• How to Kill Your Brand

    Posted on March 1st, 2007 by and currently 10 commenting.

    A colleague sent this YouTube video my way last week. It was uploaded by a 20-year old Sony PlayStation fan and was created by Doc Adams (an audio production and voiceover professional), who rewrote The Fray’s ‘How to Save a Life’ to point out the flaws of the PS3 and why it’s losing ground fast in the gaming console world.

    Here’s what he had to say about his creation: This song is about how Sony took everything gamers didn’t want in a console and gave it to them for more than they were willing to pay.

    You know, it’s been pointed out that a lot of the stuff on YouTube is ‘utter crap.’

    It doesn’t matter.

    Someone took the time to create it, upload it and share it with others. And there are more and more videos like Doc’s out there that bash a brand that they once were loyal to in a video that’s both entertaining and rings true.

    The bottom line is that agencies and brands don’t need to fear these people. I’m going to speak next month at a session that’s entitled: ‘Sitting Backseat in a Consumer Driven Marketplace: How consumers are steering the industry and how marketers are being run over.’ Nice title, eh? Marketers are going to get run over only if they fight this customer-empowered movement instead of embrace it. The opportunity is for co-creation. And there’s opportunity everywhere. Advertising isn’t going away, people. It’s just evolving like it always has. Only now you have to actually engage your customers instead of bombarding them. Scary? Absolutely. And that’s what makes it so freakin’ fun.

  • Nathan

    “Only now you have to actually engage your customers instead of bombarding them. Scary? Absolutely. And that’s what makes it so freakin’ fun.”

    These sentences are awesome. They speak absolutely true. It’s been the joy of my experiences thus far working on projects and I can only imagine will be my joy when I begin my career.

  • http://www.interactivedaily.com Roger

    Hey Spike,

    Glad I discovered your blog and this story. I’ve quoted your last paragraph in a post about this story on my blog as well. I think Sony really needs to step up and address their fans honestly and own up to past mistakes and chart out a path to the future of the PS3 that will reinvigorate the Playstation brand.

    They need to be out there interacting with gamers and responding to feedback. Just a few days ago, they severed their relationship with Kotaku, a prominent gaming blog because Kotaku leaked a rumor about upcoming PS3 features. Needless to say, bad decision. They’ve since made up but not before legions of angry gamers responded on Kotaku.

    http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/sony-blackballs-kotaku-updated-240860.php

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  • PS3 Developer

    If your so confident about the XBox360, why is there the constant need to slate the PS3? If “almost every gamer” really thinks it’s so cr@p, vision-less, filled with bad decisions, etc. then why the tireless efforts by you lot, to prove (and almost overstate) this? just relax and stop trying so hard to convince everyone (including yourselves) — The truth is… Your all afraid of the PS3 and what will come over the next 18 months! My advice… Continue to be afraid… Be very afraid ;-)

  • http://brainsonfire.com Spike

    Mr. PS3 Developer,

    I’m actually a PS and Sony fan. A big one. This post was just to talk about CGM. Personally, I hope the PS3 kicks everyone else’s ass in the long run. I’m pullin’ for ya!

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