Nintendo of America Spent Big on Switch TV Advertising in March

I hope they keep in mind from now on that advertising is actually important.

Got to spend money to make money. Word of mouth worked for the Wii because that system sold itself.

The Superbowl ad is the only one I saw on tv. I saw a bunch of internet ads but I assumed that was mostly because I spend so much time on sites like this.

It's great to see Nintendo making the right moves. This Christmas is going to put the Switch past the Wii!

Meanwhile, Nintendo of Ireland, if such a thing ever were to exist, spent €0. Still haven't seen a single Switch ad on TV.

So glad Nintendo is actually advertising this machine. It was so stupid seeing countless Playstation ads on big channels, with Nintendo confining its advertising to the ghetto of children's TV.

@Spoony_Tech Back then I still watched TV that had commercials. I saw tons of Wii commercials. While I only watch Netflix now, I have seen a lot of Switch commercials when I go to the movies and I even saw one the other day on a local full size billboard (one of the digital ones that changes ads)...that one shocked me.

I'm glad that they've finally learned how to advertise but they forgot the crucial step... They have to make the product available to purchase if they want to achieve maximum effectiveness.

I've seen Switch literally everywhere here in London. On the underground, several bus stops, tv and on the cover of a magazine I left with my line manager at work. Nintendo went big this time and it even led to some newspapers talking it up too. And none of this is factoring the number of online ads I saw.

NoA has some really strange demographic targeting. They seem to attach all their very limited advertising to sporting events. You guys are saying they have learned how to advertise, I'm not sure that is true. Sports fans don't strike me as the type to watch the game then go play some Zelda.

I live in indiana and have seen switch ads on tv like crazy.

I don't see the New 2DS XL generating any hype, not sure why that was even included, but Switch is doing a good job of promoting itself. NL should have a poll, how many Switch owners have talked someone else into buying a Switch? Or at least looking for one, they are hard to come by.

And yes, Wii U marketing would have been nice, seems like Switch had more ads in 1 month than Wii U had in 4 years, but Wii U was following Wii, which sold itself, they miscalculated and thought Wii U would do the same. Had Wii U sold 80m they likely wouldn't be spending any money on Switch. So it's good too see they learned something.

Personally I've seen several Switch Ads. Both online and on tv.

@Alshain01 Sporting events is the target demographic - for early adopters who buy systems for themselves at launch. Kids will get one when their parents say so, teens when they become popular, women, well whatever I say will get me in trouble, but young adult males are the ones with disposable income. It's why sports on TV is 50% car commercials.

And besides, Nintendo is putting ads on all the kids channels, it's the last point.

@Alshain01 Considering Switch's #1 region is NA, I'd say NoA is doing a good targeting job. The sports events seems weird to me considering that seems like the XBox crowd to me, but it's doing something right.

@Amsterdamsters They have commercials at movies now? Granted it's been over a decade since I've last been to the movies ($15 + $10 for lousy popcorn and some kid kicking my chair, or sitting at home with my nice projector, hmm hard choice...) but are you KIDDING me?

@Spoony_Tech Wii never sold itself. They bombarded ads at first (Remember the "Wii want to play!" commercials with Japanese business men in suits randomly showing up at some soccer mom's door? (Franky that commercial was plain weird, but it worked.) Only after that did it become an exercise fad that sold because it was an exercise fad, not a games console. Which is also why the console suddenly stopped selling a few years into its life. Nintendo stopped advertising he game console and assumed that all the "exercise fad" people were really "new gamers" that would transition from Wii Fit and Wii Bowling to Metroid Prime overnight.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Nintendo UK is still incompetent, the sun still rises in the East, and water is still wet. What else is new?

So advertising creates sales.... Take note Nintendo.

I just saw another commercial the other day. I like the "show it don't say it" way they are advertising combined with music that doesn't try to do too much, yet keeps you going through the ad. I think this marketing is good, but I believe also they need to branch out into other demos as well. They don't have to spend top dollar in ALL demos, but continue to spread the word and most of all, as the games keep coming, be sure to advertise them. Advertising the hardware will be good for the remainder of the year, but advertising just the Switch alone won't carry into 2018. But overall, I feel they are at least on the right track.

My son watches a lot of Teen Titans and see Switch commercials constantly

@SLIGEACH_EIRE I think you might be right in that Nintendo of Ireland doesn't exist.

If they would of only advertised the Wii U...

Wonder how much that giant digital billboard in Times Square is costing them.

@rjejr
I don't see the New 2DS XL generating any hype

I've seen some excitement, just... mainly from a few Nintendo fans here and there. I'm sure it'll do well enough, but the 3DS ship is sailing as we speak... 240p clamshell handhelds just don't impress anymore. Switch does. That's where the hype is (don't take me wrong, I love 3DS, but you know what I'm talking about- most people will shrug their shoulders nowadays if you show them a 3DS, but show them a Switch and you'll get an entirely different reaction, which half the time results in them stalking websites for stock).

