You could accuse PlayStation of a lot of things, but a lazy marketer is not one of them.
While pundits will often reductively refer to Sony’s successes as fortuitous or by accident, the company invests millions upon millions of dollars into ensuring the general public knows about its brand.
And with its new worldwide campaign – It Happens on PS5 – rolling out now, it’s started to setup some eye-catching installations in cities around the globe.
We were invited to check out this one in South Korea’s cavernous Seoul Station, which sits between the main foyer and its football stadium-style wraparound LED screen. (Promoting the latest single from ITZY, of course.)
The installation itself is simple but beautifully executed: a rocky surface makes way for Astro Bot’s distinctly DualSense-shaped glider, which illuminates the surrounding area and instantly catches the eye.
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There’s no real need for a message: the shape of Sony’s controller is iconic, and the blue lighting instantly attracts a PlayStation flavour.
But we did spot one small Easter egg engraved into one of the rocks beneath the glider: Stellar Blade heroine Eve’s Astro Bot alter-ego! The developer of the hit PS5 game, Shift Up, is of course based in Seoul, so this is a lovely little touch.
As we alluded to, though, it’s not the only installation aligned with the marketing campaign.
In the UK, Sony’s gone a bit more fantastical, creating inventive billboards with three-dimensional touches, showing a parachuter who’s crash landed into the hoarding – and a dragon who’s hiding inside:
Meanwhile, there’s been reports of UFO landings in Australia:
The whole campaign is designed to communicate one simple message: that PlayStation is a place you go to experience things you can’t in real-life.
It’s another masterful campaign from the company, and a reminder of what it’s able to achieve under its new globally unified structure.
Historically, each individual business territory would be responsible for its own marketing, but aligned like this it can create something truly worldwide, which touches every corner of the globe.