sony has learned some lessons over the last four years. However, with this convergence, he did mention this about his brand as a leader in home convergence: “Many will draft off others’ innovations.” Hmmmm.
