IndustryGamers - Informing the Games Industry

Sony: Latin America Ready to Explode as Next Major Market

Posted November 15, 2010 by James Brightman

Last week, IndustryGamers brought you first word about the new ad campaign for the Latin America region, and the company's renewed focus on bringing people in Latin America regionally specific content. Sony Computer Entertainment America is a big believer in the potential for Latin America, and the company stressed to us that the region is becoming far more important than you might think on a global scale. 

Prior to the ad campaign announcement, IndustryGamers spoke at length with Mark Stanley, SCEA's GM for Latin America, to find out what Sony's doing in the region and why the rest of the world should start paying attention. 

IndustryGamers: Tell me about the progress made in Latin America.

Mark Stanley: We’ve been working quite a bit in the region the last two years. Specifically, we launched officially last year in February and since that launch we’ve been able to basically open up nineteen countries in the region and... one of our biggest challenges and one of our biggest commitments to the region is also to provide access to PlayStation products same day as U.S., same day as North America. We’ve been able to deliver on that in the last year, whereas traditionally games that have launched in the U.S. took a while to trickle down into the region, perhaps three weeks to a month. We have hardcore gamers all over the world, including in Latin America, and there’s been a huge response to that. The bulletin we just shot out to you is really focusing on the first time that we’re having a direct communication campaign with consumers in the region. As you know, PlayStation has been in the region since its inception, but through various means the product has made its way down there. Since we’ve formalized the distribution and the marketing of PlayStation in the region since last year, that’s changed quite a bit in the sense that now we have product in channels, in retail, and this was the first time that we’re going to have an opportunity to communicate with consumers what PlayStation is about, what the brand is about through major mass media, TV spots, online digital, and social apps, etc.

IG: So this is the first time essentially that you’re giving it a really major marketing push in Latin America? And you have wisely chosen to create bundles around soccer, which obviously is a lot more popular in Latin America than it is here in the United States.

MS: Part of our strategy, James, is to not only distribute games that come out in the U.S., but it’s really to focus more attention on the region, where we can provide regionally relevant product. The soccer SKUs are a no brainer; FIFA and Pro Evolution kind of rule the region. For example, next year for Killzone 3 we’re going to have a fully localized version. We're working with developers across the region to be able to develop games that are relevant for each country and for the region, and that’s part of our longer-term strategy, and we’re starting to see good results on that.

PR rep: Just to clarify, that’s something that we’ve never done before. That is something new and especially this holiday, the SKUs that are in there are new bundles.

IG: Speaking of regionally specific content, is this something that will apply to the PlayStation Network? For Latin America, will there be video content, other types of content on PSN that will be sort of catered to their tastes?

MS: Absolutely. Our goal is to make PlayStation Network accessible in every country in the region and we’re working towards that. Our vision, particularly my vision, is to be able to have regionally relevant content on PSN, as well. For example, have a Latin America channel where people in certain countries can access content, TV shows, movies, that are relevant to that country and not just U.S. content. That’s something we’re working towards. It’s a longer-term project since you’re dealing with rights, etc. from many countries, but that is our goal.

IG: Is that something where you would consider expanding it to the United States' PlayStation Network? Obviously, there are a lot of Latin American people who make their way up into the United States, become a big component of the demographic here, and they might want to see some of that specific content even if they’re not living down south anymore.

MS: Absolutely. I think the point here is we’re becoming more of a global community. U.S. and Latin America, there’s just meshing of nationalities from everywhere. We’re living both in the U.S. and the region, and if we develop content that’s relevant for the region, we would certainly be able to give the U.S. and Canada and other regions access to that for folks that are living abroad.

IG: Right. In terms of the focus on PlayStation Move, I know the sales numbers that were announced a while ago included North America and Latin America, correct?

MS: Correct.

IG: How would you say Move is doing specifically in Latin America? Obviously, the focus from us in the media is North America because it’s such a huge region, but what kind of momentum are you seeing for Move, looking just at Latin America?

MS: Move was a tremendous success for us. We actually were able to launch in every country same-day as U.S. Our merchandising and programs across the region involve a lot of demos, a lot of heavy channel communication, and the results were we were sold out in very little time. We’re actually continuing to catch up on filling the pipeline with product, as we are in the U.S. and worldwide because demand has greatly exceeded our expectations. So far, we still don’t have enough to supply the region and we’re hoping to catch up, so triple-A success for us in the region. It’s been able to translate easily into the region. Something as simple as Move is easily communicated, easily captivated by the region. The difference is we’ve been able very much to define the difference between Move and Wii and Kinect, which has helped us quite a bit.

IG: It’s interesting you bring that up, because the one thing I’ve been hearing when you look at the comparisons between the Move and Kinect and Wii is that a lot of people seem to be saying that Kinect really is reaching out to the mainstream audience. Microsoft has put a ton of money into it, whether they’re on Oprah, or Ellen, or Jimmy Fallon. They’ve had a lot of mainstream exposure. It seems to me they’re reaching more of a mass market, whereas some of the analysts and pundits would be saying that Move is more focused on the already existing PlayStation install base and that it’s a little bit more for the core gamer and not so much something to grab that casual audience. I’m curious what your thinking is on that.

MS: Sure. Latin America is a slightly different market down to the country level. The big advantage we have is our brand is synonymous with entertainment. Our launch in the region has been able to leverage that. We partner with Sony Electronics in every country on sales and marketing and that has given us unprecedented muscle as far as communications locally. That’s allowed us to have a much broader reach than we would have otherwise had, way beyond our hardcore gaming heartbeat audience. You’ll see that from the spots that we posted... In fact, the Move spot you’ll see is positioned specifically for a wider audience reaching out to families and those who have not traditionally thought of the PS3 as a complete entertainment device versus just a gaming device.

James Brightman has been covering the games industry since 2003 and has been an avid gamer ever since the days of Atari and Intellivision. He was previously the EIC of GameDaily Biz.