Sony's $50m Vita marketing campaign targets PS3 owners

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 13 February, 2012

Never Stop Playing.

With PlayStation Vita Sony is targeting men in their 20s who play video games eight hours a week or more and own a PlayStation 3.

In the US Sony is spending $50 million on marketing the handheld to this target audience, according to a report in the New York Times.

John Koller, director of hardware marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment America, told the paper Vita "is the largest platform launch in terms of marketing investment we've ever had".

Vita would allow users "to feel engaged and still feel like they're playing on a console" he said.

In the US the theme of the advertising campaign is "Never Stop Playing". Sony has hired marketing company Deutsch to create ads for the device and push Vita's presence on social media, such as Twitter. The hashtag #gamechanger will be used on telly ads, billboards and digital banner ads in an attempt to funnel online discussion of the device into one place and get Vita trending in the run up to its 22nd February launch.

Deutsch said the audience is "very socially plugged in, mobile, out and about, both physically and on the internet".

Sony will buy promoted Twitter posts that direct consumers to the official Vita website. The Facebook PlayStation page has a Vita tab and how-to videos.

US TV spots are designed to show how Vita "affects you socially" and how you're able to continue your home console gaming while out and about. They air during The Simpsons, South Park and basketball games.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is also gearing up for a big Vita push, with a major marketing effort expected in the UK.

Vitas are already playable in all GAME and Gamestation stores across the nation via dedicated Interactive Display Units, and Sony has taken the handheld on tour with its PlayStation Vita Rooms initiative, which lets consumers go hands on with demos.

But despite Sony's heavy investment in the hardcore gaming device, some analysts have expressed concern over its long-term success, pointing to tough competition from cheap gaming on mobile phones and tablet devices.

The Wi-Fi only version of Vita costs £230. The Wi-Fi and 3G version costs £280. Games cost as much as £40.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (51) Latest comment 4 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • ring_piece #1 4 months ago

    Marketing sells game consoles, not games, silly!

  • Laraman #2 4 months ago

    They probably should have started this a lot earlier though that's just my armchair opinion on the matter.

    Still, I'm really, really looking forward to February 22nd :).

  • abacabb #3 4 months ago

    Next they'll start pushing #AlliwantforChristmasisavita... Oh, wait...

  • johnson81 #4 4 months ago

    I'm guessing if someone plays more than 8 hours a week they already know about the Vita. An advert won't change my mind.

  • SineHacker #5 4 months ago

    I've had a go, it is a very good all round gaming device and has a great interface, I would love one but don't have anyone to buy it for me... sniff...

  • J.C #6 4 months ago

    £40 for the games, £280 for the 3g model. Hmm. Stick it up your stupid asses sony. Maybe next year, if its not dead by then.

  • Tiel #7 4 months ago

    Game prices. That's what's stopping me. Ios has changed my perception of value.

    Angry birds is worth 69p, and uncharted is worth 20 times more-14 quid!

  • Zozzilla #8 4 months ago

    Why does no one ever target women in their late 20's who spend over 8 hours a week gaming? I feel oppressed.

    EDIT: And apparently I'm very slow this morning, judging by how many times I've edited this post already.
    Edited by Zozzilla at 13/02/12 @ 09:07

  • RGeefe #9 4 months ago

    I've been in to three Game/Gamestation stores recently and not seen a Vita on display

  • patch #10 4 months ago

    @Tiel I don't understand the "games cost soo much more than Angry Birds" argument. Vita games are pretty much full console releases now and no one uses the same argument against xbox and ps3 games.

  • BigDannyH #11 4 months ago

    Marketing it as a PS3 accessory as well as it's own console would be a smart choice. Transferring games and remote play are really good ideas and would be enough to make me buy a multi-platform game on the PS3. If they're only going to apply in select games like Wipeout it won't be the game changer it could be.

    And I really don't think the iOS comparisons are valid until they get non-touchscreen controls.

