Nintendo Wii: The brand of buzz - Buzz marketing at its best/worst
I don't know if online marketers who aren't gamers have noticed the buzz surrounding the new Nintendo Wii lately but it seems to be creating talking points at every turn. I want to clarify here that I don't mean the regular "wow, cool" kind of buzz or "just in time for xmas" stuff but rather an odd kind of talk around every business decision Nintendo is making while prepping for the launch. Its almost like they are purposefully making decisions that people will want to talk about.

The name of the system alone "Wii" got things started immediately with lunges attacking the choice and parries defending it. At this point I didn't think anything of it. This is what we are used to seeing during new product launches by interested gamers.

Then Ubisoft released pictures of its new Rayman game for Wii complete with a screenshot of kids using the new controller available for interacting with on screen action.



It is at this point that my suspicions were roused. Already people are making their own mashups using these average, everyday kids as fodder.

Almost immediately I thought to myself that there is no way Nintendo would let a picture like that get out... unless... that's the whole point.

I think we are about to witness a full on buzz marketing campaign the likes of which we have never seen. It won't be the kind of buzz about features or graphics, or talking about all of the great new titles. That stuff will all be there as with any launch, but in addition to that and along every step there will be something else there.

There will be some other thing that makes it notable and gets people talking that has nothing to do with the game or console it's self. Some attention getting subtlety that will make you look twice and then later realize, once you get over the hilarity and strangeness of the picture in the first place, what the hell that spikey haired kid is doing. They will be making business decisions where the primary goal is not to find the best options but to find the most remarkable. In essence, it will be a Brand of Buzz.

What are the implications of this. At what point does it get contrived and lose its novelty. At what point do we stop paying attention to these subtle oddities. At what point do making decisions based on remarkability hurt the brands ability to communicate what is really important to the product and where do you draw the line.

In a society where even the "Burger King" is beginning to lose his strangeness how long can Nintendo keep it up and where will they draw the line. Furthermore, how will Microsoft and Sony respond to this new approach.

This is all assuming, of course, that Nintendo is doing it on purpose in the first place. :)

If you would like to discuss the implications of Buzz marketing in your online campaign or have thoughts on the issue, leave a comment or shoot me an email at adam.schultz@marketsmartinteractive.com.

Update - 5-9-06

Time Magazine posted an article yesterday after getting first look at the new Nintendo WII and here is one of the pictures accompanying the article.



I'm not sure if this supports my case or not. Either way, it looks like grandpa sure is having a blast.
Adam Schultz - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |