Wii Fit - A Brief Look at Nintendo's Marketing Strategy (Pt. Two)

In my last post, I talked in general about the way Nintendo has been marketing the Wii, and in particular, Wii Fit. Today, I'd like to touch on one particular piece of viral marketing that has been making the rounds across the tubes.



A couple weeks ago, this video (titled "Why every guy should buy their girlfriend Wii Fit"), which shows a young woman swinging her hips while playing the hula hoop minigame in Wii Fit, took YouTube by storm. It has since garnered more than 4 million hits.

And really, there's no surprise there. Put up a video of a girl gyrating in her underwear, and it's bound to get lots of views. This is the Internet, we're talking about.

The more surprising aspect is that despite the timing and success of the video (it appeared just after Wii Fit was launched), Nintendo had absolutely nothing to do with the video (or so they claim).

"A Nintendo spokesman said: 'This has and is absolutely 100 per cent nothing to do with Nintendo ... Nintendo did not create it and were not aware of it until it was brought it to our attention.'"

Instead, it appears as though the hit video was the brainchild of Giovanny Gutierrez and Laura Bernat, both of whom conveniently work in the advertising industry -- but absolutely not for Nintendo, they say.


And while they were not paid by Nintendo, they clearly knew what they were doing when they posted the video to YouTube. In an interview with Joystick Division, Gutierrez even refers to it as a "spec viral video", no doubt in hopes that it would get his viral marketing skills noticed by somebody at a real big-time marketing agency.

Still, there's no denying that whether Nintendo had a hand in or not, The Big N is the one laughing all the way to the bank. Gutierrez said:

"I can't tell you how many blog posts and comments I've read that this video convinced them to buy Wii Fit. If we've learned anything from this, it’s that viral YouTube marketing strategies are still extremely effective and powerful."

Definitely an excellent case study in how viral marketing can be effective. The only problem is, the company benefiting from the video had absolutely no say in its creation. Not that Nintendo cares, of course. In fact, unlike a lot of other big corporations (*cough*Viacom*cough*), they're letting the video stay on YouTube, where it will continue to promote their name and product -- and it cost them absolutely nothing.

While they probably wish they had thought of something as effective as this video, at the same time, if you can get your customers to do your advertising for you, why spend more money (not that Nintendo is hard up for cash these days, but that's not the point)?

So, as a marketing company, what are we to do? Should Marketing Breakthroughs showcase clients such as Preston Hardware with a video of bikini clad babes using their BBQs and power tools? Maybe not. But if this video teaches us anything, it's that the most successful viral marketing and web marketing campaigns need to be kept simple. Really simple.

Wii Fit - A Brief Look at Nintendo's Marketing Strategy (Pt. One)

With the launch of The Daily Breakthrough, the staff at Marketing Breakthroughs have been given free reign to sound off on a variety of marketing and advertising topics. Now, first things first -- I'm a pretty big gamer. Practically raised at the teat of Mario (although that's actually a pretty gross mental image ... and for that, I deeply apologize). So, chances are that a few of my posts will focus on my views on the marketing and advertising aspects of the video game industry.

In this first post of a thrilling two-part series, I want to chat about the marketing efforts behind Nintendo's newest hit game, Wii Fit.


Always looking for the latest news from the world of Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, one of my most frequented blogs is Kotaku. This recent editorial by Brian Crecente (Wii Fit: Innovation in Gaming or Marketing?) brings up some very good points about why the Wii, and especially Wii Fit, has been successful.

"As much as I want to believe Nintendo's line, that the Wii in breaking from tradition and cutting a path into the untapped non-gamer, general population, I think what they're really doing is finding ways to attract people to gaming who will rarely stick to it by tapping into the fears of an aging population."

Like Nintendo's other forays into "casual gaming" (such as its Brain Age series on the Nintendo DS), Crecente says that the Wii will soon collect dust, as Nintendo is not necessarily attracting true gamers, but aging boomers looking for an quick way to "get fit". And like so my Thighmasters and Tony Little Gazelles before it, once the consumer gets bored of Wii Fit, it'll be tossed in the closet, never again to see the light of day.


In my experience with the system, there's certainly a novelty factor at play -- it's always amusing to see my friends' parents and grandparents partake in a game of bowling or baseball on Wii Sports. And there's no denying that Wii games and consoles are selling like proverbial hotcakes.

But is Nintendo really doing itself any favours if these non-traditional gamers go out and buy a Wii or Wii Fit because it looked cute, but then never buy another game as long as they own the console?

I've learned that it shouldn't just be about getting the first sale -- it's about developing brand loyalty so you can get sale after sale after sale from the same person. Nintendo seems to have abandoned that line of thought (for the most part ... they still do release a "hardcore" game every once in a while, and for that I am grateful), and while that marketing strategy is helping Nintendo's bottom line right now, it surely can't be good for them -- or the video game industry as a whole -- in the long run. Eventually the market for Wii-curious soccer moms is gonna dry up.

But then again, I doubt they care. They got Grandma to fork over the 250+ bucks, right? Mission accomplished.