X-Box advertising campaign...
Phil
on the screens but what the hell were they advertising?... Just looked like
a jumble of words (e.g. Like Women, Ravers get Nerd). FFS, is it any wonder
no-one knows about the X-Box?...
Come on Microsoft, we want our console to succeed but with an advertising
campaign like that, what's going to happen?!..
Or perhaps it's just me?...
Phil
Michael Cargill
Oh, and for those that wondered what 'beaver84.co.uk' was all about - its a
website that sells building stuff...
--
Lovingly Created by Michael Cargill
------------------------------------
'Don't Be a Poof - Eat White Bread'
'You're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat' - Sheriff Brody, Jaws
Dom Robinson
phil.br...@ntlworld.com says...
> Just watched the England v Slovakia game, was pleased to see the X-Box logo
> on the screens but what the hell were they advertising?... Just looked like
> a jumble of words (e.g. Like Women, Ravers get Nerd). FFS, is it any wonder
> no-one knows about the X-Box?...
Most consoles have had bizarre advertising campaigns when they should just SHOW
the games.
I saw an old Simpsons today which has the creation of a kids toy "Funzo", which
shoves Funzo in the camera's face, so to speak, then shows what it does and
closes "Buy Funzo! If you don't buy Funzo, you're nothing!"
On another Simpsons comparison, most console ads have been like the French
'advert' for Homer's "Mr Plow" business.
I've not got round to playing Tekken 4 yet because I don't think it's going to
offer anything new from the previous versions. The advert shows a few quick
clips, but not enough, as well as either a businessman shouting or a housewife
trying to be clever.
Why not just show clips from the game on their own, with captions or a voice
over that tells us the new characters in this release, and what's different
about it.
> Come on Microsoft, we want our console to succeed but with an advertising
> campaign like that, what's going to happen?!..
>
> Or perhaps it's just me?...
The Xbox is a bloody good console with so much going for it, but if it really
does come down to 99quid before Xmas, or just after, then with the advertising
campaign going the way it's going, ie. not much there, then it could all be
over for Bill Gates' console by the end of next year before you can say
Dreamcast.
--
Dom Robinson
Editor, DVDfever.co.uk; Contributor, City Life (citylife.co.uk)
d...@dvdfever.co.uk "Ice-cream. I love the smell of raspberry in the morning."
/* http://DVDfever.co.uk
/* 843 DVDs, 224 games, 33 videos, 47 cinema films, 46 CDs, laserdiscs & news
/* 51st state, roddy frame, surf ninjas, wwe raw, conflict desert storm, moby
/* Reviews + TiVo, ITV Digital, DVD, WS VHS lists & release schedules online
Peterg
I women leach - michael owen
hocus lapels - paul scholes
and something about kiss and an organ
"Michael Cargill" <mikeme...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ao9utg$kfb32$1...@ID-108275.news.dfncis.de...
Peterg
hocus lapels - paul scholes
"Michael Cargill" <mikeme...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:ao9utg$kfb32$1...@ID-108275.news.dfncis.de...
Paul Smith
news:MPG.1812aaad6...@news.cis.dfn.de...
>
> The Xbox is a bloody good console with so much going for it, but if it
really
> does come down to 99quid before Xmas, or just after, then with the
advertising
> campaign going the way it's going, ie. not much there, then it could all
be
> over for Bill Gates' console by the end of next year before you can say
> Dreamcast.
I don't think there is any chance at all of the Xbox becoming the next
Dreamcast. Playstation 2 will sell more then Christmas, true, but so what?
1) We are dealing with Microsoft, they think long-term.
2) Microsoft is what, 7 times the size of Sony.
3) By next year the only main negative thing (that I disagree with anyway)
will be sorted, not enough games. (Controller S will be out by November and
will probably start to be included with the console soon after, a budget
range will be launched around Christmas time).
4) Next year a lot of people who brought the PS2 this year, will be moving
to Xbox.
