TBWA India bags creative duties of Sony Playstation

Sony Playstation has assigned its creative duties to TBWA India. Atindriya Bose, country manager, Sony Playstation, says other agencies were considered, but the company decided TBWA India was the best fit. Percept will handle the brand’s media duties.

Bose says TBWA's experience in Indian marketing with youth brands and its disruption based approach, in particular, are exactly what Playstation requires.

Above-the-line marketing initiatives will be the primary focus of the company's media spend. Experimental marketing initiatives like championships will also form a big chunk. However, the exact media spend and its allocation to different media could not be ascertained because they have not been finalised yet.

When Sony officially launched Playstation in 2002, they did not undertake any marketing exercises. The gaming console was distributed through Sony World and other outlets. Milestone Interaction handled their distribution.

Bose says that the appointment of an ad agency comes only now because the cultural acceptance of gaming in India is a recent phenomena. “Mobile, Internet and PC gaming have brought in market acceptance of gaming in the country”, he adds.

In an official communique, Madan Mohan, chief operating officer, West, TBWA India, says, “This is a very challenging assignment for TBWA India. Playstation is a global icon today, with some very well regarded creative work to its credit. Our challenge is to disrupt the market with a quality of work that lives up to the global Playstation legacy, both in its creative impact as well as its effectiveness in the marketplace.”