  • hilts #12 4 months ago

    @RGeefe , i know what you mean , same here , they are hardly making a big effort in game. I reckon most of them are just being played in the back. I went into one yesterday to ask to have a go.
    The guy hesitated , then said 'er ok let me check' , ten minutes later he comes out from the back and says 'its charging' , come back in THREE hours!!

  • Zozzilla #13 4 months ago

    @RGeefe I went to the one in York the other Saturday and had to ask if they had theirs knocking around - as it was busy, they had no one spare to stand at the end of the tills showing it off. The guy I spoke to just pulled it out from under the desk and said "here you go, it's fully charged, have fun". I proceeded to suck really hard at Wipeout.

  • hilts #14 4 months ago

    When are Eurogamer going to publish reviews of the launch titles?

  • FunkeeFresh #15 4 months ago

    They've already selected a reduced market size in comparison to the DS... They really haven't thought this through. It's got too high a price and too many features to just market it as a PS3 accessory.

  • Whitster #16 4 months ago

    @RGeefe There were two in my local Gamestation this weekend, the demo pod one which was full of kids and the one they've given to each manager, which I got an extended blast on.

    Had a quick go at Uncharted which looks nice, but the combat was a bit odd with the touchscreen additions, I'm sure you'll get used to in time. Modnation was great, much easier to control than the PSP version. I've never liked Wipeout, but 2048 looked the nuts and run smooth as a supermodels airbrushed epidermis, and Little Deviants seems like it could be fun in a Warioware esqe manner, or could just be an expensive tech demo for the inputs on the PSV.

  • Widge #17 4 months ago

    @J.C buy the cheaper model and cheaper games?

  • aidey6 #18 4 months ago

    @hilts http://www.eurogamer.net/?platform=VITA&type=review

    EG have reviewed the console and several titles that will be available at launch....

  • super_monty #19 4 months ago

    I know if I buy one it will just get thrown in the draw and never used.

    Yet I will use a 3ds at home and my 4 year old loves it, I loved the the price!
    Edited by super_monty at 13/02/12 @ 09:31

  • landlock #20 4 months ago

    "The Wi-Fi only version of Vita costs £230. The Wi-Fi and 3G version costs £280. Games cost as much as £40."

    £209 on Shopto.com, and no game is £40! Uncharted is £34 and the rest are cheapier. Army Corps Of Hell (£19), Katamari (£19), Shinobido 2 (£24) etc.

  • Darren #21 4 months ago

    I'd like a PSVita myself as it looks like a quality piece of kit but until there's actually some games I want then I cannot justify buying the hardware at that price. There isn't a single launch game that interests me and nothing for the forseeable future either. Such a shame. :(

  • DrStrangelove #22 4 months ago

    With PlayStation Vita Sony is targeting men in their 20s who play video games eight hours a week or more and own a PlayStation 3.
    That fits, unfortunately I'm not playing on my PS3 anymore recently.

  • flaming.carrot #23 4 months ago

    Damn, I'm too old for the Vita then. Do I have to cancel my pre-order now?

  • AnotherIdiot #24 4 months ago

    Never Stop Paying

  • trebellk #25 4 months ago

    You'll need to stop playing and do some work to pay for all of this though.

  • IonOnion #26 4 months ago

    Only $50 Million!?

    Microsoft spent $500 Million on Kinect advertising alone and its not even a platform, its just an addon. MS also has Justin Beiber. I hope Sony doesn't go back with Marcus.
    Edited by IonOnion at 13/02/12 @ 10:26

  • repeater #27 4 months ago

    With PlayStation Vita Sony is targeting men in their 20s who play video games eight hours a week or more and own a PlayStation 3.
    Yeah, the pricing kind of already gave that away, you know.. :-P

  • rotmm #28 4 months ago

    @johnson81 "I'm guessing if someone plays more than 8 hours a week they already know about the Vita. An advert won't change my mind."

