Xbox one marketing mix - Essay Example

Xbox One Marketing Mix Table of Contents Introduction 3 Discussion 3 Marketing Mix 3 Product 3 Price 4 Place 4 Promotion 5 Packaging 6 Process 6 Physical Evidence 6 People 7 Conclusion (Marketing Mix Findings) 7 References 8 Introduction Xbox is one of the leading and popular video gaming brands developed by Microsoft. Xbox includes a bunch of video game soothes introduced by Microsoft. However, this popular video gaming brand has been marketed worldwide. Moreover, popular brand name and huge brand loyalty of Microsoft in global market has helped Xbox to gain enormous success since its launching in the year 2001.

Microsoft has developed several unique marketing strategies for Xbox in order to make it one of the leading video gaming brands. This essay will try to conduct a marketing mix for Xbox including several important aspects and key marketing elements. Discussion This part of the essay will develop a marketing Mix for Xbox. Marketing Mix Marketing Mix can be considered as an important strategic marketing tool that helps an organization to determine the effectiveness of its product, pricing placement and promotional activities.

Product Xbox is one of the popular video gaming consoles made by Microsoft. Microsoft launched this video gaming console with an effective controller. This specific product won the heart of several video game loving kids and young adults. Xbox can be termed as a unique sixth generation product of gaming. Xbox 360 and Xbox one are the modern video gaming consoles produced by Microsoft. The brand new Xbox 360 and Xbox One have the feature to scan and detect the whole body of players. Major benefit of these newly developed and redefined Xbox is that an attached webcam to it can ensure right directions of the entire body of the player (O’Brien, 2001, p.21). Major target customers of Xbox One are people of all ages.

In terms of genders, both males and females are being targeted by the brand. Moreover, Microsoft is targeting all the family members present in a family through the multiplayer feature of Xbox One. Entertainment and family gatherings are the major purposes behind the utilization of Xbox One (Roth, 2005, p.29). Customers generally seek fun games, new gaming features, high quality graphics and energy efficiency through this Xbox One. Price Pricing can be considered as one of the important marketing strategies that actually decides the sales growth rate of the product.

Microsoft has never compromised with the quality of the product. Therefore, the organisation has adopted and implemented cost based premium pricing strategy for Xbox One (Raz, 2006, p.11). It is true that, Xbox One has been marketed in each and every global place. The price of these products normally has been set between 300 US dollars and 400 US dollars by the management according to the size of the product. However, it is true that Sony’s Play Stations are major competitors of Xbox One. Comparing in prices, it can be stated that the price of Xbox One is slightly higher comparing to other competitors available in market place.

Therefore, it is clear that the organisation has adopted premium pricing strategy for Xbox One (Lacher, 2004, p.34). Place Xbox One is sold in several gaming stores. Primarily, the customers can get Xbox One from developed Xbox Stores across the globe. DHL is the logistics partner of Microsoft. Effective logistics and supply chain activities can ensure the global consumers that customers can avail or consume Xbox One when they intend to consume it and visit the store. Xbox stores are located in the major cities and semi-urban areas of US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and emerging Asian countries (Warren, 2009, p.471). Promotion Microsoft can be considered as one of the leading organisations within global computer hardware and software manufacturing and distributing organisations.

Microsoft always develops and implements unique promotional strategies for its each and every product or service. Similarly, Microsoft has adopted and implemented unique promotional strategies for Xbox One in order create significant brand awareness among the target customers. Microsoft has developed print media, digital media and online social media promotional strategies for Xbox One in order to create potential brand as well as product awareness of it among the target customers. Microsoft used to promote Xbox One through MTV in Xbox revealing show (Jones, 2014, p.54). This particular promotional event was quite effective as it helped the brand to create significant brand awareness among the kids, children and young adults.

The organisation also used Facebook promotions, posters, magazines, newspaper adverts and You Tube commercials in order to create brand awareness among the target customers. Despite the traditional and contemporary promotional strategies, the organisation also has used several PR strategies in order to enhance its high brand awareness. Effective game conventions sponsorship and bonus free game with Xbox One increased its brand awareness across the globe quite effectively (Payne, 2014, p.4). Packaging Microsoft has developed and implemented unique packaging strategy for Xbox One in order to distinguish it from other potential market competitors, such as SONY’s play station.

Attractive green and silver colour and its unique logo on packages have ensured good impression on the target customers. This unique and attracting packaging strategy and activity has ensured the target customers that the product will be satisfying and sophisticated if they are willing to consume it. Microsoft has able to distinguish Xbox One quite easily through unique packaging activities (Takahashi, 2002, p.61). It can provide a good and effective impression on the brand image and product identity.

Process Microsoft has developed an effective service process for Xbox One. The organisation has ensured availability of 24/7 customer service process for each and every customer across the globe. The organisation has provided effective importance to customer service aspect in order to gain potential competitive advantages over its competitors. Moreover, introduction of customer loyalty cards can be considered as effective service process implemented by Microsoft Xbox One. Physical Evidence Microsoft maintains similar colours and physical identity of the packages of Xbox One gaming products and accessories.

Moreover, it can be identified that each and every Xbox Store across the globe is arranged and decorated in similar fashion. Moreover, the services that are provided by the in-store executives and customer support across the globe are quite similar. Each and every in-store executive is dressed similarly and the stores maintain similar physical evidence (Davidson, 2006, p.19). It actually proves that Microsoft always maintains similar physical evidence for all kind of services that are provided for Xbox One consumers by Microsoft across the globe.

People People can be considered as employees in this case, Microsoft and several distributers generally recruits and selects skilled, effective and flexible employees who can ensure effective customer service aspect. Effective and skilled research and development team generally helps Microsoft to manufacture high quality Xbox One products. On the other hand, extrovert and open-minded Xbox One store executives always take care of the needs of in-store customers (Haung, 2002, p.8). It actually proves that the employees of the organisation always gain good training to ensure high quality customer service aspect.

Conclusion (Marketing Mix Findings) It is clear from above marketing mix that Microsoft has focused on the quality of the products in order to maintain its competitive position within the global video gaming industry. Targeting people of all ages and all gender groups suggests that the organisation has gone for mass marketing. The organisation has developed and implemented cost based premium pricing strategy for Xbox One. However, the organisation has used all print, digital and online social media networks in order to create significant brand awareness among the target customers.

Xbox One has been marketed by the organisation across the world in order to ensure high market share growth rate. Effective customer service management process and unique physical evidence has helped Xbox One to maintain its leading position in global video gaming industry. References Davidson, A., 2006. Managing web mavens: relationships with sophisticated customers via the internet can transform marketing and speed innovation. Strategy & Leadership, 12(1), p.19. Huang, A., 2002. Keeping secrets in hardware: The Microsoft Xbox case study.

Hardware and Embedded Systems, 29(3), p.8. Jones, K., 2014. Multi-screen Marketing. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Lacher, S., 2004. Analysis of the Marketing Environment for Microsoft Xbox. London: Routledge. O’Brien, J., 2001. The making of the Xbox. Wired-San Francisco, 1(1), p.21. Payne, M., 2014. Redesigning Game Industries Studies. Creative Industries Journal, 8(1), p.4. Raz, G., 2006. A fractals perspective to the joint price/quantity newsvendor model. Management Science, 51(4), p.11. Roth, F., 2005. Business Report: Microsoft Xbox.

New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Takahashi, D., 2002. Opening the Xbox. New York: Springer. Warner, K., 2009. Global Marketing. New Jersey: Pearson.