I feel that Microsoft is taking a slightly different approach to Playstation, Nintendo and the old Xbox where the adverts are much more youth orientate; they are now trying to appeal for a wider audience

Pro-forma B

Effectiveness of promotional activity

 

Pro-forma C

The impact on the Organisations Operations as a result of the promotional activity

 

Conclusion

I think overall the marketing for Xbox 360 consists of more failure than success.  Instead of debuting Xbox 360 to industry insiders at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Microsoft attempted to freeze the market by making consumers aware of its offering six months in advance, unveiling the new console on a primetime MTV special.  Since Microsoft holds much lower market share than Sony and Nintendo, it is much more interested in succeeding in the next generation consoles Xbox 360, so hurting its own sales of the original Xbox is of little importance if it can significantly decrease sales of Sony PlayStation 2 and attract new customers before the launch of PlayStation 3.  However in the rush to launch, they neglected the Japanese market by overlooking the importance of culture thus failing to appeal.

Although Microsoft claims that by introducing software elements and incorporating the Internet they are hoping to make the Xbox more approachable in order to increase their customer base.  However such features are not advertised and are therefore unknown to the potential customers.  There wasn’t enough information carried in the TV ads and some of the information given out were too technique for casual gamers to understand, resulting a sale that is not as high as anticipated.  

Questionnaires

1. Age:             12-17           18-25            26-35          36+        

2. Gender                  male          female        

3. Are you aware of the Xbox 360 launch?       Yes                No

4.   If yes, what aroused your awareness? Please choose

      Online promotion           TV ads        Billboards        Others                

5.   Are you currently an owner of Xbox 360?        Yes                 No

6. Do you think the Xbox 360 TV adverts send out a clear promotional message?

Yes            no

      7.   If Yes, what message do you think the Xbox 360 advert is trying to send out?

      High definition gaming                 Exciting functional features  

      Sharing the Fun with friends         if others, please state___________________

      8.   Do you like the way Xbox is advertised? Please rate the promotion:

      Very poor         Poor        Average         Good         Excellent

9. When you first saw the adverts did they make you want to find out more about Xbox 360?

      Yes           no        

10. Other comments on the Advertising and Promotional methods of Xbox 360

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Result of questionnaires

Questions 1 and 5

 

2. Gender

Male 26

Female 4

3. Are you aware of the Xbox 360 launch?       

Yes 26, No 4

4. If yes, what aroused your awareness?

6. Do you think the Xbox 360 TV adverts send out a clear promotional message?

Yes 7, No 19, if yes continue to question 7, if no go to question 8

7. If Yes, what message do you think the Xbox 360 advert is trying to send out? 

High definition gaming 5, others 2

8. Do you like the way Xbox is advertised?

Poor 3, Average 14, Good 8, Excellent 1

9. When you first saw the adverts did they make you want to find out more about Xbox 360?

Yes 19, No 7

10. Other comments on the Advertising and Promotional methods of Xbox 360

None

I did my questionnaires and collected the result with Jimmy Haung and Andrew wong

Referencing:

 - access time 21 Jan 2006

 -access time 26th Jan 2006

 - By , access time 30th Jan 2006

 - by Dan Blomberg, access time 30th Jan 2006

Wikipedia -  - by access time 31st Jan 2006

 by 3rd Jan 2006