Sony PS3: VP of First Person Shooter Relations
Posted by scottjduffy on April 14, 2010
It’s taken a while, but I’m really starting to dig the Sony PS3 ad campaigns that are currently going on.
They feature an actor playing a VP at Sony. It started talking about price cuts, but has moved on to include relationship advice for frustrated girlfriends who are not getting enough attention from their boyfriends, or frustrated boyfriends who are wondering what to do with their girlfriend who thinks they are watching a movie when in fact he’s playing a game.
The VP in question, Kevin Butler, always has a different job title in each ad, usually relating to the punchline of the commercial message. He’s been VP of Blu-Ray Superiority, VP of Epic Footage, and my favorite – VP of First Person Shooter Relations. This was taken from his Wikipedia page, which of course he has.
All in all, its a clever concept. And funny. Where other companies have attempted something similar, this campaign has come off being fairly well executed across the traditional television media channel, and there are definitely enough versions of the commercial so that you don’t feel overloaded with the same commercial over and over.
Included is a fairly funny Twitter account @TheKevinButler. I’m following him even. He interacts with fans, responds to questions, and is definitely not a one-way broadcast of marketing messages. He mixes in mentions of Sony products (God of War), with odd Jack Handy style reflections of life: naming devilled eggs after the devil is apparently unfair to the devil no matter how bad the devil actually is.
Additionally, Sony (or their ad company) has released videos only for online distribution. This is another way they are catering to online fans (who are the target market for the PS3 anyways) and making the commercial more than just a passive experience and turning it into something people search for online.
I’m not sure if it’s officially sanctioned, but of course a Facebook fan page has spawned with several thousand fans of Sony’s Kevin Butler.
All in all, its a very good television commercial with online elements. I wish more companies executed their ideas as well as this.