It's 2017. Handhelds which remove features from already existing handhelds typically aren't that exciting.

@Fooligan
Eh, it probably wouldn't have made much of a difference. The system just didn't have a concept that appealed to people. Advertising wouldn't have changed that. It may have done marginally better (doubtful it could have reached GameCube numbers) but at a considerable cost.

They done well advertising here in London. Bus stops. Underground. Bill boards. 100% more than the Wii u.

@Amsterdamsters The sad thing though is the Wii sold itself. It didn't need advertising. Word of mouth sent that thing into the record books. Nintendo thought that was going to happen again with the Wii U and look what happened.

Nintendo of America has been doing great in promotion and overall awareness of the Switch. I've seen numerous commercials for it during a wide variety of programs and it has sponsored "SportsCenter" on ESPN. Also the tie in promotions with McDonald's Happy Meals and Target/Mario Kart, it seems Nintendo is everywhere. People I know are talking about Nintendo again and being excited about Nintendo again after skipping the entire Wii U era.

@NEStalgia Except Water isn't wet haha

Switch ads are some of the best and it shows. They have clearly had a big effect on sales.

So Nintendo CAN be taught!

Wii U: Why advertise? It's called Wii. It will sell itself.
Headline: Customer confusion leads no one to buy Wii U cuz they thought it was a Wii add on and they don't play their Wii's anymore.

Switch: Better advertise.
Headline: Switch sells great!

@NEStalgia People involved in sports like competition. There were some interesting results from mobile gaming research I was looking at once where big "whale" spenders enjoyed competition... and not just sports watchers, but players liked to spend a lot of money on video games (even pumping absurd amounts into mobile games like clash of clans). Makes sense when you think about it.

On top of this, I think a big draw for Nintendo Switch is that local multiplayer anywhere advantage. That appeals to competitive people of all types and it's one feature it has that no competitor comes close on.

As long as they keep it up I'm happy. Marketing fell asleep with the wiiu and it was very painful...this is feeling more like the wii in terms of marketing.

Thats for sure! I got the Believer song stuck in my head after hearing it so many times.

I live in LA and have seen a ton of ads on Comedy Central and specifically during South Park.

In the UK I mainly watch Netflix so I haven't seen any tv ads. On YouTube it's constant, but that's perhaps because I'm always watching stuff about Nintendo games.

Seen a few TV ads, and even some news stories about the launch and sales records. Not sure if those were sponsored or not but either way, it does get people's attention.

The content of the Switch ads were also really clear and concise, whereas the Wii U concept was harder to explain and sell in a 30 second ad.

@aaronsullivan Hmm, interesting thought.

Though I do worry at times they're going to focus too much on that "competition" aspect of the Switch and leave behind folks like me who aren't competitive and would rather have cerebral experiences.

(Unless it's Splatoon in which case I WILL DEVOUR YOUR SOUL. Ahem. I mean I do rather prefer non-competitive games....)

@electrolite77 Personally I find it surreal to believe that people actually still watch TV....

Considering the Wii U got pretty much no marketing, it's good to know Nintendo is actually trying to make this thing succeed.

It definitely worked.

Makes you wonder what Nintendo was even thinking, from day 1, in regards to Wii U. From every angle tbh

@JaxonH You don't honestly believe that. 😢 Do you bro? I know you loved the Wii U more than most people here. You can't deny it had some of the best games Nintendo has made, so good in fact a lot of people are asking for Wii U ports to the Switch.

I think if Nintendo threw down as much money for the Wii U as they are for the Switch and advertised where people will actually see instead of just slapping on the Wii name and saying "this is going to sell 10 million in a year just on the Wii branding alone". We probably wouldn't have had that drought last year and be lookin forward to more Wii U games this year.

Also, how can people decide a system doesn't appeal to them if they don't even know it exist because there is zero advertising for it. 😜

@Fooligan
Of course I loved it. Still do.

But you have to look at things through the perspective of the average consumer. When I would show people what a Wii U was, they weren't really impressed. They just saw a console that did nothing particularly special. Had a gamepad which was a unique concept, but that didn't really appeal to people. It was sub-HD and it was clunky and it had a limited range of 20 or 30 feet. I thoroughly enjoyed it- but it just wasn't something that grabbed people and made them want to buy the system.

When a person sees the Switch their interest is piqued right off the bat. The fact the entire console is almost the size of a 3DS yet runs games better than the last Nintendo home console... that impresses people. Having detachable controllers and a kickstand impresses people. The aesthetics of the system impresses people. Docking the system and seamlessly switching between a competent home console and uber-powerful handheld impresses people. I never saw that with Wii U, not once, and believe me I told everyone I knew about the system. In 5 years I convinced one person to buy a Wii U- and he was probably going to do that anyways because he was a huge Monster Hunter fan and MH3U released. Switch has been on the market for two months and I already have three people that have bought one after speaking to them about it.

