Sony PlayStation marketer promoted to head of division

Sony PlayStation’s marketing manager Geoff Glendenning has been promoted to become the department’s head of marketing.

The promotion means he will report directly to the managing director for PlayStation, Ray Maguire.

The new post comes in recognition of the work Glendenning has done since the successful console was launched last September. The Sony PlayStation has sold 500,000 since its launch in the UK and 8.8 million worldwide. Its direct rival, the Sega Saturn, has sold about 100,000 in the UK.

Glendenning was instrumental in extending the appeal of the console by positioning it as a trendy youth accessory. This was done by putting the console in clubs, music stores, and linking it with bands. As a result, Sony’s console buyers range in age from 12-to-30 years, while rival Sega’s core consumers are in the eight-to-15 age group, according to each company. Former market leader Nintendo will launch a new console called N64 with twice the capacity of its rivals on March 1 next year.

Glendenning was known to dislike last year’s SAP ads devised by Simons Palmer Clemmow Johnson and was closely involved in the direction of this year’s advertisements by the same agency.