Analysis of the strategic position occupied by the Xbox
Executive Summary Aims: - To provide an overview of the Xbox’s strategic position - Identify key marketing challenges facing Xbox Methodologies: - We identified the segmentation strategy used by Xbox - We analysed their marketing mix - We drew conclusions about positioning from the segmentation and marketing mix - Briefly analysed competitors to make comparisons Recommendations: - The Xbox is the highest quality video games system for the lowest possible price - It is aimed at the 18-34 male demographic - The Xbox brand is positioned as the best value in video games available with a distinctive design and style, which was promoted · Segmentation & Targeting Segmentation: Xbox segments the market on two key bases: Demographic segmentation Psychographic segmentation. Demographic: The key segment of the population that the Xbox targeted towards is young males aged between 18 and 34. The potential customers/users of an Xbox can be accommodated in two categories. ... The computer games available for the Xbox are complex in nature and are as a consequence unsuitable for a younger preteen user. ... com) and this has lead to the gap in the market that Xbox are trying to fill. ... Although the existing Xbox is retailing at a loss of €100 per unit sold, if they succeed in building up a significant customer base the benefits of such a strategy will accrue in the long-term through the ongoing purchase of games for the console The competition against the Xbox is relatively small as the Playstation and Gamecube its only rivals are predominantly focused on the pre-teen market. By contrast Xbox’s games are oriented towards the segment above this age group. ... Product: Core benefit: The core benefit of the "Xbox is, simply put, the best value in video game systems available, with a strong portfolio of great games and unique features and abilities that offer more of what consumers want.”- Neil Thompson, European Marketing Director, Xbox (http://www. ... Xbox empowers game artists by giving them the technology to fulfill their creative visions as never before, creating games that blur the lines between fantasy and reality. ... Microsofts Justin Kirby, the lead marketing manager for Xbox, said that the “Jewel on Black creates an unmistakable look at…. ... Xbox Live allows gamers to play multiplayer Xbox games with other gamers worldwide via a broadband connection. With a built-in hard drive and Ethernet port, the Xbox console is the only video game system built from the ground up for online gaming. Xbox Live enables gamers to easily find their friends; talk to other players during gameplay through the Xbox Communicator headset; download current statistics and new levels and characters to their Xbox hard drive; and play online. ... com) There has also been an augmentation that allows the Xbox users to play MP3s through their Xbox. This is possible through a piece of equipment called the Music Mixer which allows the transfer of the MP3 to the Xbox. It also allows you to create your own playlists and soundtracks, record and playback your performances anytime, access your library of digital music and photos from your PC, and even download new songs and visual effects from Xbox Live! ... xbox. ... Through these augmentations, and the core benefits of the primary product, it looks likely that the Xbox could become the market leader in the gaming industry. ... “SBIs designs most accurately capture the performance and power of the Xbox video game system” - Don Coyner, Microsofts director of brand marketing. ... This has been a major factor in the transformation of the Xbox product into the Xbox brand - "That further strengthens our brand equity and presence in stores," – Justin Kirby; "Packaging design can influence the creation of a brand in its entirety, including communications and advertising. ... Branding: As we previously mentioned, one of the main problems Microsoft had was that they could not use the Microsoft brand equity to lever much of an advantage in the branding of the Xbox. ... An interesting fact about the branding of the Xbox was that they did not refer to the actual product attributes or quality in their initial advertising campaigns. ... It isnt a campaign that talks about Xbox and the fact that its 733 megahertz or anything like that. ... So its really designed to get people talking about Xbox. ... They recognised, that in order to succeed, they would need to give the product an immediate personality, something that people would be struck by and immediately relate it back to the Xbox. ... Instead of emphasising benefits and attributes first, they went straight in to giving the Xbox a personality and from this people would develop values towards this personality leading them on to encounter the benefits and attributes of the product. ... Once a significant awareness was created about the Xbox, Microsoft had the opportunity to further strengthen the brand and further it’s attack on the market leaders PS2 and Gamecube. They did this through a relatively new marketing concept of creating a brand community of Xbox users.