The next generation consoles are still say 4 Christmas's away, that is a
heck of a long time for Sony to hold out. What will happen is the Xbox will
become popular in say 2 years time, those people will already have Xbox
games and (fingers crossed Xbox 2 will play Xbox 1 games) they'll move to
Xbox 2 as the logical choice due to lots of games that they already have
will still be playable.
The Playstation 2 has been maxed out, graphics wise Xbox exceeded it on
launch, Xbox still has probably another year (at least) before it's
abilities get maxed out. Kids are starting to find out that the Xbox has
better graphics, better sound everything, I can guarantee you more Xboxes
will be sold tomorrow then PS2s. :-)
So what if it goes to ?99 ? Surely that's a good thing, again Microsoft are
thinking long-term profitability, at the moment it's market share at any
cost.
I'm pretty sure Microsoft will be starting quite a large ad campaign
beginning of November (which is when Christmas sales really heat up). But I
don't believe Microsoft need to do really well this Christmas, it would help
but it's not essential giving the amount of time before the next lot roll
in.
If any console is going under it's going to be the GameCube, it *IS* selling
worst out of the 3, and gets traded-in the most out of the 3, I don't know
where these places quote their figures, they must be for the odd freak day
when the GC sales more (Mario release for example). Shame really as the GC
is quite a nice little machine and got a lot of really *fun* games.
Ow my fingers hurt now.
--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
http://www.smirnov.demon.co.uk/
http://www.dasmirnov.net/
http://www.doom3portal.com/ - A DOOM III fansite.
*Replace nospam with smirnov to reply by e-mail*
Jason Sayer
I have to admit that if all Microsoft can do is produce a completely
Bollocks advertising campaign like that then the Xbox has no chance.
People aren't interested in deciphering bloody anagrams they just want to
look at something and immediately know what the hell it is they're meant to
want to be buying.
Why on earth didn't they just put brief details of what the console can do?
e.g - Only console to have a hard drive, or out of the box online facility,
DVD or stuff like that. At least people can actually see what the damn thing
can do over it's rivals!! I bet with the exception of the Xbox community
and people in the industry the average Joe Public have never even heard of
'Xbox Live!'. (This could have also been pushed during tonights game).
With no doubt millions watching it was probably the best advertising
opportunity they've had to date to impress, and they f*cked it up, big time.
I wouldn't mind betting that the cost of the advertising ran in to the high
thousands too.
I think it's about time that the MS marketing team got a real kick up the
arse or they may find themselves redundant in 6 months at this rate!
Rant over.....
"Phil" <phil.br...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:j2%p9.12139$4r1.1...@newsfep3-gui.server.ntli.net...
Dom Robinson
says...
> "Dom Robinson" <d...@dvdfever.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:MPG.1812aaad6...@news.cis.dfn.de...
> >
> > The Xbox is a bloody good console with so much going for it, but if it
> really
> > does come down to 99quid before Xmas, or just after, then with the
> advertising
> > campaign going the way it's going, ie. not much there, then it could all
> be
> > over for Bill Gates' console by the end of next year before you can say
> > Dreamcast.
>
> I don't think there is any chance at all of the Xbox becoming the next
> Dreamcast. Playstation 2 will sell more then Christmas, true, but so what?
>
> 1) We are dealing with Microsoft, they think long-term.
Firstly, I'm not doubting the capabilities of the Xbox, just the capabilities
of the marketing team.
Microsoft may think long-term, but the public have short memories and think
very short-term. Microsoft need to grab the public's imagination NOW, not next
Xmas. If they don't get the public's attention now then the stores will not
stock the product and after that it may well as not exist as far as the general
public are concerned.
The Dreamcast was a fantastic console too, also with online facilities, even if
they were just 56k dialup only, but the online facilites weren't seized upon
and the marketing was equally non-descript and the product failed.
> 2) Microsoft is what, 7 times the size of Sony.
What? indeed. Doesn't matter how big a company is. Shouting "We are Microsoft"
will not make someone by an Xbox.
