Comparing Marketing Strategies: PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch

This report provides a detailed comparative analysis of the marketing strategies employed by PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. It begins with an introduction to the marketing mix and its importance in a competitive market, followed by a comparison of the target markets, utilizing the STP model (Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning) for both consoles. The report then delves into a comprehensive examination of the marketing mix elements: product, price, place, and promotion for each brand. For PlayStation 4, it highlights its high HDR visuals, slim design, and premium pricing strategy, while for Nintendo Switch, it focuses on interactive games, penetration pricing, and a dual-channel distribution network. The promotional strategies of both companies, including umbrella branding for PlayStation and the Aaker brand personality model for Nintendo, are also analyzed. The report concludes with recommendations for each company, suggesting a focus on social media marketing for PlayStation 4 and competitive marketing strategies for Nintendo Switch, and references relevant books and journals to support the analysis.

RESD BRIEF AND
INDICATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Comparison of target market.......................................................................................................3
Product........................................................................................................................................4
Price.............................................................................................................................................5
Place............................................................................................................................................5
Promotion....................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................6
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Marketing mix is defined as the combination of different types of strategies which are
being used by the companies in order to market their products and services. The competition
within the market is very high and intense and for success it is necessary to have effective
marketing strategies so that company can sustain in this highly competitive market. The present
report will discuss and compare about the targeting and marketing strategies used by the two
brands that is PlayStation 4 games console and Nintendo Switch games console.
Nintendo is a Japanese electronic and video game company which was founded in the
year 23 September 1889. The Nintendo Switch was released in 2017 and is a home console
which can be portably handheld which the gamers can enjoy (Nintendo Entertainment System,
2020). On the other hand, the PlayStation which is a product of Sony Interactive Entertainment
which is also a multinational videogame company headquartered in Japan. The PlayStation 4 was
launched in November 2013 in North America and in Europe in 29 November 2013. The current
report will discuss about the comparison among the marketing mix of both the companies.
Comparison of target market
The STP is a model which helps the company in deciding its segment and the target on
which they are going to focus. The comparison of STP of both the company is as follows-
Segmenting- The major segmentation being used by PlayStation is on the basis of
demographic and in demographic also major focus is given on age and geographic area (Blut,
Teller and Floh, 2018). This is majorly because of the reason that young people will be more
attracted towards the videogames and people living in urban areas will be more attracted towards
PlayStation.
In against of this Nintendo uses the segment on basis of income under the demographic
segment. Along with this behavioural segment is used because if the behaviour of people is
towards enjoying then they will like the games to a great extent. Also, income is being chosen
because high income group prefer to play the games to a great extent.
Targeting- The major target of PlayStation 4 is the kids and the teenagers. This is
majorly because of the teenagers and kids are more attracted towards the playing of video games
and other related games. Thus, this will be good target market for the company (Išoraitė, 2016).
Here the target market is the hard core gamers and casual gamer who are very much addicted to

playing the games and who feel that gaming is the primary leisure for them. They are good target
for the company because they will always play the games and this will always increase the sales
for Nintendo.
Positioning- The positioning of PlayStation 4 is with its design which is made in vertical
position in order to make the console look stylish. This stylish look is the way of position the
PlayStation among the consumers. The positioning of Nintendo is being done with help of
differentiating the gamers as casual and non- casual gamers. The positioning statement of
Nintendo is “Switch and Play” and is made for the gamers which do not play competitively
rather plays for fun only.
Marketing mix
Marketing mix refers to as the mix of different types of strategies which can be used by
the companies in order to promote the goods and services within the highly competitive market.
The comparison of both the brands on basis of the marketing mix is discussed as follows-
Product
The product is defined as the thing or item which is being provided by the company. This
can also be the services in which the company is dealing. This is the thing form which the
consumer gets attracted towards the company. The product that is PlayStation 4 is the product
which is being provided to the consumers. The product PlayStation comes with the feature of
high HDR visuals and it is 30 % slimmer and 16 % lighter as compared to its previous version.
In this there is hand held terminal which provide the user the benefit of transferability and
portability.
The main product strategy of Nintendo is to develop and produce the interactive games
and video games. The product was developed form the designing of arcade games on the gaming
console and first game was launched was Donkey Kong in the year 1981 and was a huge success.
The Nintendo Switch was released in the year 2017 with compatible games which can be played
with help of TV and laptops (Datta, Ailawadi, and Van Heerde, 2017).
Price
This is defined as the monetary amount which is being charged by the company in
against of providing product or service to the company. The pricing strategy being used by the
PlayStation 4 in order to charge from the consumers is the premium pricing strategy. This is a
strategy through which the price is set higher than the similar product in the market. This is also

