PlayStation 4 - Guerilla Advertising

The brief:

What is wanted?

The purpose of the advertising is to increase the share of voice for the PlayStation 4 while creating positive brand associations and generating word of mouth. The campaign should then generate free media coverage to increase the visibility of the brand and to create a strong connection between the innovative nature of the type of advertising used and the PlayStation Brand. The consumer should perceive PlayStation as being tuned to their needs, innovative, creative and clever.

Who is targeted?

The target is very wide in order to reflect the broadening definition of gamers in terms of both age and gender. As such, while the primary target audience will be males aged 18-32, the secondary audience will consist of both males and females aged 16-40 who either already own a PlayStation console or a competitor’s console. They have an interest in technology and appreciate innovation and creativity when deciding between brands.

The creative:

1. Street Crossings - Place a model of a PS4 Controller at signalised pedestrian crossings on top of the button you need to press to signal that you want to cross the road. The button would be the start button present on the PS4 Controllers and the slogan would be along the lines of “PS4 - We’ll take you anywhere”. This idea would be beneficial for the campaign because of the very high traffic associated with pedestrian crossings as a place where people gather and wait. Furthermore, the idea of pushing a button to cross the street is a very congruent one with the idea of video gaming being an escapist activity and can serve as a metaphor for our product. That button on a pole will help you cross the street. That button on a PS4 controller will help you explore new worlds and realities and they both start with the simple push of a button.

2. Bus stops - Convert bus stops into fictional gaming areas - replace benches with gaming chairs and tilt them slightly backwards so that their field of view is lifted.  The twist would be that, in preparation of the campaign, photographs of the view from those bus stops would be taken and edited, enhanced with digital techniques made to look surreal and  incredible compared to the, possibly, dull reality of what’s actually in front of the people waiting for the bus. Then, this panoramic view would be placed right underneath the ceiling and right above the view with the message: “PlayStation 4- And your world will never be the same again. “

As is the case with the street crossing, bus stops are also places where people gather and have to wait, often bored and looking for any distraction. Offering them exactly what they are looking for in a surprising way is, potentially, not only a great opportunity to promote the product through a type of augmented reality techniques but it is also a very likely  way of generating  word of mouth and considerable free media coverage.

3. Toilets - In restaurant and pub toilets attach templates to the mirrors, making them look like gaming user interfaces, as if creating a new profile for a game. In the centre, where the virtual face of a character in the game would be you have the reflection of the person. On the left there are personal specifications like age - doesn’t matter, height - tall enough to reach the TV stand, eyes - functional, hair - not in your eyes and under the image of the person you have the occupation - Gamer. The slogan: “PS4 - Get in character!” This follows the idea advertisers have had in the past to advertise in public toilets as they are places where people have to go and spend time in while, usually, looking around for things to read in an attempt to make time go by faster. This sort of distraction is guaranteed to draw a lot of attention, become a subject of discussion when people go out and, hopefully, create memorable and positive associations with the brand.