> 3) By next year the only main negative thing (that I disagree with anyway)
> will be sorted, not enough games. (Controller S will be out by November and
> will probably start to be included with the console soon after, a budget
> range will be launched around Christmas time).
They need the games now, not after Xmas.
> 4) Next year a lot of people who brought the PS2 this year, will be moving
> to Xbox.
Why? While I believe that an Xbox would sit comfortably alongside the PS2, a
lot of people will only be able to afford one console.
> The next generation consoles are still say 4 Christmas's away, that is a
> heck of a long time for Sony to hold out. What will happen is the Xbox will
> become popular in say 2 years time, those people will already have Xbox
> games and (fingers crossed Xbox 2 will play Xbox 1 games) they'll move to
> Xbox 2 as the logical choice due to lots of games that they already have
> will still be playable.
It'll be popular in 2 years time? It needs to be popular now. And if the Xbox
does fail, there will be no Xbox2.
> The Playstation 2 has been maxed out, graphics wise Xbox exceeded it on
> launch, Xbox still has probably another year (at least) before it's
> abilities get maxed out. Kids are starting to find out that the Xbox has
> better graphics, better sound everything, I can guarantee you more Xboxes
> will be sold tomorrow then PS2s. :-)
Sales figures guarantee the opposite.
> So what if it goes to ?99 ? Surely that's a good thing, again Microsoft are
> thinking long-term profitability, at the moment it's market share at any
> cost.
It's not a good thing as a price of 99quid is generally a last throw of the
dice more than anything in the console market. Even if Microsoft did gain a big
share of the market at that price, they wouldn't be able to then suddenly up it
back to 160quid again.
> I'm pretty sure Microsoft will be starting quite a large ad campaign
> beginning of November (which is when Christmas sales really heat up). But I
> don't believe Microsoft need to do really well this Christmas, it would help
> but it's not essential giving the amount of time before the next lot roll
> in.
Ad campaigns begin Sept/Oct, not November. Nov is too late. It's now mid-
October and the key DVD releases are coming out now. The same should be
happening for the games market.
Sufian
which
> shoves Funzo in the camera's face, so to speak, then shows what it does
and
> closes "Buy Funzo! If you don't buy Funzo, you're nothing!"
>
> On another Simpsons comparison, most console ads have been like the French
> 'advert' for Homer's "Mr Plow" business.
ROFLMAO. Yeah I remember those episodes. I laughed my ass off when I saw the
"Mr Plow" advert cause it's so true with some of the adverts that leave you
with "what on earth was that advert about??".
Lisa: Dad, was that your advert?
Homer: I don't know!
LOL.
--
-=::Sufian::=-
We mortals are but shadows and dust.
http://www.clan-palestra.net :: A Day of Defeat clan.
Dom Robinson
s.a...@ntlworld.com says...
> "Dom Robinson" <d...@dvdfever.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:MPG.1812aaad6...@news.cis.dfn.de...
> > I saw an old Simpsons today which has the creation of a kids toy "Funzo",
> which
> > shoves Funzo in the camera's face, so to speak, then shows what it does
> and
> > closes "Buy Funzo! If you don't buy Funzo, you're nothing!"
> >
> > On another Simpsons comparison, most console ads have been like the French
> > 'advert' for Homer's "Mr Plow" business.
>
> ROFLMAO. Yeah I remember those episodes. I laughed my ass off when I saw the
> "Mr Plow" advert cause it's so true with some of the adverts that leave you
> with "what on earth was that advert about??".
>
> Lisa: Dad, was that your advert?
> Homer: I don't know!
>
> LOL.
Reminds me when there were endless ads in print, and I think on TV, for an
insurance company, IIRC, called "gan", just saying "What is gan?"
This went on for so long that when I eventually found out what 'gan' was, I
couldn't care less.
Perhaps we should have out own ad campaign for all those companies.
"The JTUWTFYS campaign" (Just Tell Us WTF You're Selling)
Mark Wilson
news:aoa89v$l7c$1$8302...@news.demon.co.uk...
