In June, the Curmudgeon awarded one of its periodic "looser" awards to ESPN for a lame television ad promoting its ESPN mobile service. [The looser award--"loser" misspelled, as only a loser would--is given to advertisers who portray men as stupid losers.]
At the time, we not only panned the ad, but questioned the service itself. Really, who needs to spend a huge premium for a branded phone that doesn't really do anything you couldn't already do, and that would be an embarassment when you pulled it out of your pocket?
Not surprisingly, ESPN recently announced it was ditching the service after taking a bath on it--less than one-quarter the projected number of users signed up. (Who makes those projections, anyway? Some overpaid butt-kissing consultant.)
It's interesting: a quick review of stories covering the announcement that ESPN was pulling the plug shows that ESPN and analysts blamed "poor marketing" and bad distribution for the failure.
HA! Despite mythology to the contrary, marketing can't turn a turkey into an eagle. ESPN Mobile was doomed from the start because it's not a product anyone needs or wants. Some supposed genius at ESPN, or parent Disney, thought this one up and a bunch of lemmings followed along.
You can bet that somewhere in the bowels of the Disney machine, there is a memo from at least one employee questioning the wisdom of the venture. No doubt, the memo was met with disdain from the corporate rah-rah crowd--kind of like the advisor who told Donald Rumsfeld he needed to focus on what would happen AFTER we invaded Iraq.
This all leads us to make a prediction now about the much anticipated and ballyhooed launch of Sony's Playstation 3 in a few weeks: it, too, will be a big disappointment.
Why? We don't doubt that gamers are anxious to get the latest in cutting edge graphics, etc. The problem is that the geniuses at Sony decided everyone also needs a new DVD player--based on Sony's proprietary Blu-Ray technology--with their Playstation. The result is a fat, ugly looking player with a bloated cost.
Me, I DO NOT need, and DO NOT want, Blu-Ray. (Remember the Beta VCR?) If I want a new DVD player, I'll get one. I'm not going to go out and retrofit my DVD collection with Blu-Ray discs.
The only thing Sony has going for it is the cost, for someone with existing Playstation technology, of switching to a different platform (i.e., the cost of retrofitting your game collection). Still, we are thinking of switching to X-box or something else.
Time will tell, but we think you'll see Sony officials scrambling early next year to explain their disappointing sales. Blame it on marketing.
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2 comments:
Mr. Curmudgeon, the Sony Playstation 3 is more than just some greedy attempt to part you and your money. For example the radically powerful 'cell' processor in the PS3 and the machine's connectivity allow it to be used as machine-ganged type of supercomputer when it is not being used for gaming or DVD watching - thus it could be used in the SETI project, for instance, in determining if there is other intelligent life in the universe (bloggers don't count).
As for its Blu-Ray DVD player, Blu-Ray is simply a platform for those who desire higher-end viewing of games and entertainment like movies. Blu-Ray is high definition video with superior storage capacity (nearly twice the capacity of competing HD-DVD), and the PS3's connectivity means you can watch a movie while accessing information about it from the internet.
Finally, the PS3 is 'backward compatible,' meaning it will play all 'standard' (i.e. non-Blu-Ray) DVDs (with the exception of HD-DVD discs), so it won't be necessary to replace your existing DVDs. But if you want that in-your-face immediacy of high definition, you'll need a high definition DVD player (and an HD TV, an HD TV tuner, etc... that's how they get you - with the add-ons!) Sony's PS3 is a great way to acquire a high-definition DVD player - along with a state-of-the-art gaming console - for less than you would pay for an HD DVD player and videogame machine (if they even made another high-end console like the PS3 - which no one does).
My guess is Mr. Curmudgeon would enjoy his televised sports even more if he watched them in high definition. Why shouldn't movie fans get the same break?
Pretty much our point--trying to be all things to all people. Why not include a lawnmower and dishwasher while they're at it!
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