Sony to launch major marketing campaign for PSP next week

Paul Sinclair • Mar 16, 2005 • Comments ()

Sony's goal is to turn the PSP into an "object of desire," says Andrew House, executive vice president at the company's US video game division. To help do the job, Sony will launch a major television advertising campaign starting next week. The company has produced two commercials that feature the hit song "Take Me Out" by rockers Franz Ferdinand.

The Wall Street Journal [paid sub. required] reports: "In one commercial, the camera assumes the point of view of the rectangular PSP screen, showing the gleeful faces of users as they play games, listen to music or watch movies on the device. In another spot, a young man stares at a PSP in his hand as he morphs into a character from a videogame, then into a movie cowboy, a basketball player and a musician. Sony has already started blanketing bus shelters, subway stations and airports in several US cities with PSP ads."

Chiat\Day, the agency that produced the PSP spots as well as previous ones for Sony, also creates Apple's iPod commercials. House declines to say exactly how much Sony is spending on the marketing the PSP, though he says the amount will be "on par" with the marketing budget for the launch of its PlayStation 2 — about $100 million.