known as the price skimming method under which first company charge high price and capture
the high income group and then lower the price and covers medium group as well.
The Nintendo uses the pricing strategy of penetration pricing. This is majorly because of
the reason that the competition is high and to sustain in market the company first offer less price
and as the capture high market they increase the prices (Jindal and et.al., 2019).
Place
This is the place of distribution that is how the product or the service is being transferred
to the consumer for end consumption. The major place of distribution is the Sony stores placed
all over the globe. Along with this these products can be purchased from online e-commerce
websites as well like amazon, eBay and many others. Here the channel of distribution used is
direct selling at the stores of Sony. In case of Nintendo the distribution network is high and is
available all over the globe in both physical stores and online as well. In online it is in form of
making the software available to the consumer and then helping them to download it and use it.
Here the selling channel used is dual channel in which Nintendo uses two different modes of
distribution channels at a single time.
Promotion
This is the act of promoting the goods and services in the market so that the consumer
gets the knowledge of all the features and characteristics relating to the product and services.
Also, the competition is very intense and it is very necessary for companies to have effective
promotional strategies so that consumers get proper information relating to the products provided
by the company. PlayStation uses the form of umbrella branding which help the company in
retaining competitive advantage. For the brand building for PlayStation the Levitts model of
brand building includes core product after that expected product after the augmented services
and in the end potential product. These are the level through which the product passes when it
reaches to the ultimate consumers.
Also, in case of Nintendo along with this they use the aggressive promotion of the
company within the highly competitive market (Wu and Li, 2018). This company includes a
variety of different strategies in order to market the product and services in the market. This
includes distributing free t shirts, free goodies, providing special discount, organizing of events
for product launch, use of social media advertising and many other techniques.

For the promotion Nintendo uses Aaker brand personality model. In accordance with this
model the product must have five dimensions that are sincerity, excitement, competence,
ruggedness and sophistication. Nintendo is the products are having these entire five dimensions
and this makes moth the product well placed in the market.
CONCLUSION
In the end it can be concluded that having an effective plan for marketing is very
necessary because if the marketing will not be good then consumers will not get attracted
towards it. Thus, the present report discussed about the deciding of target market and different
strategies pertaining to the marketing mix. With the discussion it was outlined that both the
companies have different marketing mix and both are successfully applying those strategies for
facing the competition.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The major recommendation for PlayStation 4 is to focus more on the social media
marketing because this is the latest method of marketing within the competitive market. Thus,
this will assist the company in capturing more consumers in marketing at a very low cost. Thus,
this will be more beneficial for the company as its cost of marketing will decrease and the
number of consumer will increase. Also, this is a method which help the company in using a
variety of sources and websites with no or minimum investment and this yields maximum and
large amount of profit for the company.
Another recommendation for Nintendo Switch is to use the competitive marketing
strategy because this is a good type of marketing strategy. This is majorly because of the reason
that under this technique the price of product is being set by studying and analysing the prices of
the other competitors. This is a good source of marketing because this tell us about the pricing
strategy of competitors and then in accordance to that charge the prices.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Blut, M., Teller, C. and Floh, A., 2018. Testing retail marketing-mix effects on patronage: A
meta-analysis. Journal of Retailing. 94(2). pp.113-135.
Datta, H., Ailawadi, K. L. and Van Heerde, H. J., 2017. How well does consumer-based brand
equity align with sales-based brand equity and marketing-mix response?. Journal of
Marketing. 81(3). pp.1-20.
Išoraitė, M., 2016. Marketing mix theoretical aspects. International journal of research
granthaalayah. 4(6). pp.25-37.
Jindal, P and et.al., 2019. Marketing Mix Response Across Retail Formats-The Role of Shopping
Trip Types. Available at SSRN 3127580.
Wu, Y. L. and Li, E. Y., 2018. Marketing mix, customer value, and customer loyalty in social
commerce. Internet Research.
Online
Nintendo Entertainment System. 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.nintendo.com/corp/history.jsp>