Wii Fit for women - Marketing Campaign

T

Thomas96

CAGiversary!
Saw this article on the front page of MSN.com [money section]. Perhaps that 'soccer mom ' I seen at TRU this week was looking to get her 'board' to lose weight and not for the kids...

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/WiiMakerPushingWeightLossGamesToWomen.aspx

Nintendo is rolling out a console attachment that lets users do yoga or push-ups and measure body mass. A company executive says the goal is expansion of the Wii's market without alienating core gamers.

Nintendo's Wii gaming console introduced sedentary gamers to the idea of moving off the couch. Now Nintendo (NTDOY, news, msgs) is coming out with the Wii Fit, an add-on to the gaming system designed to appeal to women looking to lose weight.

The $90 attachment, dubbed the "Balance Board," expands the range of games that can be played on the Wii to include activities such as yoga and push-ups. The Balance Board -- which resembles bathroom scales -- also tracks a user's weight and body-mass index.

The Wii Fit is a daring move for Nintendo, aimed at broadening the gaming market -- dominated by younger men -- to women.

To get their attention, the company plans a massive marketing campaign ahead of the product's release in the United States on May 19, including a public-relations effort now under way. Television, outdoor and print ads begin the week the product becomes available. Ads via Omnicom Group's Goodby Silverstein & Partners will carry the tagline: "How will it move you?"

Since its release about 18 months ago, the Wii has been a smash hit -- so much so that it's still difficult to buy in the United States. In Japan, where the Wii Fit is on the market, it has also proved hugely popular.

Still, the new product is something of a gamble, moving Nintendo away from core young-male gamers, who could be turned off by the fact that Mom and girls think the Wii Fit is cool.
 
[quote name='Thomas96']Still, the new product is something of a gamble, moving Nintendo away from core young-male gamers, who could be turned off by the fact that Mom and girls think the Wii Fit is cool.[/quote]


I was agreeing with everything that was written until this. If this was coming out for PS3 or 360, then I could agree that some people would think the system lost it's "cool factor", but since when has Nintendo had a "cool" console, though I guess maybe some look at it as cool since it's hard to find?
 
A lot of people ARE turned off by some of the things that they perceive to be popular with the 'expanded audience'.

Its the crux of the whole non-game meme. I imagine most of those people arent big on the Wii in general though. A lot of the so called 'core gamers' are going to be all over Wii Fit.
 
Nintendo needs to advertise this? This thing should sell millions, just based on the number of Wii consoles out there alone.
 
Well sure, people need to find out about it at least. Particularly a lot of these new folks they are trying to bring in that dont keep up gaming news. I was just talking to the guy at one of the Gamecrazys nearby yesterday, and he said that after that one CNN article, he had quite a few women come in and preorder it.

Marketing is very important to the success of a game. Ubisoft knows this well.
 
... it's made for women? That changes my perspective on it. Oh well, my g/f will like it at least.
 
My fiance couldn't care less about video games but has been asking about Wii Fit. Too bad they are charging $90 for it, or else we'd probably get it.
 
[quote name='Ryukahn']I was agreeing with everything that was written until this. If this was coming out for PS3 or 360, then I could agree that some people would think the system lost it's "cool factor", but since when has Nintendo had a "cool" console, though I guess maybe some look at it as cool since it's hard to find?[/QUOTE]

its not about cool, its about making money... cool loves money, cool follows money.
 
If this game outsells GTA IV or even gets close, the hardcore market is going to take a back seat at nintendo. GTA IV vs Wii Fit is like a battle between the reguar gaming market, and the new age non traditional gamer market.
 
What, you think Nintendo is about to stop releasing Mario and Zelda games or something? Thats all they do. You can go for different markets at the same time. There are also plenty of "regular" or even classically trained gamers who are excited about Wii Fit. I do appreciate the image of war that you bring up though :)

The Battle for 2nd place in Japan:
PS3vsWiiFit_MC-2.png
 
[quote name='Ryukahn'].....but since when has Nintendo had a "cool" console, though I guess maybe some look at it as cool since it's hard to find?[/QUOTE]

SNES would probably be the last time they had a cool console. And even then the genesis was the one with the "cool" marketing.

I think that's kind of a moot point. Nintendo has probably ran off all the core gamers (like myself who had a Wii and ditched it) with all the non-gaming stuff, mini-games etc. to this point. I can't imagine Wii Fit will start another exodus. Maybe just reaffirm some PS3/360 owners on the fence that they don't need a Wii at most. And that will be offset by sells to non-gamers--both new console sells and people who bought it for Wii Sports shelling out another $90 for the soccer mom in the family etc.
 
How do you run off core gamers when your core offering as a company HAS. NEVER. CHANGED.

They've been releasing MORE of their core games, quicker than ever before, to the point when people are questioning what they have left to release.

What ran you off was that YOU got tired of Nintendo's core offerings. Anything regarding the expanded audience is on top of what they've always been doing.

Request moving thread into the Wii forum. Christ. You know I used to own a 360? I bought one close to launch to play DOA4 for like a week. Should I go into every 360 thread I can and bitch about it?
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']How do you run off core gamers when your core offering as a company HAS. NEVER. CHANGED.[/quote]

They've been releasing MORE of their core games, quicker than ever before, to the point when people are questioning what they have left to release.

I guess the bigger point is that they had already ran off the core gamers with the N64 and gamecube, and by sticking with their core games and not branching out. Thus core gamers were Playstation gamers the past too generations, and split between the 360/PS3 this generation.

Now they have branched out, but to non-gamers and casual gamers, so they're not getting those gamers back. So I guess the point shouldn't be that they're losing core gamers, but that they are failing to get them back.

But of course, they said from the start that they weren't going after that group this generation.


[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']
What ran you off was that YOU got tired of Nintendo's core offerings.[/QUOTE]

No, I owned an N64 and GC for those core offerings. I was ran off because mainly because I was seeing the core third party offerings I wanted to play on other systems, and having already gotten Mario, Metroid and Zelda already it didn't seem likely I'd get many more Nintendo games that interest me anyway since those are the main ones I like. That and I didn't dig the motion controls, lack of HD (didn't have an HDTV when I bought the Wii) and lack of good online.

I'd also suggest that the core games are changing, and point to Mario Kart being seemingly dumbed down to make it more accessible. So this move to casual gamers etc. could end up hurting the core games as well--though Mario and Metroid were fine (Zelda I don't count since it was a GC port).

[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']
Request moving thread into the Wii forum. Christ. You know I used to own a 360? I bought one close to launch to play DOA4 for like a week. Should I go into every 360 thread I can and bitch about it?[/QUOTE]


Jesus christ. How many times do I have to suggest you putting me on ignore if you get tired of reading my posts?

Or better yet, keep your Nintendo fanboy ass in the Wii forum and don't venture into other forums where people have opinions contrary to your own.

This is a forum for general industry discussion, and we're discussing the impact of the Wii on the industry in this thread. My posts are 100% on the topic being discussed. Especially since they were in response to another post!
 
If you can get non traditional gamers to buy a 90 dollar game (and periphreal) then I can Nintendo being even more aggressive in their marketing and catering of products to the non traditional gamer.
 
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