    I'm guessing that a lot of those gamers do, as you say, know about the Vita but also that many of them would like one but not quite yet.

    By focusing on that crowd, good advertising can change a "want, but not now" to a "I must have it now".

    This is smart thinking from Sony. Rather than the scatter-gun marketing approach they employed for the PS3 where they tried to encompass all deomgraphics, a razer-sharp focus on a particular group at the start of the Vita's lifecycle will build momentum to later build upon.

  • Toothball #29 4 months ago

    I did see a Vita in Game this weekend, but some other dude seemed to be firmly attached to it. I'm already a subscriber to their 'Never stop gaming' ethos, as I happen to have a 3DS and PSP in my bag today. I don't feel any less engaged with current portables though, or even prior generations, as they had their own ways of engaging the player. I'll probably get one in a few months though.

  • BBIAJ #30 4 months ago

    My experience of playing PS Vita in GAME wasn't via one of these new fangled sounding Interactive Display Units, but rather, one of the members of staff going out the back to bring a unit over!

    I played WipEout on it though, and that's amazing!

  • RGDfleet #31 4 months ago

    Sony haven't marketed the Vita in the UK very well at all in my opinion. Far too little actual advertising in areas other than gaming. No matter how good your console is for gaming...and no matter how many gamers you can attract, there are still more casual consumers that need to be interested and won over. Case in point, my uncle (who owns and plays his ps3 a fair amount) had no idea what the Vita is. Might just hurt sales. Still...for us who know what it is...roll on the 22nd!!

  • Okamiwolf #32 4 months ago

    Playstation Vita - Never Stop Playing. Until your battery dies. Or you run out of overpriced memory card space. Or it's time for yet another weekly firmware update.

  • jonbwfc #33 4 months ago

    With PlayStation Vita Sony is targeting men in their 20s who play video games eight hours a week or more and own a PlayStation 3
    Well I manage one of three....

  • Tiel #34 4 months ago

    That was unexpected. I love all the different machines for different reasons--but I was just expressing my own opinion that widespread availability of good games for under a pound has re-enforced the impression I had that no handheld games have ever been worth the same price as their bigger brethren. Even uncharted vita won't have cost anything like the development expense of it's big brothers.
    I will end up with a vita--on a later hardware revision and when I can pick up all the games seconf hand for a tenner. Sonyt must have to think hard about whether it would be better to sell games cheaper and in significantly higher volumes--thus making more money and securing the future of the device.
    The ststs speak for themselves--others are voting with their wallets too.
    This months edition of games tm has 69 ios games that can all be bought for less than £50 in totsl.
    Anyway, that will be my opinion. Feel free to have a different one.

  • NotSoSlim #35 4 months ago

    <quote>Okamiwolf wrote:
    Playstation Vita - Never Stop Playing. Until your battery dies. Or you run out of overpriced memory card space. Or it's time for yet another weekly firmware update.</quote>

    Your rock wants you back under it

  • des #36 4 months ago

    No love for xbros?

    :-(

  • hilts #37 4 months ago

    @aidey6 , yes i am aware of these five reviews , however there are a further 20 + games available on launch. I am interested in reviews of virtua tennis , everybodys golf , motorstorm , escape plan, lumines, hell even top darts , hustle kings and fifa!
    I saw someone posted the other day 'looking forward to EG's vita review blowout on Monday' !
    I dont know if this was pure conjecture or not?

  • steninja #38 4 months ago

    I ordered mine to play all the PS one and PS minis I've accrued with my PS+ account. Wouldn't mind catching up on some PSP classics too. Ideal for when the bird is watching TOWIE etc... or lazy days in bed

  • BigDannyH #39 4 months ago

    @spacedelete
    To be honest, I have less and less free time nowadays with work, social and live-in-girlfriend commitments. No idea what it'll be like when I have kids. Plus I don't always want to hog the TV at home.

