Group Assignment #2

Nintendo Switch: a rebuttal from a failure 1

The Nintendo Switch

Alejandro E. Serulle

Instructor Jennifer Martin

Marketing Planning & Strategy

Hult International Business School

Author Note

The report is the work of a single person through personal experience as primary research and

aided by secondary research availble on the World Wide Web.

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Abstract

Nintendo, a well-known entertainment corporation, has an amazing trajectory both with the

quality of their products, and their historic contributions to communities across the world.

Considering the efforts made by the brand it is unpleasing to see the brand experience a decline

in market share and personally (A.S) I would like the company to make a complete recovery

from the damage done instead of simply ignoring it. The report takes the reader through a

journey of their trajectory after explaining what the product is and recommends the use of their

colorful campaign to educate newer generations on recycling in attempt to solidify their

greatness as a sustainable corporation.

Keywords: Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Green Marketing, Wii U, Wii, Sustainability

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The Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch is a console made by Nintendo with the specific use for video games. After

its incredible decline in Market Share with their earlier attempt of a similar product Nintendo

made a rebuttal with this product and once again marked their place in the industry. Although it’s

predecesor was actually enjoyed by a few people they soon learned how negatively it was

affecting their brand to the point not even loyal customers were interested in purchasing the

product; this was a finding of primary research conducted through surveys. The most interesting

fact about the console and its predecessor is how they are hybrid meaning it’s both a home

console and a portable one.

Nintendo’s Trajectory

tendo (The Brand) has an amazing trajectory in the market they run in. First starting as a

trading card company and evolving in the entertainment industry as technology itself evolved

helped the brand’s success in the new market as their quality on their analog-like entertainment

enabled for the brand to focus on adequacy. Previous Success x Adequacy = Future Success.

From developing TDC (Trading Card Games) to Video Games is a huge makeover of the brand

and does not necessarily mean it has a direct correlation between the two even if they are both in

the entertainment industry but creating a solid brand and promoting an innovation is something

we have seen successfully work as a formula for success i.e, Exploding Kittens used the same

formula to propel their startup immensely.

Exploding Kittens1

Exploding Kittens started as a Start Up on kickstarter which asked for contributors to take

part in a $100,000 USD funding to successfully develop their idea and ended receiving up to an

amazing $8.5 million USD. I understand this to fit in the report as the formula the Developers of

NINTENDO 4

Exploding Kittens is in a way similar to the way the Nintendo company transcended from analog

to digital. Exploding Kittens created an excellent marketing plan not only by elaborating a

simple 2 minute video explaining what their product is but also by collaborating with

influencers. Exploding Kittens decided to use a well-known illustrator with an established fan

base for their design of the cards used in the table game. The fans of the illustrator, already

loving the artist’s design, started the snowball of donations with intention of supporting the

illustrator on a monetized product which they would thoroughly enjoy having and including their

friends in something they already like.

Market Share

Nintendo’s market segment consists of mostly male adults from ages 19-34 while also

including family friendly alternatives to younger audiences. Although they are mostly male

based it does not mean they do not cater for girly alternatives, but they do understand their

products are uni-sex as in their most popular games they let you choose your gender when

creating a character without introducing much change to the game as a way of providing all

players with the same gaming experience. Geographically they distribute to every continent

through Authorized Resellers or Brand Owned Shops while also having no region lock on their

product enables the customer to buy and use anywhere in the world due to their great legal

standing Worldwide. Furthermore, it is impressive how the brand has managed to locate

themselves in the market with amazing stunts in the past through campaigns like “Bring your

dog to the shop and get a freebie” (this freebie being the newly released nintendogs) and even

more impressively paying a U.K TV presenter $100,000 GBP to dye his mustache purple, the

classic color of their previous generation console.

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Disruptive Innovations.

After positioning themselves in the market Nintendo has always been the most disruptive

of its competitors introducing new technologies to the masses and serving for guidance to the

industry’s participants by providing history of what customers enjoy. Being the first to carry out

motion sensors in gaming, an opposite approach to the current wants of video game players who

prefer to immerse themselves in the game with a simple controller. Nintendo was also the first to

introduce Joy Cons which later developed to having motion sensing technologies.

A small problem for a big brand a big problem for a small segment.

Although Nintendo has been around for such a long time gracefully enjoying continuous

success, failing once might not impact heavily their brand’s trajectory but it has affected greatly a

small segment of a generation which grew up not having the trajectory in mind and resorted to

even humiliating users which owned the infamous Wii U. This segment should not be ignored as

small as it might be they will become parents and pass their perspective to their children.

What can Nintendo do to recover?

From a Marketing perspective I present the following strategy: Nintendo should use their

already colourful campaigns and evolve into creating a meaning behind them. Nintendo has

before and to this day avidly support the recycling industry. Nintendo, based in Japan which they

gracefully commend by introducing their products first as a way of giving back to the

community which is a great example of CSR. To reach the “Forgotten” market segment which

they have decided to ignore as a way of erasing the dreadful history they got from the product I

recommend the brand to create a visible recycling campaign.

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Marketing Strategy:

In summary I recommend Nintendo to elaborate a marketing campaign for recycling as I

mentioned before. The before mentioned can be done by introducing the campaign in places

where they can use newer technologies to their advantages i.e., U.K and Japan. The marketing

campaign would consist of creating wristbands to users of the product which enables them to

create a recycling history through elaborated recycling bins as seen in places like Metros around

the world where with enough plastic recycled by a user, they get a free pass. They should use

their colourful campaigns and product to propel awareness of this campaign by making the

recycling bins with traditional or widely recognized Nintendo colours. The wristband would be

kid friendly and enjoyed by adults too (directly or indirectly through encouragement of their

offspring’s participation). In result the brand will garner goodwill among bystanders and could

reward collaborators with freebies as they have done in the past. The freebies can range from

video games to wallpapers, ringtones, and more.