> 3) By next year the only main negative thing (that I disagree with anyway)
> will be sorted, not enough games. (Controller S will be out by November
and
> will probably start to be included with the console soon after, a budget
> range will be launched around Christmas time).
>
No, no, no, NO!!!!
The main negative thing isn't "not enough games".... I look in Game and
there's loads of Xbox games, but most of them are shite! And to be honest,
looking at what's coming up, I don't see the situation improving much.
> 4) Next year a lot of people who brought the PS2 this year, will be moving
> to Xbox.
>
Why do you think that? A good proportion of PS2 buyers this Christmas will
be parents, and they will _not_ be in any hurry to buy another console for
Johnny next year. Not when the vast majority of games will either be
multi-platform or exclusive to PS2.
> So what if it goes to ?99 ? Surely that's a good thing, again Microsoft
are
> thinking long-term profitability, at the moment it's market share at any
> cost.
>
Well, for a start, it'll piss off the people who bought it at the previous
higher prices, and that might stop them buying new games, which is the only
way MS can make a profit.
Also, the impression amongst non-gamers (i.e. the parents who buy most
consoles at Christmas) is "this console has already fallen in price by more
than 50% since March, let's wait till next year, maybe we'll get it free
with Corn Flakes"...
> I'm pretty sure Microsoft will be starting quite a large ad campaign
> beginning of November (which is when Christmas sales really heat up). But
I
> don't believe Microsoft need to do really well this Christmas, it would
help
> but it's not essential giving the amount of time before the next lot roll
> in.
>
I disagree, I think MS _desperately_ need good Christmas sales for the Xbox,
otherwise I can see them pulling support for it in Europe. And why they're
even bothering with Xbox Live is beyond me.
> If any console is going under it's going to be the GameCube, it *IS*
selling
> worst out of the 3, and gets traded-in the most out of the 3, I don't know
> where these places quote their figures, they must be for the odd freak day
> when the GC sales more (Mario release for example). Shame really as the
GC
> is quite a nice little machine and got a lot of really *fun* games.
>
"quite a nice little machine"?
"*fun* games?" What other sort of game worth speaking of is there??? Games
are meant to be fun!
The Gamecube may not be as highly specced as the Xbox, but I tell you
this... thanks to Animal Crossing and Star Fox Adventures I've not touched
my Xbox or PS2 in more than a fortnight.
It's all down to the games, and MS just doesn't have them. OK, they've
bought Rare, and after Star Fox Adventures, I'm really looking forward to
Kameo, but being realistic, that's at least a year away, and by then it
might be all too late.
Mark Wilson
> The Dreamcast was a fantastic console too, also with online facilities,
even if
> they were just 56k dialup only, but the online facilites weren't seized
upon
> and the marketing was equally non-descript and the product failed.
>
With the DC, I think the online facilities _were_ seized upon... the problem
is that the market didn't want them....
The Dreamcast's online facilities were open to anyone with a phone socket,
whereas Xbox requires broadband...
Also... has MS ever asked people whether the market _wants_ online gaming?
Some redneck hick in Arkansas calling them "gay" or saying they "sucked"
because they had the audacity to be shot the the seventeenth time in a
minute in Halo?
Mark
Paul Smith
news:3da8af06$0$8512$cc9e...@news.dial.pipex.com...
>
> No, no, no, NO!!!!
>
> The main negative thing isn't "not enough games".... I look in Game and
> there's loads of Xbox games, but most of them are shite! And to be honest,
> looking at what's coming up, I don't see the situation improving much.
I personally think the Xbox has more most have titles then any other current
console, and have thought that for quite a while now.
I was referring to the general public, saying "not enough games" for the
Xbox.
Look at the PS2, that's got 100s of utterly crap games, now nobody can
disagree with me on that one. :-)
Paul Smith
>
> Firstly, I'm not doubting the capabilities of the Xbox, just the
capabilities
> of the marketing team.
