The Wii: Nintendo's Video Game Revolution
Case Study – The Wii: Nintendo’s Video Game Revolution
Problem Statement:
Mr. George Harrison, senior vice president of marketing for Nintendo of America has to create a plan to manage product shortages as part of marketing campaign for the 2007 holiday season.
Situation Analysis: Objective and Goals * To deliver sufficient product supply to the market (distributors, then retailers and down to consumers) before the 2007 holiday rush
Background
Nintendo came into existence in 1889 in Kyoto, Japan. The company is basically a manufacturer of games and toys. It started with producing handmade paying cards, and then ventured into toys and games after World War II. In 1970, it shifted from traditional toys to electronic entertainment products. The company began designing home video gaming consoles and arcade games for arcade centres, shopping malls, and taverns. When computer market emerged in 1983, most console manufacturers did not survive the business and withdrew from the market either through bankruptcy or by diverting their attention to their other product lines. Despite this decline in home video gaming market, Nintendo still pursued the home video gaming console and made its own Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The company also changed the video games from the usual structure of violence to games that have themes of “good and evil, honour and disgrace, beauty and horror.” The company has experienced several challenges especially during the rise of the home computer market. Nintendo was slow to tap the opportunity of home computer games until such time in 1995 that Sony introduced PlayStation console, then followed by Microsoft’s Xbox. Since Nintendo could not topple Sony and Microsoft within the market of core gamers, it decided to expand its target market to non-core gamers. It started to develop new uses for handheld console DS (e.g. DS is used in Japan to teach English through special character recognition software). Wii was also launched
Problem Statement:
Mr. George Harrison, senior vice president of marketing for Nintendo of America has to create a plan to manage product shortages as part of marketing campaign for the 2007 holiday season.
Situation Analysis: Objective and Goals * To deliver sufficient product supply to the market (distributors, then retailers and down to consumers) before the 2007 holiday rush
Background
Nintendo came into existence in 1889 in Kyoto, Japan. The company is basically a manufacturer of games and toys. It started with producing handmade paying cards, and then ventured into toys and games after World War II. In 1970, it shifted from traditional toys to electronic entertainment products. The company began designing home video gaming consoles and arcade games for arcade centres, shopping malls, and taverns. When computer market emerged in 1983, most console manufacturers did not survive the business and withdrew from the market either through bankruptcy or by diverting their attention to their other product lines. Despite this decline in home video gaming market, Nintendo still pursued the home video gaming console and made its own Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The company also changed the video games from the usual structure of violence to games that have themes of “good and evil, honour and disgrace, beauty and horror.” The company has experienced several challenges especially during the rise of the home computer market. Nintendo was slow to tap the opportunity of home computer games until such time in 1995 that Sony introduced PlayStation console, then followed by Microsoft’s Xbox. Since Nintendo could not topple Sony and Microsoft within the market of core gamers, it decided to expand its target market to non-core gamers. It started to develop new uses for handheld console DS (e.g. DS is used in Japan to teach English through special character recognition software). Wii was also launched
References: Perreault Jr., William D., Jerome E. McCarthy, Lindsay Meredith, eds. 2007. Basic Marketing: A Global Management Approach, 12th Canadian Edition. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson. The University of Western Ontario. Richard Ivey School of Business. 2011. Ivey. The Wii: Nintendo’s Video Game Revolution. United States of America: McGraw-Hill Companies.