Why did their predecessor fail after the company having such an amazing trajectory?.

One would think a brand sometimes is too big to fail and does not matter Well, it could be how

technology was not advanced enough for what they had intended to but it could also be partly

fault of their marketing. They introduced a campaign that read “New Console, New Controller”

but in all honesty nothing was new about it nor the console nor the controller. They had seemed

to forget that when a console is introduced in the market the changes the industry expects are

pretty big unlike phones which come out yearly a console brand like Nintendo, Sony or Xbox

takes 5 to 8 years on average to introduce their latest model. So when increasing customer’s

expecation or more like trying to meet them the campaign the marketing team came up with of

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“New Console, New Controller” seemed like a farce as it had only one innovative thing to

appreciate and nothing more. The Wii U console was the same as the Wii but weighed more and

seemed as if they had just permanently attached a controller and a screen to the same Wii but

making it even bigger and unpleasing to the eye for the newer generations who prefer

minimalistic design. Also the features the installed software provided were the same as its

predecessor creating almost no change on the user interface and providing them with a prototype

like idea which was not bad in itself because it served as a basis for their latest product but risked

their place. Nonetheless, Nintendo being the brand that it is can totally make up for previous

mistakes as they have proved even with their reintroduction of the console but should still

attempt to create satisfaction for those who they let down recently.

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References

Ashcraft, B. (2017, January 31). Wii U Production Has Officially Ended For Japan [Update].

Retrieved June 04, 2021, from https://kotaku.com/wii-u-production-has-officially-ended-

for-japan-1791813878

Fri, 0. (2002, October 04). Lynam dyes Moustache for Mario. Retrieved June 04, 2021, from

https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-30071161.html

Janewells, S. (2016, September 28). How 'exploding kittens' blew up into a fortune. Retrieved

June 04, 2021, from https://www.cnbc.com/2016/09/28/how-exploding-kittens-blew-up-

into-a-fortune.html

Kuchera, B. (2014, August 05). The Wii u name is still hurting Nintendo. Retrieved June 04,

2021, from https://www.polygon.com/2014/8/5/5970787/wii-u-nintendo-bad-name

Makuch, E. (2017, January 17). Nintendo exec on the two reasons Why switch won't struggle

like Wii u did. Retrieved June 04, 2021, from

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-exec-on-the-two-reasons-why-switch-wont-

s/1100-6446987/

Ohannessian, K. (2017, January 19). With Nintendo's switch game Console, new ideas create

new experiences. Retrieved June 04, 2021, from

https://www.fastcompany.com/3067343/nintendo-switch

Purchese, R. (2011, June 07). Project cafe BECOMES Wii U. Retrieved June 04, 2021, from

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-06-07-nintendo-unveils-project-cafe-at-e3

Romero, I. (2016, March 02). Every single way the Nintendo Wii u failed. Retrieved June 04,

2021, from https://twinfinite.net/2016/03/every-single-way-the-nintendo-wii-u-failed/

Wingfield, N. (2016, October 20). Nintendo switch reaches for a new market WITH Home-and-

mobile console. Retrieved June 04, 2021, from

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/21/technology/nintendo-switch-game-console.html

Written by Douglas Broom, S. (n.d.). In Rome you can swap plastic bottles for metro tickets.

Retrieved June 04, 2021, from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/08/rome-recycling-

plastic-bottles-subway-fare/

Keynes, M. (2018, November 29). Nintendo will take number one spot from Sony in 2019 game

console market, says Strategy Analytics. Retrieved June 04, 2021, from

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181129005477/en/Nintendo-Will-Take-

Number-One-Spot-From-Sony-In-2019-Game-Console-Market-Says-Strategy-Analytics

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Tables

Table 1

Competitor Analysis

Market

Participants

Storage Graphics Portability Age

Demographics

Nintendo Switch

32gb

1080p

Great

All Ages

Xbox

1,024gb

4k

Bad

Adults

PlayStation

1,024gb

4k

Bad

Adults

Note: Although the Nintendo Switch is not superior in graphics or storage capacity, they are the

most welcoming product for families and therefore participate in a bigger market segment with

great position. Also, the portability they provide is far superior to any of its competitors and

makes them have a sustainable advantage in the market as many consumers are constantly on the

move having such advantage is a decisive factor when choosing what product to purchase.

Furthermore, although increases the price of the product, extra storage can be purchased for the

Nintendo Switch.

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SWOT ANALYSIS:

Figure 1. This figure demonstrates the mentioned strengths of the brand while also introducing

the threats the brand experiences for the first time.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4

Series 1 Series 2 Series 3

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PESTLE ANALYSIS:

Figure 2. The PESTLE analysis demonstrates the brand’s standing rather than information on the

single product. Here we can appreciate environmental advances they currently employ in the

company and serves as correlation with the marketing strategy recommended above.

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MARKET SEGMENTATION:

Figure 3. Market Segmentation: Here the graphic demonstrates an appropiate segmentation of

Nintendo’s clients. Dividing in four subcategories for better understanding of the clients’

standings.

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MARKET SHARE:

Figure 4. In this figure we can see the impressive decline in market share with their infamous

Wii U. At the same time we can see how they have recovered and successfully marked their

place once again in the industry of Home Gaming Devices.