Don’t mistake incompetence for genius
This is not about the name change of Nintendo’s next console so much as it is about games and marketing. Since Nintendo announced the official name of the console formerly known as the “Revolution” to be the “Wii”, people have been buzzing. Some folks have begun to theorize that perhaps this was all part of the plan. You see, now that they have announced the name everyone is talking about it. “Wow! What great publicity!” they say, “Surely the folks at Nintendo must be geniuses to generate this level of buzz over a name change.”
Methinks they give Nintendo far too much credit.
I am far more intimately involved in marketing than I am comfortable with. Believe me, it wasn’t by choice. Nonetheless, I know what the goal of marketing is. Marketing, to a lot of people, is the same as advertising. Advertising can be driven by marketing, but marketing is not driven by advertising. Marketing is about selling the product to the masses. It’s the how, when, where, and to who. Marketing wants to figure out ways to make their product known and study what it takes to get you to buy it. When marketing misses, it’s an embarrassment to themselves and their company.
If you have a new product you want to introduce to the market, the reception you are not looking for is peels of laughter. That is, unless you’re a whoopie cushion manufacturer. The last thing Nintendo wants is to be perceived as a joke, which unfortunately is exactly what they look like right now. Anyone who believes “there is no such thing as bad publicity” has clearly not paid attention to business travesties of the past. The truth is, bad publicity can work in your favor, especially if you have had no publicity to speak of. I think a more honest approach is “bad publicity is better than no publicity”, but that wasn’t an issue with Nintendo.
People are already dubious about Nintendo’s next offering, with expectations ranging from giddy to despairing over their next console, I think we’re all waiting for something concrete, hoping that the Wii is not just a gimmick-infested doorstop. They can’t even get the name right, and that has dampened some people’s spirits right off. I know people who cancelled their pre-orders over the name change. That seems extreme to me, but at the same time I bet the name change didn’t encourage pre-orders either.
The gamer community is a jaded and cynical lot, they’re a tough bunch to market to. Even so, the massive misstep on Nintendo’s part of picking the most ridiculous name they could should not be mistaken as some sort of subtle genius. No, it’s more like nakedly exposing how much they don’t understand the American gaming market.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
May 2nd, 2006 at 9:05 am
I think we’re all waiting for something concrete, hoping that the Wii is not just a gimmick-infested doorstop.
And that, specifically, is what I don’t like about it. The name sounds like a gimmick, so people will assume the console is as well.
May 4th, 2006 at 9:01 am
You know, some words are abused so often or utilized in casual conversation that eventually they are shunned, cast by the wayside by those who see their use as almost primitive. This argument is often justified by the fact that this one word sums up the entire argument and renders rationalizations moot, it simply halts the conversation abruptly with a direct roadblock that accepts no detours.
This is a rare case where such a word can be dusted off and applied.
Nintendo changing the name from Revolution to Wii is “stupid”
Thats it, just stupid. Bothering or attempting to examine this is a worthless endeavor. Nintendo just screwed up on a fundamental level.
As the link provided says, Revolution was almost a perfect console name, it probably was the perfect console name and fit in with their “innovative” sales pitch so well it wasn’t even funny. Revolution was to Nintendo as an image as the iPod is to Apple, instant recognition in a single word. It was a serious name that imparted a vision, Wii imparts a gimmick, a “As seen on TV” title that makes you wonder just what this product is supposed to offer.
From certainty to oddity in three letters flat. Impressive
May 4th, 2006 at 4:48 pm
[…] in the horse race that is video gaming these days.” Time will tell… Jason has thoughts on the name Wii. In particular, the marketing implications of choosing such an odd name. Is it g […]
May 5th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
I hate gimmicks. And I think you’re right that the name “Wii” is just a gimmick. Someone looked at Google, Yahoo, and Napster and decided that a gimmicky name means you get more business. What about normal names like Apple? Granted, iPod is gimmicky, but the name “iPod” doesn’t overshadow what the device is.