I agree with you on this one, they need to *push* the advantages of the Xbox
on their ads, not just have some rubbish that nobody understands and just
have the X logo at the end. That's fine for hardcore gamers who know it all
anyway. But it's the general gaming crown they need to penetrate.
As for Xbox sales this Christmas, I think 25% of console sales is a good
enough chunk to have, Xbox is getting better with every day that's the main
thing, I do work in retail and interest in the Xbox is growing. People are
starting to find out what Xbox is, a games console, that's the first steps.
There is no chance of it being dropped by high street game shops any time
soon.
Dom Robinson
says...
> "Dom Robinson" <d...@dvdfever.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:MPG.1812bd798...@news.cis.dfn.de...
> > The Dreamcast was a fantastic console too, also with online facilities,
> even if
> > they were just 56k dialup only, but the online facilites weren't seized
> upon
> > and the marketing was equally non-descript and the product failed.
> >
>
> With the DC, I think the online facilities _were_ seized upon... the problem
> is that the market didn't want them....
What I meant was versions of the same games in other countries had online
facilities, whereas the UK versions didn't often. Whether the UK consumer
wanted them or not, it was advertised as a machine on which to compete with 6
billion players worldwide, and then that was taken away.
> The Dreamcast's online facilities were open to anyone with a phone socket,
> whereas Xbox requires broadband...
That is now becoming more of a given as the UK now has gone past the one
million broadband users mark, so let's just hope that BT and other companies
don't go and fuck it up with cut-price quarter-kbps "broadband" services which
are far from it like they're starting to.
> Also... has MS ever asked people whether the market _wants_ online gaming?
> Some redneck hick in Arkansas calling them "gay" or saying they "sucked"
> because they had the audacity to be shot the the seventeenth time in a
> minute in Halo?
A lot of people do want it. I don't use it often myself though. I keep getting
shot seventeen times a minute and that sucks.
Mark Wilson
> I personally think the Xbox has more most have titles then any other
current
> console, and have thought that for quite a while now.
>
Well, this is all personal opinion of course, but I disagree. I bought an
Xbox about a month ago, and I've now run out of titles I want to buy. This
is worrying, because a) I've only bought four (and I only actually like two
of them), b) all of these four were launch titles and c) there's nothing
coming up in the next six months that's even remotely interesting to me.
And don't start with "well why did you buy an Xbox then?", I'm just a sucker
for new toys, OK? ;-) Plus, it makes quite a good MP3 jukebox.
> Look at the PS2, that's got 100s of utterly crap games, now nobody can
> disagree with me on that one. :-)
>
Oh, absolutely... but don't fall into the trap that _all_ PS2 games are
crap. GTA Vice City should be highly entertaining, and The Getaway looks
like it might be a belter (or not, we'll have to wait and see).
MS seem to be going for the same strategy as Sony, piles and piles of games,
and don't worry too much about the quality.
Mark
Mark Wilson
> A lot of people do want it. I don't use it often myself though. I keep
getting
> shot seventeen times a minute and that sucks.
> --
>
I think you're right, a lot of people do want online gaming, and that a lot
of these people will have broadband. Problem is, these people will also
probably have a PC, and will already be merrily fragging away online, and
impressing/boring people about their impressive frame rates and low ping
times.
It's far less certain whether console gamers (or, in many cases, their
parents) will stump up the readies for Xbox Live.
Mark
Reggie
<nos...@nospam.com> writes
>"Dom Robinson" <d...@dvdfever.co.uk> wrote in message
>news:MPG.1812e0833...@news.cis.dfn.de...
>> A lot of people do want it. I don't use it often myself though. I keep
>getting
>> shot seventeen times a minute and that sucks.
>> --
>>
>
>I think you're right, a lot of people do want online gaming, and that a lot
>of these people will have broadband. Problem is, these people will also
>probably have a PC, and will already be merrily fragging away online, and
>impressing/boring people about their impressive frame rates and low ping
>times.
