BRAND RE-POSITIONING: PLAYSTATION
Manzoor
Brand Image
PlayStation has a direct and a focused brand image, and that is the exact way i would keep it. PlayStation's brand revolves around a specific target market, it is directed to a group of people all who have the same interests. This type of brand image allows PlayStation to create distinction against other corporations and makes it so they are able to get their name up. The brand image should be simple, yet intriguing; granted it should be directed towards specific audiences, but it should also be appealing towards people who may not have the same interests. A diverse but focused brand image would allow PlayStation to keep those hardcore fans, but also gain a medium towards different audiences.
Slogan
There are many different slogans that are used for PlayStation, but the main ones (voted the best) are "Live in your world, play in ours" and the other one is "Greatness awaits". These slogans are perfect for what they are being used for, they allow for a catchy and accurate phrase which could resonate with gamer, as well as casual people.
Products and Services
Products and services that the brand represent are based upon gaming consoles. The main and most known products are the PlayStation 1, 2, 3 and 4 series. PlayStation also has other secondary products being represented such as headphones, mics and cameras. I would generally keep all the products the same, but allow for more promotion for the products that are less known as it would allow for them to grow as a company and also just gain more income.
Demographics / Psychographics
Demo graphics would include things such as age, sex, income, education and other things revolving around those factors. Most factors within demographics would not determine if someone could use a PlayStation product. Age and sex would not really matter as anyone could play a game. The only thing that could affect the target market is income and education, granted the products are not too expensive, but a good income and a good education would be recommended and directed towards. Psycho graphics would be things such as beliefs, interests and attitudes. Those things would actually matter as it would determine where PlayStation would target themselves. An interest in games and a positive open minded attitude would help.
Spokesperson
The new spokesperson would be Drake. Drake perfectly fits the brand image PlayStation is portraying because of his huge name. Drake is one of the biggest music artist in the world, and the amount of support and recognition is unbelievable. He also perfectly fits in PlayStation because he has an interest in games. With the huge name of drake and his connection with all his fans he could bring in new people to PlayStation as well as take the brand name to a whole new level.
Event
An event sponsorship that PlayStation would use is new game gatherings and game testing. Creating an event based upon the target market would greatly help the PlayStation help. There is already conventions such as E3 where gamers would get a long and play new games coming out as well as watch trailers of those new games. This event fits the brand image because it resonates with gamers and allows PlayStation to gain more viewership.
Promotional Plan
The main goal of the promotional plan is to gain awareness and allow for more viewership. The promotional plan is used to bring in new people who may or not may be fans of games, but also bring other fans in who have the interest of playing games. The promotional ads PlayStation would use are a billboard which is really good for large traffic area, people would be able to see the billboard ad from miles away and it would allow for a quick source of advertisement. A magazine ad would also be a source of promotion as it would be a cheap way of advertisement. Magazine ads do not cost a lot, but if put into a lot of magazines they could gain tons of attention. Due to cheapness of those ads they can be placed on a budget, the only problem for magazine ads are the fact that people do not really read to many magazines anymore which can limit their use. The last promotion source is coupons. Coupons are known to be one of the best ways to increase revenue and to create awareness. A good coupon would allow for thins such as a discount, or buy on get one free, it would make people be intrigued into a product even if it is not needed. For instance if more than 250$ are spent on PlayStation products, 15$ would be refunded. Small coupons like those create huge success and are easy to make as well as they are cheap. The only negative would be to gain the base attention of the coupons, and actually letting people know about the coupons and their use.
Rationale
The rationale behind the changes made all revolve around the one main idea; Promotion and audience. The changes made all have a purpose, they are all used in order to gain attention and change the brand name. For instance the change of the brand image allows PlayStation to stay focused toward their audience, but being simplistic as well allows for them to gain new people. The change that was made in order to promote PlayStation's secondary products allows for things such as cameras and headphones to be known more. That would allow PlayStation to indulge people with other interests other than gaming; such as photographers, bloggers and many other people. The changes do a lot for PlayStation's image, they allow for the company to be more diverse, rather than sticking to once concept they would be able to move towards other industries. Growing of a brand is extremely important as it allows for an increase of revenue and sale, but most importantly it allows them to move forward and bring their name to a higher level.