Sony plans Website launch to promote PlayStation range
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is to launch a Website to promote its range of PlayStation console games in November, in the run-up to the Christmas period.
The London office of US ad agency Poppe Tyson has begun work on the European-wide project, for an undisclosed sum, after beating competition from five other UK-based Website designers, according to Sony.
Sony, which claims to have sold 1.1 million PlayStation units in the UK since the product’s launch in September 1995, will promote the site launch through a PR campaign. It will also include the site address in a pre-Christmas TV led advertising drive for the brand through TBWA Simons Palmer.
“This is not about interactive online gaming, but promoting our console games over the next couple of years,” says Nick Parker, European strategic marketing director at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.
“It will list all our games titles and where you can get them, along with details of new titles,” says Parker. “Users will not be able to play games online, but they will be able to view video shots and QuickTime movie clips to get a flavour for the games.”
The site will aim to generate traffic by including online competitions and information on youth-oriented spectator and participat ory sports across Europe, aimed at mirroring the content of the est-ablished PlayStation Website in the US.
Poppe Tyson already handles Website design for the American site (www.playstation.com). But the different signal transmission standards used for European TVs, alongside the differing roll-out schedules for games titles in Europe, prompted Sony to invest in a dedicated European site.
