PlayStation Marketing Strategy & Marketing Mix (4Ps)
Marketing Strategy of PlayStation analyzes the brand with the marketing mix framework which covers the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion). These business strategies, based on PlayStation marketing mix, help the brand succeed in the market. Let us start the PlayStation Marketing Strategy & Mix to understand its product, pricing, advertising & distribution strategies:
Quick Glance:
PlayStation Product Strategy:
The product strategy and mix in PlayStation marketing strategy can be explained as follows:
PlayStation primarily manufactures home consoles for Video games. Its product width includes PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation App and accessories. All these are the product offerings in the marketing mix of PlayStation.
PlayStation 5
PS5 offers an SSD drive with a faster performance, 4K resolution with 120fps for seamless high quality of video. The latest console also offers compatibility with a few previous versions of PlayStation consoles.
PlayStation 4
PS4 comes with 30% slimmer and 16% lighter than the previous variants. It comes with excellent HDR visuals. Video storage capabilities of 500GB or 1TB. PlayStation 4 Pro is the newest version of PlayStation line of products. PlayStation 4 Pro boasts of having graphics of 4K level; which is not provided by any other consoles.
It provides a great gaming experience with powerful console and faster frame rates.
PlayStation 3
PS3 provides HD and 3D graphics and its made as a family entertainment console type. Being slim and light PlayStation 3 is a handy one.
PlayStation Vita is a smaller version of the consoles. As a hand-held terminal, it helps users by being highly portable and transferrable. Stunning graphics and powerful battery backup makes PS Vita as a highly-coveted product for gamers who are always on the move. PlayStation PS App helps users maintain their accounts and receive support and updates related to various games. It also helps gamers manage multiplayer settings.
Image: flickr-photos/ninac52/
PlayStation Price/Pricing Strategy:
Below is the pricing strategy in PlayStation marketing strategy:
PlayStation offers a premium price but is also dependent upon its competition. The Interactive Video Gaming industry is highly competitive with three dominant players Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.
In such a case, there are many criteria which affects and finally decides the price of the products such as processor, graphics, acoustics, controllers and power. PlayStation being the dominant force is able to price its products for the high-end customers and pricing a bit higher than its competitors. In 2021, PS5 became available globally at $500 for the base edition & $400 for the digital edition. Also, the older PS4 is available in the range of $400. Also the price of games varies from time to time. By using the concept of differential pricing strategy, PlayStation is able to maximize its profits by making customers pay for its products as per their spending capabilities. This gives an insight in the pricing plans in its marketing mix.
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PlayStation Place & Distribution Strategy:
Following is the distribution strategy in the PlayStation marketing mix:
PlayStation, being a Sony product, is available across the world. Its products are sold primarily in the Sony stores which are the brick and mortar ones, which also serves as customer support and service centres. These stores also host other Sony products in line with PlayStation brand. PlayStation can also be purchased from online ecommerce platforms. In collaboration with the best ecommerce platforms, PlayStation products are sold on Amazon, eBay, Flipkart etc. But since the discount range of online stores and Sony stores do not vary to a great extent. Therefore, customers generally tend to purchase the PlayStations from Sony stores. The retail electronics shops also give place to Sony products specially the PlayStations.
Large retail chains like Reliance, Chroma and Home shop provides shelf space to PlayStations.
PlayStation Promotion & Advertising Strategy:
The promotional and advertising strategy in the PlayStation marketing strategy is as follows:
PlayStation from Sony spends a huge sum of revenues for promotional activities for its brand PlayStation. PlayStation is famous for coming up with several campaigns, which promote their products among gamers to a great extent. PlayStation uses aggressive promotion as a part of its marketing mix. The slogan for the brand "Play has no limits" emphasizes its positioning as a core gaming product. A few of the famous slogans which have been used by Sony include, “eNoS Lives”, “The Ultimate Just Got Power”, “It only does everything”, “Move into the action”. PlayStation also features its upcoming products and games in many exhibitions across the globe. The Electronic Entertainment Expo, which is the largest gathering of gaming event also hosts PlayStation products every year. Such events help Sony feature and advertise their products to the larger crowd and focus their products to the prospective buyers, i.e. gamers. Television advertisements is also widely used for the promotion of PlayStation. Hence, this concludes the PlayStation marketing mix.
About PlayStation:
PlayStation is a gaming brand consists of gaming consoles, media platform and controllers. It is a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment one of the largest video games company in the world. It was originally launched in the year 1988 jointly by Nintendo and Sony. But after Sony created a subsidiary for the interactive entertainment industry, it was solely owned by Sony since the year 1995. It is headquartered at Tokyo in Japan. Its products are sold across the globe. PlayStation’s major competitors include Nintendo and Microsoft’s XBOX.
With approximately 52% of the market share, PlayStation is the market leader in the Interactive Entertainment Video Games Industry. With annual revenue of ¥8105712 Million PlayStation is financially healthy company with sales growing over the years.
This article has been researched & authored by the Content & Research Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.
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