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(1) Set a Marketing Objective. (2) Design a Marketing Communications Strategy using the ‘Promotional Mix‘.

Marketing Objective

Nintendo has a strong corporate identity as one of the world’s biggest video game developer. But for the UK market, the company needs to translate its corporate identity into a strong brand value through creating a strong brand association, resonance, consonance, and inclusivity.

The first objective of this marketing campaign is to communicate Nintendo’s corporate values, culture and identity in order to increase its brand value. Four aspects are crucial for brand equity – brand awareness, association, perceived quality, and customer loyalty (Pappu et al, 2005). Of these, Nintendo largely capitalizes on the awareness and loyalty earned by the ‘Mario’ brand – Nintendo’s most famous but very old IP (Intellectual Property). The campaign will put a spotlight on ‘Nintendo’ and answer for it ‘who we are’- by means of narrating the glorious past and present of the company, its rich history and journey till date.

Graeff (1996) notes ‘personal identification’ as an affinity that consumers have towards a brand. Increasing brand association which addresses the ‘you and us’ company-customer relationship is thus the second objective. This will be achieved by building a direct and interactive communication model – to connect with the customers, stakeholders and employees of the company. Since Nintendo is not headquartered in UK, neither has any major tie-ups with local studios, given the non-traditional and dynamic nature of the industry, exposing the consumers to a company’s work culture aids an atmosphere of trust, transparency and reliability.

Keller (1998) puts ‘brand resonance’ at the top of the CBBE Brand Equity pyramid model. Therefore, answering ‘what we do’ forms the third marketing objective. Once an emotional and cultural connect is made with the UK audience, Nintendo should focus on creating a strong resonance through competitive pricing, and other creative marketing strategies which increase visibility and create a high brand recall value. Nintendo has been a forerunner in ‘nostalgic marketing’ as we learnt from the Pokémon Go mania, despite “none of the elements that contribute to the phenomenon …. are particularly new.” (B Keogh, 2017). The UK market has always been least receptive to Nintendo products. The aim is to remind the audience of their journey with Nintendo and its products and create an emotional bond through nostalgic marketing.

Laurie and Mortimer (2011) define ‘consonance’ as a ‘unified message offered to consumers from all fronts of the organization’. Bailey (2015) emphasizes that ‘consonance’ indeed is the alignment of all touch points of a corporate identity. The aim of the fourth marketing objective is to convey the ‘present and future’ of the company – Nintendo’s experiments with latest technologies, stories of employees, work space and culture, challenges and perks, and what the future may hold.

Maintaining a ‘consistent message’ as part of an integrated marketing (Kitchen and Burgmann, 2015) plan is the fifth and final marketing objective of the campaign. Given the unconventional and dynamic nature of an ever-booming video gaming industry, it is particularly imperative for companies today to implement a “…strategic co-ordination of all messages and media” (Duncan and Everett, 1993).

Promotional Mix

The promotional mix by Louis and David (2011) cites certain promotional variables selected by marketers to reach their objective. Inclusive, innovative, incredible – are the three aspects of Nintendo it needs to emphasize in the UK market.

Building a Corporate Identity

The aim of this marketing objective is to emphasize upon the brand identity of Nintendo, which until now hugely relies on its popular brands like Mario and Pokemon Go. Nintendo needs to break away from its past identity.

Live Chat Sessions – Since Nintendo doesn’t have an office in UK, holding regular chat sessions with the company employees is the best way to expose the consumer to the company’s culture. Nintendo should take this opportunity to accomplish two objectives. First, is not only to solve customer queries and receive feedback, but to actively engage with the consumer and ask for suggestions and their experience of using Nintendo. Second, is to familiarize the consumers with Nintendo’s work culture and work space. The chat sessions should be unscripted and non-static – where company representatives move around and about Nintendo’s work space to allow the audience a glimpse of the real, physical world Nintendo operates out of, to cover the ‘physical environment’ aspect of the 7Ps of marketing mix (Booms & Bitner, 1981).

Advertising – Nintendo’s vision is to exploit the non-traditional gaming market, increase its demographic base, and focus on a hardcore gaming experience. In this context, and building on the success of the advertising for Switch, Nintendo’s future advertising should aim to clearly spell out the company’s mission – to build an ‘innovative, inclusive, incredible’ gaming experience for its audience. The advertisement should particularly highlight Nintendo’s technologies and advanced level of gaming, and appeal to a wider range of consumers.

Social Media – A common complaint is about the lack of communication from Nintendo during the long waits between order-and-supply (Brian Crecente, 2016). During periods of uncertainty, Nintendo should use social media to communicate the status updates. By building an impressive LinkedIn profile with a strong customer engagement by way of sharing regular company updates and events, Nintendo can fill the communication void.

Creating Brand Association

This is where the ‘place’ aspect of the marketing mix plays a role. Of all its regional markets in Europe, US, and Japan, Nintendo performs the weakest in UK. Analyst Piers Harding-Rolls (Christopher Dring, 2018) deliberates that this may be due to the absence of any homegrown game character (IP), such as Harry Potter, which resonates with the local target audience. Also, unlike other major competitors, the Nintendo office is not headquartered in the UK. It is therefore imperative for Nintendo to create a unique, intimate user-experience to engage with the local culture.

Interactive Workshops – The modern office – the central point of all communication between Nintendo and its UK audience. This idea builds upon the series of workshops conducted in UK to provide a ‘family-friendly space to experiment with Nintendo Labo’ (Nintendo, 2018). A small but vibrant workshop, set up in a permanent location, has the potential to become the hub of all Nintendo activities in UK. Besides educating about Nintendo gaming techniques, the workshops would be equipped with customer service desks to engage and receive feedback from customers.

