Forbes offers up insight into the game console battles that teaches a few important lessons in marketing. After a complex overengineering battle for the new set-top juggernaut between Microsoft and Sony (with Microsoft winning), Nintendo snuck by – focusing on family friendly games and letting the industry leaders beat the hell out of each other trying to be the biggest fastest and best.
Distraction.
If you can keep industry leaders in a protracted pissing match long enough you can find your opening. In war, this is finding your opponents weakness and seizing the opportunity. Pouring everything into that weakness and coming out victorious.
Sure, the Wii’s graphics aren’t the best. You also cannot play many of the popular games you can on the other two consoles. But it doesn’t matter. Nintendo made a human connection. It is those human connections that defy “processor speeds” and “graphic acceleration” which tend to quantify the two industry leaders.
It’s the same reason why, during the summer movie blockbusters, some innocent family friendly movie ends up being number one. While the latest superhero pics, sci-fi epics, and biopics on the latest hipster obsession-of-the-month vie for your attention – studios often forget that families like to go to the movies too. The studios that don’t usually end up laughing all the way to the bank.
Yes, the movie blockbuster’s strength is also it’s weakness. In the music world it happens all the time. Look at SubPop, Kranky, or Dischord – labels that create entirely new music scenes – ignoring what contemporary industry may define as “popular” music. (Interestingly, the music industry is in one of the most exciting rule changing eras in decades.)
When finding a niche for your blog, or product, think about Nintendo as you try to battle it out with the A-List players in your vertical market.
Instead of playing on their field by their rules, the best strategy may be creating your own field where you make the rules. Welcome to the world of niche marketing.
Disclaimer: My daughters got a Wii over the holidays. I cannot begin to tell you the amount of laughs, fights, and just plain fun times we have had over the past few weeks.
Read the Forbes article: Why XBox and SONY fell behind Wii