The reveal of a new console is an opportunity for developers to make an impression on gamers all over the world – for better or worse. At the start of June Sony presented their newest console design for the PlayStation 5 (PS5).
The event saw announcements on new games in a number of franchises, from Spider-Man and Gran Turismo.
Although only time will tell whether Sony’s PlayStation 5 (PS5) will beat Microsoft’s Xbox Series X in terms of consumer adoption, YouGov BrandIndex data suggests that the showcase event on June 11 made a positive impression on consumers. The launch event for PlayStation’s fiercest competitor, Microsoft’s Xbox Series X, is scheduled for July this year.
After the event PlayStation’s BrandIndex scores increased across several metrics. Buzz scores (a net measure of whether consumers have heard anything positive or negative about the brand in the last fortnight) more than tripled from +5.5 on June 10 to +16.7 by June 15, while Word of Mouth Exposure (whether someone has talked about the brand with friends and family in the last two weeks) more than doubled from 8.2% to 21.7%) between the 11th and the 20th.
Similarly Impression scores (a net measure of whether consumers have a positive or negative impression of the brand) increased more than 15 points from +27.1 to +42.8 in the same period, while Ad Awareness (whether someone has seen or heard an advert by the company in the past two weeks) jumped from 5.2% to 21.9% in just seven days.
Sony’s event clearly generated awareness – but more importantly, it has also generated real enthusiasm among consumers. In the space of a few days (June 10 – June 15), customer Consideration jumped by 10 percentage points while Purchase Intent (likelihood a customer will pick a brand as their first choice to purchase from) increased by 8.1 percentage points.
Despite no set price point for the new range of consoles, Value for Money scores rose from +6.8 to +14.9 between the 10 and the 15. Alongside the range of games on offer, this may be due to the fact that Sony debuted two versions of the console: one with a disc drive and another digital-only edition targeted at consumers who want to pay a lower upfront cost.
The event also increased PlayStation’s reputation by 8 points between June 10 and June 15 indicating a successful opening launch from Sony, ready for rival Microsoft’s launch in July.
Image: Sony
This article previously appeared in City A.M.
