8 Ways Microsoft Saved The Xbox One With Savvy Marketing
4. Refocusing On Actual Gamers
Marketing objective: Establishing target market.
Instead of trying – and failing – to market their console to everyone, Xbox did what was obvious to all of us: Focus on a distinct target audience. By which, I mean, appeal to core gamers.
Actually, it wasn’t just Xbox that realigned their market; every Microsoft product is now initially focused on what the company calls their ‘fans’. You know, people who dig the brand, dig the output, and will serve as advocates for the company out in the real world.
According to one Microsoft exec, ‘We cater to them more, we listen to them more, we have conversations with them in deeper ways than we've ever done. Catering to our fans as opposed to trying to convert the diehard fans of competitors, I think, has led us down a much, much better path.’
For the Xbox, these fans are those who loved the Xbox 360. The key, then, was ensuring that first and foremost, it was these fans who were satisfied – because if they loved the Xbox One, other gamers would follow.
Eventually. Hopefully. Fingers crossed.