Marketing Study of Nintendo
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In December 2012, Nintendo Co., Ltd introduced Wii U and hoped it can create another gaming sensation as Wii. However, not only Wii U is not as successful as Wii, the consumer’s confidence level is declining even in Nintendo’s home market – Japan.
Wii U faces competitions from both direct (videogames) and indirect (social/online games and other entertainments) competitors. In addition, given Nintendo’s image, Wii U is perceived as casual game and received poor response from its new market- hardcore game. Nintendo also faced poor supplier support after the failure of Wii U and lack of software developer support, the slow release of software games threaten the retention and attraction of consumers. Given Japan’s weak economy, Japanese are more cautious in spending and may choose less expensive entertainment such as social/online games. As such, Nintendo is targeting at a larger consumer base and pricing Wii U at a more affordable rate. From our studies, the failure of Wii U is due to lack of advertisement to differentiate Wii U from Wii and failure to change the hardcore gamer’s perception of Wii U. Hence, we recommend to re-run Wii U through a 3-phase communication strategy by focusing on differentiating Wii U from Wii through gaming experience in the software instead of hardware specs, and work on the relationship with its suppliers and software developers.
A. INTRODUCTION
Six years after Wii was successfully launched and revolutionized the gaming experience, Nintendo introduced Wii U, the only new video game console in the market in December 2012, and hoped the new game console can create another gaming sensation. However, not only Wii U is not as successful as Wii, the consumer’s confidence level is declining even in Nintendo’s home market – Japan. Hence, we would like to obtain insights to this situation through marketing frameworks and hope to provide some recommendations.
B. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS: 5 C’s
COMPANY
Nintendo Co.,
In December 2012, Nintendo Co., Ltd introduced Wii U and hoped it can create another gaming sensation as Wii. However, not only Wii U is not as successful as Wii, the consumer’s confidence level is declining even in Nintendo’s home market – Japan.
Wii U faces competitions from both direct (videogames) and indirect (social/online games and other entertainments) competitors. In addition, given Nintendo’s image, Wii U is perceived as casual game and received poor response from its new market- hardcore game. Nintendo also faced poor supplier support after the failure of Wii U and lack of software developer support, the slow release of software games threaten the retention and attraction of consumers. Given Japan’s weak economy, Japanese are more cautious in spending and may choose less expensive entertainment such as social/online games. As such, Nintendo is targeting at a larger consumer base and pricing Wii U at a more affordable rate. From our studies, the failure of Wii U is due to lack of advertisement to differentiate Wii U from Wii and failure to change the hardcore gamer’s perception of Wii U. Hence, we recommend to re-run Wii U through a 3-phase communication strategy by focusing on differentiating Wii U from Wii through gaming experience in the software instead of hardware specs, and work on the relationship with its suppliers and software developers.
A. INTRODUCTION
Six years after Wii was successfully launched and revolutionized the gaming experience, Nintendo introduced Wii U, the only new video game console in the market in December 2012, and hoped the new game console can create another gaming sensation. However, not only Wii U is not as successful as Wii, the consumer’s confidence level is declining even in Nintendo’s home market – Japan. Hence, we would like to obtain insights to this situation through marketing frameworks and hope to provide some recommendations.
B. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS: 5 C’s
COMPANY
Nintendo Co.,