    The main time in my day that I have all to myself is my commute. I usually read a book or listen to music / a podcast but to be able to play a game is a good option. However I've played Ghost Trick and I'm most of the way through Phoenix Wright so I'm in need of good games that aren't restricted by a touchscreen.

    Also, when I'm on holiday, I'd like more options than just reading a book. I know I'm not the only one.

    So many of the arguments thrown at gaming (waste of time, no life, no physical exercise) can easily be thrown at books yet no one gets labelled a anti-social loser for owning a Kindle.

    When my Vita arrives I hope my friends won't disown me and it also won't be the last time I read on the train. I'll just have more options.

  • MrJihad316 #40 4 months ago

    @IonOnion That's because Microsoft had to get people interested in an uninteresting device that no one cared about. I think the Vita's only problem is it's price, not whether people think it's cool or if it's going to make their console almost as casual as the Wii. Those were Kinect problems Microsoft paid $500m and came up with great-priced bundles to make people forget about.

  • telboy007 #41 4 months ago

    @AnotherIdiot Gah, I was going to post that. :( I'm going off to sulk.

  • TheBusterMan #42 4 months ago

    Well,I'm 42 and I'm enjoying Grandia,Front Mission 3 and FF7 on my PSP 2000.I hate demographics.If I could play these beauties on the Vita's lovely screen,and if there were any games I wanted on Vita(no new RPGs or a GTA) I'd get one now.Even though i'm middle aged.

  • killuminati2911 #43 4 months ago

    Save those 50m$ and lower the price.. that's the best they can do!

  • afrogeez #44 4 months ago

    @killuminati2911 Agreed. Cut the price of the system and the games and they will sell. Seriously £40 to play a game on a small screen?

    Although i still think they should scrap the handheld stuff and spend all that money on PS3/PS4.

  • Drygore #45 4 months ago

    @spacedelete

    Sigh.. Are you serious? Why would anyone want console quality games on the go?? Why WOULDN'T anyone want that!?

    Also. I work, have a girlfriend since 11 years back, we also have a 4 year old daughter, and im 31 years old. Been a gamer for 26 years. The Vita is perfect for me. Sure, i don't have the same amount of time to play anymore, with work and family taking up alot of time, making an uber portable even more right for me. PS. I still try to squeeze in as much regular console and PC gaming as i can, but family comes first ofc.

    But either way, what you're saying makes very little sense to me..

  • Kalime #46 4 months ago

    @ring_piece it's a comforting though that marketing wouldn't sell games; reality is somewhat different... marketing sells anything... or to be more concillient, marketing contributes to selling anything... ^_^

  • Kalime #47 4 months ago

    @johnson81 marketing is as much about awareness as it is about persuassion and top of mind awareness... i nkow too well the evil god of marketing, and believe me it expands further that we may want to believe ^_^

  • juliankennedy23 #48 4 months ago

    Portables are a tough sell to the over 13 crowd. Esp as Smart phones get better every year.

    Add on the simple fact that early adopters often get a lesser system at a higher price. Without a must have launch title I see most people waiting for the price drop that is undoubtedly forthcoming.

  • jebus #49 4 months ago

    @spacedelete Yeah I tend to agree - especially in this day and age where iOS and Android rule gaming on the move pretty much.Sony is looking more like a dinosaur every day
    In a quick straw poll of the office where there are 80 game devs not one thought that Vita would succeed and only a handful were buying or considering buying. Says it all really as we (game devs) are usually big early adopters of new gadgets and platforms

  • trubadman #50 4 months ago

    @afrogeez I don't understand why everyone is complaining about the £40 games, this was also roughly the top price for PSP games so nothing new, and as has been mentioned in other articles there is a wide spread of pricing. Ideally all games would be £20, but that's not going to happen!

  • trubadman #51 4 months ago

    @jebus I am not a developer, and I am buying one on day one and I don't think it'll do well but hey, hopefully it does well enough that good games are worthwhile making with regards to financial returns!