Wii U Marketing Misses the Mark
Excitement. Jubilation. Anticipation.
Those are just a few of the words that described my kids when they opened their new Wii U on Christmas morning. Within no time, they had me unboxing it and climbing behind our television to get it hooked up and charging up the remote controls. They could not wait to begin playing Mario Cart 8 in true HD….and I admit I was little excited too.
We were all expecting the Wii U to be ready to go like our old Wii system. That system was up and running right out of the box. The Wii U, however, was a little more involved. But the experience started off very nicely.
Once I managed to get everything plugged in and charged, I followed the clearly laid out Wii U setup instructions. They made it very easy to understand with their quick start guide that is much like an infographic. I used the game console command center that mirrors what you see on the television screen and in no time at all, I was walking through their onscreen, step-by-step prompts to configure our wireless internet connection, sync the remotes, set our time zone, etc. All this was done and complete in less than 10 minutes, all the while with the Wii U playing soothing music in the background. We thought we would be up and racing with Mario in moments!
Then we got the dreaded, “Please Wait While We Update Your Software” message, complete with a download status bar and estimated time remaining. The estimated download time was 1-1/2 hours. Our excitement suddenly hit a brick wall. There was nothing we could do, even calling Wii U Customer service was not an option as they did not provide a phone number. We were stuck with having to wait….and wait….and wait until the update was downloaded.
Once the update was downloaded, it took another 30 minutes to install the update on the Wii U. At this point, the soothing music was definitely grating on my nerves. Fortunately, I was able to switch over and watch A Christmas Story on TNT and still monitor download status on the Wii U command console.
Finally, a full three hours after the great unboxing, we were ready to play. But, one has to wonder why Wii U ships without initial software updates already installed. While the initial setup is a great experience and very easy, to then have to wait for two hours for software to update and install spoils the entire experience. And, it will make me think twice before purchasing another Wii gaming system.
How to Use This Information
I am sure there are reasons that Wii U does not ship with all the necessary software. However, in making those decisions, Nintendo misses the mark when it comes to experiential marketing. All too often, companies overlook the post-purchase experience. Once you buy, they figure they’ve got you. But, taking a little more time and effort to ensure a great post-purchase experience is critical, especially if an organization intends to create repeat business.
At Webolutions Digital Marketing Agency, we continually study trends in experiential marketing. We can help make extraordinary experiences for your customers that make them want to tell others. Call us today at 303-300-2640 to learn more.