Homegrown Character – The ‘Super Marios’ film is slated to release in 2019. Nintendo’s strongest brands – Mario, Zelda and Pokemon – are old, and do not resonate as widely with the prevalent youth culture. Either by way of creating a new character, or by reviving an old character – Nintendo should present a relatable experience for the consumers, which is also fun.

YouTube Review – Nintendo not only continues to attract negative publicity due to its outdated Youtube content sharing policy, but by doing so, effectively locks itself out of the interactions within the gaming community. Its ‘Creators Program’ is regressive, as Paul Tassi (2015) observes that ‘…Nintendo Updates Their Bad YouTube Policies By Making Them Worse.’ The falloff with Youtube star PewDiePie reflects poorly on the ‘friendly’ image expected from an entertainment company. Self-brand congruity (Aaker, 1997) refers to a consumer’s preference for a brand whose ‘personality’ is compatible with their own. Therefore, building creative tie-ups with popular Youtube video game reviewers will help Nintendo connect with the youth better.

Creating Brand Resonance

Competitive Pricing – This is where the ‘price’ aspect of the marketing mix comes into play. Despite its bundle pricing strategy, Nintendo has been criticized for its ‘very limited price point discounts’ (Piers Harding-Rolls, 2019). In the context of an economic turmoil following the Brexit vote, Nintendo should explore avenues to offer competitive pricing strategy for its products. This can be achieved through different types of discounts suitable for an e-shop (FutureMargin, 2017), like customer value discounts, seasonal discounts, lucrative bundle discounts, or free shipping.

Clean Graffiti – Human personality traits which can also be attributed to brands constitute a ‘brand personality’ (Azoulay and Kapferer, 2003). Nintendo and graffiti, both share the attributes of youth, fun adventure, and rebellion. Nintendo can use the strong visual medium of graffiti to create a local association of the audience with the brand – either by painting iconic artwork on landmarks, or by organizing graffiti contests that engage with the Nintendo brands. Clean graffiti is more conscious, as it uses dirty spaces to create artwork, consequently creating a clean and vibrant space.

Flash Mob – A flash mob is a sudden assembly and performance art by a mass gathering in a public place followed by their quick dispersal. A flash mob resonates with the character of young and fun – ideal for Nintendo’s marketing strategy. It is regarded a part of guerrilla marketing (Jay Conrad Levinson, 1984). The flash mobs should be organized at key locations in the city wherein the performers use the Nintendo gadgets as props – an event marketing strategy to highlight the ‘portable’ feature of Nintendo gadgets.

Merchandise – Usable items like watches, helmet, clothes, shoes, and stationary are ideal for creating a merchandise collection which suits the brand image. Merchandising (Grace Kunz, 1998) as mass marketing of Intellectual Property (IP) is best suited for an entertainment company like Nintendo. This merchandising strategy aims to weigh in on the customer loyalty of established brands like Mario, Zelda and Pokemon. Creative tie-ups with local retail outlets for showcasing the merchandise will also aid in improving Nintendo’s local physical presence in UK.

Brand Consonance

Advertising – Nintendo is clear about its target audience as a hardcore gamer. In the backdrop of the recent rise of feminism, it is equally important to make advertising inclusive. Ads should highlight the increasing visibility of female gamers and the advanced gaming experience provided by Nintendo.

Press Releases – In terms of supply, Nintendo is known for ‘silence’ during the ‘long waits’. Following the wait during the July launch of NES Classic Edition in America, a “…substantial grey market bubbled up in the vacuum created by Nintendo’s silence…” (Brian Crecente, 2016). In an era of instant marketing, making clients wait for their purchase, and lack of communication during delays, are big marketing mistakes. In the future, Nintendo should ensure proactively announce any updates or publish press releases regarding product status.

Championships – Annual video gaming championships are a rage in the gaming community. In this light, Nintendo World Championships should be a consistent event which capitalizes on the global gaming mania. The event increases customer engagement not only by way of rewarding winners and creating a thrilling gaming experience, but it could extend into a meeting point for gamers, developers and publishers to exchange ideas and experiences related to Nintendo.

Integrated Marketing

In-house Competitions – Creating a rich employee engagement is crucial to Integrated Marketing. Conducting regular in-house gaming championships between Nintendo employees is the best way to allow the employees to enjoy the product experience, as also build a healthy work culture.

School Tie Ups Collaborations – There exists a tie-up between Nintendo and KidZania to publicize the use of Nintendo Labo. Schools are looking at alternative education – new, innovative and fun ways of learning. Nintendo could collaborate with schools and use their expertise to build an interactive curriculum for students.

Theme Park and Museum Collaborations – Nintendo’s first ‘Super Nintendo Theme Park’ is all set to open in America and Japan. To reach its European consumers in a similar way, Nintendo could collaborate with already established theme parks to make available some of its Nintendo theme-rides within the parks. Augmented Reality is also a hit with the museums, who are utilizing this technology to revive culture from the past. Nintendo could have creative tie-ups with the museums and use the pace to exhibit some Nintendo’s earliest experiments with Augmented Reality.

Studio Collaborations – Nintendo doesn’t have any major tie-ups with any local studios in UK. To increase its own gaming network, Nintendo should look for creative tie-ups with gaming studios which are not only aimed at game development, but at a rich cultural exchange relationship, wherein Nintendo could gain information and insights into the psyche of a gamer from UK.

REFERENCES

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