A user released a music video called “How to Kill a Brand” on YouTube this past week slamming Sony’s Playstation 3 for all of its shortcomings. The video included overlays of soundbites from Sony’s Phil Harrison, President of the division that handles the Playstation, over a remake of the popular song “How to Save a Life” by the Fray. As of today, the anti-PS3 video already been viewed over 472,000 times on YouTube with over 2,500 comments.
Video and Analysis after the Jump
It should be no secret to most people now that the PS3 has fallen short of expectations, and this isn’t coming from me, but from the legions of diehard Playstation fans as well as the press. The PS3 should have crushed the marketplace with it’s incredible hardware, next-generation Blu-Ray drive, and its strong brand which has made the PS3’s predecessor, the PS2 the best selling video game console of the last several years (including this past Christmas).
Despite having made Digg’s frontpage and having been posted over a week ago on February 21st, there is no official response from Sony. Can Sony afford to ignore it’s most diehard fans any longer? I don’t think so. They may see this video as bad PR but it’s really an opportunity for Sony to do what it’s forgotten how to do — address the needs of gamers and regain their trust and loyalty. Normal people don’t go and make videos about how much they think you’ve screwed up unless they’re truly truly engaged with your brand. Heck, they were most likely once Playstation fanboys themselves.
Spike from the Brains on Fire Blog sums it up well:
The bottom line is that agencies and brands don’t need to fear these people. I’m going to speak next month at a session that’s entitled: “Sitting Backseat in a Consumer Driven Marketplace: How consumers are steering the industry and how marketers are being run over.” Nice title, eh? Marketers are going to get run over only if they fight this customer-empowered movement instead of embrace it. The opportunity is for co-creation. And there’s opportunity everywhere. Advertising isn’t going away, people. It’s just evolving like it always has. Only now you have to actually engage your customers instead of bombarding them. Scary? Absolutely. And that’s what makes it so freakin’ fun.
Listen - Respond - Act
Sony, this is your opportunity to address your most diehard fans honestly and openly. If you truly believe that the PS3 is the path to the future, then stand behind it and sell your vision. Do it honestly, own up to your mistakes, and get a human face behind a brand that has so long been a dominant force in the market. Take this opportunity to respond, you owe it to your fans.
