Knowing your market is essential!

Posted Apr 12, 2024
Boy the Microsoft marketing team really blew it with Xbox Kinect. Never should have killed that product! It was innovative, fun & unique. But it was marketed to the wrong people - which meant the product was killed.

For those who don't know, the Kinect was a novel Xbox attachment that allowed your body to become the "controller" for gaming. It consisted of a camera that would watch your movements and map those movements to characters or menu options on the screen. Released in 2010, it transformed the whole idea of what gaming could be. Monsters closing in on you? Punch and kick them away in your living room! And it's not just the control system - there's something truly magical about seeing yourself & your actions mirrored on the screen. A truly immersive experience that is much more simple to use and less costly than virtual reality headsets. 14 years later it is still a family favorite. My wife and I often still use it as a more fun way to work out. Let me tell you, fighting off dozens of zombies can be exhausting! And because it involves exercise, parents don't feel as guilty giving some extra screen time to kids. We often will say "no screen time! Except Kinect." I don't mind the TV being on a bit more if my child is waving his arms and jumping around like a maniac trying to slice fruit. Everytime a family comes over their kids have a blast playing & it's this big mystery as to what the system is. Have had multiple parents ask for help finding where to purchase.

The fatal flaw was Microsoft marketed this system to the traditional xbox gamer community. This is a community that spends a premium on gaming chairs that are more comfortable for sitting long periods of time. This is a community that is teased for letting potato chip crumbs sit idly all over their clothes as they refuse to get up and pause and intense battle. This was not the right market. The market was kids, parents & families - not gamers. We can see how this would have succeeded by the fact that similar products are still being sold to this community today - workout "mirrors" that double as screens so you can watch yourself do the work live. That is a completely inferior product to the kinect. It's not enough to have a good product or service. It has to be marketed to the right people at the right time. 

Legend can help you with this process. We have experts in Google ads & Facebook ads. We can create logos & branding, and help with revitalizing content and photos. We can consult with you on business to help understand your clients and how to best reach them. Reach out today for help!

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