Today’s TV commercials may be viewed as a nuisance, something to be frowned upon as they rudely interrupt the intensive build-up to an epic scene in your favorite TV show. And sometimes, they go about powering on your console without your permission, the audacity! Nonetheless, they remain the main medium of communication for many companies.
How much money a company allocates to advertising a product can be an indication of said company’s faith in their products, how much of an audience they want the product to reach, and how much mindshare they want their products to have, among other reasons. For relatively new products like the Xbox One and Playstation 4 that are competing aggressively to win your hard-earned cash, you’d expect Microsoft and Sony to be on equal footing when it comes to reserving commercial airtime. Surprisingly, that’s not the case.
According to research firm iSpot, this year, Sony had spent just under $60 million to host PS4 ads while Microsoft had spent about $35 million to advertise the Xbox One. That’s almost double the investment on Sony’s behalf. Could that spending difference be part of the reason why Sony has sold 7 million PS4’s compared to the 5 million Xbox One’s Microsoft have? We can’t say for sure but it’s certainly a possibility.
It seems Microsoft may be focusing their advertising budget on the Surface Pro 3, with a commercial for the tablet/laptop hybrid airing during World Cup matches. With the entire world watching, those ad spaces can’t be cheap.
Further reading: Commercials, Xbox, Xbox One