Don't confuse what I'm saying- I do love the Wii U and always have. But surely you can understand why it didn't sell... and the problem wasn't advertising.

@JaxonH I think WiiU was the wrong product at the wrong time. Had it launched, say, when the GCN, or even the Wii launched, I think it would have been much better received. It tried taking the lessons (and market) of the Wii/DS into the post-tablet/phone world, on a console that took the lessons of the PS3/X360 into the (mostly) post-PS4/X1 world. It was going to lose on all fronts no matter what, and I suspect Nintendo was well aware of that by the time they brought it to market, thus not desiring to spend an excess of money advertising a product that had no real market.

"Advertising helps sell products" is should be Nintendo's version of "The sky is blue."

I have seen countless Movie Theater ads, TV ads, and even a Superbowl ad!

@NEStalgia I don't think they expected Wii-U to be as much of a dud as it was, but your point certainly makes sense. Once it was apparent it was a dud, why bother trying to resuscitate it? They merged their handheld and console divisions in Feb 2013, and the Wii-U launched in Sep 2012. I think they had already decided at that point where to spend their resources.

It seems like the Switch is the natural conclusion of the ideas they began developing for Wii-U. Despite the continued strong sales, the Wii had pretty much lost the mindshare battle by 2010, and Nintendo must have been scrambling for an HD concept. The Wii was brutally successful, and I mean brutal because while it certainly made them tons of money, it also considerably set them back in terms of modern game development experience. While third parties and competitors were working out the kinks of HD development, Nintendo was making motion controlled Gamecube games. I loved the Wii-U, and it had some excellent games, but it always felt a little half-baked. It was kind of a stopgap, a training wheels console for Nintendo. I think development on Switch likely wasn't going well until they hit on the deal with NVIDIA, which was one of the reasons for the Wii-U's life being as long as it was, the delay on Switch releasing, and the lack of features at launch, but they also had to get a solid product out the door because they couldn't let the Wii-U product sit on the market damaging them for too long. The Switch is a wise recognition of their typical strengths (local multiplayer, portability, 1st party franchises) and weaknesses (power arms race, 3rd party appeal). It's discouraging to see them continuing to mismanage some aspects early on (not too late to fix it), like indie developers and virtual console, but Switch definitely feels like a product that has learned from some past mistakes and is positioned for success. I love it, and I'm excited to see where it goes from here.

@JaxonH I see what you mean. It's just weird seeing Nintendo pushing the Switch as much as they are when they just kicked the Wii U out the door and said "Good luck out there. See you in five years! ".

They didn't even give it a price cut like they gave the 3DS. Maybe NEStalgia is right and they knew Wii U wasn't the right system to take them into the future and decided to spend the least amount of money and try to get back as much as they could. Obviously they chose right, 3DS is still going strong and advertising the Switch shows they learned from the past. Alright, have a good one man! 😄

Very good, but, now, need still more for the distribution, where I live, nothing, but nothing about Switch... *sigh...

Advertising is a huge part of success in the U.S. hopefully they now see this.

@JaxonH I think we, mostly, agree on the 2DS, just seemed unnecessary and out of place at the end of the main article. The New 2DS XL doesn't even launch until July 28th, I doubt it had any TV ads in March.

I saw a lot of Zelda 48 sheet posters in train stations and across tracks in tube stations all over London, lots of youtube commercials as well, they definitely spent more this time round than anything I've seen for the Wii U.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE
Pssst...
Use your smartphone to play that Switch commercial and show to your close peoples. They will see the advertising without waiting come from their TV. And just let them comment about Switch.

@aaronsullivan
Hm... I want to know how to convince those Clash of Royal gamers to adore Nintendo Switch ?
I have some students that mostly spend their gaming time on that title and (Ugh... any better than this title ?) Growtopia....
They need to know and get their Hype on Nintendo Switch.

Should have spent money on stock, there's no point advertising something that doesn't exist.

I just pray they can fix the stock shortage. It's impressive that pretty much all of us have seen a switch ad in some way despite all of our different lifestyles, locations, interests, etc. They have done a good job there but I have yet to see a Switch in a store yet.

@Noonch

On the same token, it's good that the system isn't idly sitting around on shelves.

I daresay we've almost hit a sweet spot, madam.

@jman0987654321 As am I my friend. They're on here constantly.

I have been amazed how many commercials I've seen of the Switch. I can count on one hand how many Wii U commercials I saw over 4 years.

@invictus4000 @Dev I don't think we're going to readily see stock on shelves until sometime in 2018. And if advertising and demand pick up it might be 2019. Nintendo expects to sell 10M more by March 2018. I believe they're underestimating demand, possibly by a lot. It's fortunately/unfortunately like the Wii's first year or two all over again.