Ad Age commends the Wii marketing phenomenon

In the past, the stereotypical image of a gamer had something to do with young men stuck in the basement all day playing video games. With Nintendo’s smashing success with the Wii console, however, such stereotypes have been shattered as the best-selling console has expanded the gamers market and revolutionized the industry itself.

In a recent article by Ad Age, the advertising website explained the ever growing marketing phenomenon that Nintendo initiated with the onset of the current console war. After the hype of the last generation of consoles died down, Nintendo’s GameCube was staring at its competitors from third place. When the new set of consoles came in Nintendo decided to change gears and change their strategy.

More on Nintendo’s revolutionary strategy after the jump!

In the past, the stereotypical image of a gamer had something to do with young men stuck in the basement all day playing video games. With Nintendo’s smashing success with the Wii console, however, such stereotypes have been shattered as the best-selling console has expanded the gamers market and revolutionized the industry itself.

In a recent article by Ad Age, the advertising website explained the ever growing marketing phenomenon that Nintendo initiated with the onset of the current console war. After the hype of the last generation of consoles died down, Nintendo’s GameCube was staring at its competitors from third place. When the new set of consoles came in Nintendo decided to change their strategy.

Julie Shumaker, VP of sales for in-game agency Double Fusion and former Electronic Arts national sales director, placed it beautifully on how Nintendo decided to change its point of view on how to attack the current market, saying: “They saw Xbox and PlayStation duking it out over tech specs … and realized, ‘Hey, let them go ahead and let them fight it out over the 18- to 34-year-old males. We can expand the market'”.

It was then that Nintendo decided to take in the most unlikely of ambassadors for its new Wii console: the average household mother. After hosting a Wii party for 30 or so mothers, the press generated by the promotion turned out to be a phenomenal success and marked the official start of the expansion of the market for the new generation of gamers. Nintendo basically showed everyone that its new console wasn’t just for the restricted market that long dominated the gamer stereotype; instead, even “non-gamers” can get into their new console and still enjoy it.

The very flexible marketing scheme that Nintendo implemented was also a big contribution to its success. Social issues such as weight loss when using Wii and the social bonding gained from playing the console as a family activity all helped reinforce the console’s overall value as a console for both gamers and non-gamers alike.

An estimated 9 million Wii units worldwide have been sold worldwide, while DS and DS Lite counts for around 40 million units sold. There’s no doubt to the positive numbers that analysts have come up with for Nintendo in the current console war. It’s no wonder why the demand for Nintendo products can’t possibly be satisfied this upcoming holiday season.

While there will always be nonbelievers who write off Nintendo’s success as merely a passing fad, there is no doubt that the gaming company is still on top of things. However, with the way Nintendo is slowly tapping out its market, people have to wonder how long its success will continue, especially since a new sales and marketing team for the company will be relocated to San Francisco and New York by the end of the year.

However, Robert Matthews, senior director of consumer marketing at Nintendo of America was still confident of the new team and had this to say:

It really comes down to a very essential strategy if Nintendo is truly going to expand the marketplace with products. It can’t be an ‘or’ strategy; it has to be an ‘and’ strategy, and it also needs to be built on a strategy of advocacy.