Assault Online, But I am more interested in the Xbox online as I know
that when I put a game in the machine I know that the machine will be
able to cope with whatever 'graphic' situation is thrown at it, I can't
afford the latest and greatest graphics card every 9 months to play the
latest rehash of a game on my PC.
>
>It's far less certain whether console gamers (or, in many cases, their
>parents) will stump up the readies for Xbox Live.
I will as soon as I hear some good reports of it.
--
See ya,
Reggie
Reggie
<ja...@jsayer.freeserve.co.uk> writes
>I was going to post the exact same thing myself.
>
>I have to admit that if all Microsoft can do is produce a completely
>Bollocks advertising campaign like that then the Xbox has no chance.
>
>People aren't interested in deciphering bloody anagrams they just want to
>look at something and immediately know what the hell it is they're meant to
>want to be buying.
>
>Why on earth didn't they just put brief details of what the console can do?
>e.g - Only console to have a hard drive, or out of the box online facility,
>DVD or stuff like that. At least people can actually see what the damn thing
>can do over it's rivals!! I bet with the exception of the Xbox community
>and people in the industry the average Joe Public have never even heard of
>'Xbox Live!'. (This could have also been pushed during tonights game).
tuner, so you can use it as a Video! And the online thing was switched
on very recently too......
>
>With no doubt millions watching it was probably the best advertising
>opportunity they've had to date to impress, and they f*cked it up, big time.
>I wouldn't mind betting that the cost of the advertising ran in to the high
>thousands too.
>
>I think it's about time that the MS marketing team got a real kick up the
>arse or they may find themselves redundant in 6 months at this rate!
>
>Rant over.....
>
>
>
>
>"Phil" <phil.br...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
>news:j2%p9.12139$4r1.1...@newsfep3-gui.server.ntli.net...
>> Just watched the England v Slovakia game, was pleased to see the X-Box
>logo
>> on the screens but what the hell were they advertising?... Just looked
>like
>> a jumble of words (e.g. Like Women, Ravers get Nerd). FFS, is it any
>wonder
>> no-one knows about the X-Box?...
>>
>> Come on Microsoft, we want our console to succeed but with an advertising
>> campaign like that, what's going to happen?!..
>>
>> Or perhaps it's just me?...
>>
>>
>> Phil
>>
>>
>
>
--
See ya,
Reggie
FatHippy
<d...@dvdfever.co.uk> writes
>
>Reminds me when there were endless ads in print, and I think on TV, for an
>insurance company, IIRC, called "gan", just saying "What is gan?"
>
>This went on for so long that when I eventually found out what 'gan' was, I
>couldn't care less.
>
>
Thanks to that song "I'm sticking with you.....", they have succeeded in
ensuring that I never buy a Hyundai for as long as I live. I have never
in my entire life been so irritated by a piece of advertising. It's
reached the point where as soon as the ad starts, I change channels.
This is probably not the end result that they had in mind when they came
up with the advert.
--
FatHippy
'Poking death in the face with a big stick and then running away'
(To reply by e-mail, please replace {$spamtrap$} with fathippy)
HedCase
> I think you're right, a lot of people do want online gaming, and that a
lot
> of these people will have broadband. Problem is, these people will also
> probably have a PC, and will already be merrily fragging away online, and
> impressing/boring people about their impressive frame rates and low ping
> times.
I dunno. I got broadband, initially, for online gaming. Then realised I was
pants at it and hardly ever play online (unless it's a private game between
my friends). Providing it works....Live's matchmaking may be the answer. I
could hook up with players of my own (poor) ability and have some fun.
When I play online with my mates, I have a whale of a time for several
hours...usually pi**ing myself laughing. Whenever I've gone onto a public
server it's lasted less than 15 minutes because I've already been killed 100
times by then and that's boring :)
> It's far less certain whether console gamers (or, in many cases, their
> parents) will stump up the readies for Xbox Live.
This will depend on whether MS keep it at a low cost. £25-40 per year is
affordable for most people with a console.
--
HedCase
[Remove nospam to reply]
WOMAN.ZIP... Great program but no documentation.