The sales of the PlayStation Vita in Japan started strong, but sank like a stone afterwards. Now Sony has a second chance to prove the Vita is a success with the impending Western launches of the portable. To make the Vita a winner, Sony is apparently spending $50 million on marketing the portable. Sony senior director John Koller told The New York Times that the campaign was “the largest platform launch in terms of marketing investment we’ve ever had.”
The tagline for the campaign is ‘Never Stop Playing’ and Sony is promising ad placement during popular television shows, retail partnerships, social media hooks, and Vita try-out events called Vita Social Clubs.
Alternate tagline: Get Fired From Your Job.
“Gaming is no longer playing alone in a basement by one person with one machine; it’s all networked,” said Jason Elm executive vice president & creative director at Deutsch, the marketing firm Sony is partnering with for the launch.
Still, the portable is facing an uphill battle in the West, with the rise in smartphone and tablet gaming experiences.
“It’s an amazing device,” said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, “would you rather have a 10-hour immersive experience for 40 bucks, as opposed to 400 10-minute experiences for free?”
