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Is Xbox One’s Marketing Just Stupid?

Is Xbox One’s Marketing Just Stupid?

Microsoft is in a tough position this generation.  The PlayStation 4 got all the momentum from the start, and even though Microsoft’s exclusive lineup has arguably been a bit stronger, the only time the Xbox One has sold more than the PlayStation 4 is when it was sold at a discount earlier this summer.  If Microsoft wants to pull ahead in the console game, it’s going to have to appeal to a broader audience than the 18-24-year-old male hardcore shooter and sports fans that are targeted by campaigns like last year’s Doritos and Mountain Dew cross-promotion.

On the software side, the Xbox One is already catching up.  This year’s X15 event in Toronto was way more diverse than last year’s.  Of course, Halo 5 and Gears of War: Ultimate Edition took center stage, but just about every other game genre was also represented.  RPG fans could drool over Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Dark Souls III .  Action-adventures like Rise of the Tomb Raider and Mad Max were prominantly displayed.  The indie corner featured high-quality titles like Below and Cuphead .  Fans of lighthearted multiplayer titles could have a blast with Fable Legends and Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 .

So if the Xbox One is home to more diverse games than ever, it’s time to get the word out.  It’s time to ditch the “dudebro” advertisements like Doritos and ‘Dew, which was so stereotypically dudebro that we all made fun of it.  Of course, the dudebro demographic is perfectly legit (and of course plenty of young male gamers don’t fit the dudebro stereotype).  However, Microsoft already has this demographic!  They know where the biggest shooters are (well, Call of Duty is cuddling up with Sony now, but let’s talk in general) and that Microsoft values them as customers.  What Microsoft needs to do is sell the Xbox brand to a wider gaming demographic.

Note that I said “gaming” here.  We all know that the years of super-casual Kinect focused marketing were a disappointment.  Nobody wants to return to the days of inexplicable Cirque de Soleil performances and creepy on-stage virtual animal groping.  There’s a middle ground that Microsoft’s marketers need to take, and that’s simply opening the door to gamers of a broader range of ages, genders, nationalities, and genre preferences.

Is Xbox One’s Marketing Just Stupid?

I’m hoping to see this as a gradual shift, just as the Xbox One’s library is gradually opening up and welcoming more kinds of gamers.  Let’s see cross-promotions with brands that are cool but that appeal to a broder demographic – think Coke and Chipotle instead of Doritos and Dew.  Let’s stop seeing gender segregation in Microsoft’s advertising, where women only appear in ads for super-casual games.  Let’s start seeing some men and women over thirty in Xbox ads – there’s a whole generation of middle-aged gamers out there, and we’ve got disposable income!  A lot of us have gone back to gaming on our PCs this gen, but with the right marketing to go with its improved library, Microsoft could lure us back to its big black box.

Doritos and ‘Dew was all well and good for Microsoft last year.  It needed to lure back that young male audience that was pissed off by the Xbox One’s pre-launch fumbles.  Now, however, Microsoft needs to increase its customer base by attracting gamers who have fled to PC gaming or been enveloped in Sony’s welcoming arms.  That’s going to require a more deft touch in advertising, a move to being more welcoming without going completely over to the super-casual audience that’s perfectly happy playing Candy Crush on their iPhones right now.

What do you think?  Should Microsoft ditch the Doritos and ‘Dew?  What can Microsoft do to rack up massive sales this holiday season?

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