360 Sales up 32%, biggest marketing blitz ever.

GFK Chart-Track has told GamesIndustry.biz that sales of Xbox 360 hardware rose 32 per cent over the weekend of Microsoft's latest price reduction.

In comparison, sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 were down eight per cent on the previous weekend.

Last night, Microsoft announced that sales of the Xbox 360 have hit six million units across Europe. Microsoft's latest aggressive hardware pricing now puts the Arcade Xbox 360 unit at GBP 129.99 in the UK, making it the cheapest of the current generation home consoles.

The Premium console retails for GBP 169.99 and the Xbox Elite, complete with 120GB hard-drive, sells for GBP 229.99.

"[360] sales are up 32 per cent and PlayStation 3 sales are down eight per cent," confirmed Chart-Track's Chris Poole.

It was a better week for software sales too, as the effect of Morrisons drastic games promotion – where the supermarket sold chart titles for half price – wears off and revenues begin to climb in the run up to Christmas.

"We've had quite a big release with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed but we're on the back of the Morrison's promotion so we've had a drop in units but a rise in value," offered Poole.

LucasArts' title shot into the charts at number one, and although it was released on six formats, the Xbox 360 accounted for 48 per cent of sales.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/xbox-360-sales-up-32-per-cent-following-uk-price-cut

Microsoft has made the single largest marketing investment in Xbox history for its largest global ad campaign, spending more money on a series of promotions that it did for the launch of the Xbox 360 or Halo 3.

The campaign theme is “Live your Moment” and is targeted at “the casual and social segments”, illustrating Microsoft’s desire to evolve the Xbox 360 from a gaming platform to a mainstream entertainment platform. According to the company, “It’s about real people having emotional and connected Xbox gaming and entertainment experiences with their friends and family.”

The pre-Christmas marketing blitz is set to include television, billboard and print ads, as well as retail displays and digital marketing around the world, supported by PR outreach, social networking and direct customer communication efforts.

The marketing kicked off on Friday in the US and will debut in Europe this Thursday, emphasizing the relatively cheap Xbox 360 entry price of $199 / £129.99, the “New Xbox Experience” launching this fall and the system’s lineup of upcoming titles.

Microsoft said in a press release that “the campaign will be particularly critical in EMEA, where we are focused on shifting brand perception and driving re-appraisal of the platform in a very competitive region with entrenched competition.”

As in the US, European ads will air during top-rated shows across TV networks in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Sarge

Live your Moment TV Spot

clicky

Such a bizarre advert...

Mmmm. Can't see it being as successful as Nintendo's 'lifestyle' or celeb-filled ads, but fingers crossed Microsoft can tip over a few tables this Christmas.

Well, this is pretty much what most of us have been saying they needed to do. Work on broadening their userbase beyond the hardcore (they've pretty much sewn up that audience), and advertise the more casual and non-gaming stuff.
I doubt the 360 will suddenly start doing Wii numbers or anything like that, but I'm sure this'll help shift a few more units nonetheless.

Have you seen the Rock Band 2 ad?

They spent £10 Million on that? Seriously, they were ripped off. Most of the ads hardly show anything of the games - just someone pulling a stupid face with half their head missing.

I think these are really poor. Then again, I didn't like the Playstation ones either.

king_spoon_ian wrote:They spent £10 Million on that? Seriously, they were ripped off. Most of the ads hardly show anything of the games - just someone pulling a stupid face with half their head missing.

I think these are really poor. Then again, I didn't like the Playstation ones either.

You should see the new windows adverts. Abysmal

Beans wrote:You should see the new windows adverts. Abysmal

I quite like this one:

Garth wrote:
Beans wrote:You should see the new windows adverts. Abysmal

I quite like this one:

Each to their own but to me its an awful copy of the Mac adverts

Those are better, as at least they actually tell you what they're advertising, from the very beginning.

If I didn't know about Lego Batman, Rock Band 2, and the other game they're advertising, I wouldn't have a clue. Saying "Music Game on Xbox 360" doesn't really help either - for all I know, they could just be referring to some imaginary game that doesn't exist - as a purely conceptual piece.

It's still disappointing.

Beans wrote:Each to their own but to me its an awful copy of the Mac adverts

More of a clever response than a copy, surely.

'Live Your Moment' is the most retarded slogan ever.

Beans wrote:
Garth wrote:
Beans wrote:You should see the new windows adverts. Abysmal

I quite like this one:

Each to their own but to me its an awful copy of the Mac adverts

It's in reponse to the Mac adverts that make PC users look like outdated graph and date men. Hence the actor being at the beginning.

Pretty good advert.

Garth wrote:
Beans wrote:You should see the new windows adverts. Abysmal

I quite like this one:

That advert was made on a mac.

i think they're brilliant. They're targeted at the casual audience so of course a lot of us on these forums are gonna hate them, but to someone who doesnt know much about consoles, it establishes the 360 as the cooler, and more fun console. same with the windows ads.

This is still SO much better than ANY ad for ANY console I've ever seen.

EDIT: Better quality ad.

The caps are justified by its greatness

Some of them (mostly blacks) sound like they're saying "I'm a pussy".

Beans wrote:
king_spoon_ian wrote:They spent £10 Million on that? Seriously, they were ripped off. Most of the ads hardly show anything of the games - just someone pulling a stupid face with half their head missing.

I think these are really poor. Then again, I didn't like the Playstation ones either.

You should see the new windows adverts. Abysmal

The ones with Seinfeld and Bill Gates? I love those!

Like that one posted above too, thats quite a clever response to the Mac ads.

As for the Microsoft one, I wish the back of my fiance's head was like that, would give me something to look at when, well you know. :lol:

HD Movies

Family Games

Music Games

Garth wrote:
Beans wrote:Each to their own but to me its an awful copy of the Mac adverts

More of a clever response than a copy, surely.

I think it's a complete misunderstanding on Microsoft's part. The Apple adverts show the computers as tools ("I'm a Mac. I can do things fairly simply" etc) whereas the Microsoft one analogises the computer that someone uses with who they are ("I'm a PC. I like scuba diving and climbing.").

360 Sales up 32%, biggest marketing blitz ever.

Who is online

Affiliates