Nintendo Disruptive Strategy Nintendo\'s Disruptive

Nintendo Disruptive Strategy

Nintendo's Disruptive Strategy

"Nobody said that being a disruptor would be easy. Nintendo shows how a disruptive strategy can pay off handsomely, but also illustrates that in highly competitive markets, competitive advantage is transient," and as such, Nintendo proves one of the most successful disruptive strategies in 21st century (Huse, 2010). Nintendo itself was one of the first brands within the modern videogame market. However, it soon faced fierce competition, leading its strategy to become more disruptive. What this meant, was that Nintendo started targeting audiences that were not typically seen as you gamers, including families and younger children as well as adults. This is a disruptive strategy that increased the target market accordingly, allowing Nintendo to transcend into a brand that met the needs of target markets far beyond the limited notions of its competitors, making it truly disruptive strategy.

Nintendo was the clear leader in the videogame technology from the start. It has its roots even before any BU game had ever even been. In 1889, Nintendo began manufacturing playing cards that eventually reached international fame in 1907 (Farhoomand, 2009). Decades of production eventually lead the company to begin producing more interactive games that had a more Western appeal. In 1959, it began reduce cards with the major brand-name of Disney (Farhoomand, 2009). Soon after, around 1970 the company began manufacturing electronic toys and games. Nintendo was a leader in the early videogame industry, one which was established as early as the 1970s and continued to grow exponentially throughout the years as technology progressed and advanced in terms of innovation and technological ability. This was a precursor to the reputation Nintendo would soon have in regards to the innovative and popular video games and video game consoles that would make the company of global brand name even into the 21st century. The company really took off in terms of video console and videogame sales in 1985 when it launched its initial console and major games such as Super Mario brothers and the Legend of Zelda, both of which saw immediate success but also saw long-term success of the series H. Or gaming consoles that lasted throughout the years.

Throughout the years, Nintendo consistently faced competition from another plethora of videogame makers. One of their strongest competitors was another Japanese company, Sony, which produced video games under the PlayStation brand. The two Japanese companies had originally collaborated together, however they could not reach an agreement (Farhoomand, 2009). This led to Sony branching out on its own and creating the PlayStation brand which became an immediate success and a direct competitor of the Nintendo game consoles. The two major brands competed fiercely for decades. Eventually, Microsoft got into the fray with its addition of the Xbox. This led to a three way tie between the top videogame consoles, where competition was a credibly fierce and led many of the brands to target other markets outside of initially teenager centered business strategy. It was clear that Nintendo could not compete for the teenage market given the technology and interactive software that Microsoft and Sony have developed and perfected within the recent years. Essentially, "the former leader in the videogame industry, Nintendo, adapted of vastly different viewpoint about the future development of the industry" (Farhoomand, 2009, p 3). Nintendo began to develop a strategy that was much different than the competitors. They no longer look at videogame sales as a narrow specific facet that was only guided by the demands of a particular demographic target market. Nintendo began to see videogame as a larger context that would appeal to a much broader public demographic. In response to such competition, the company of Nintendo took on the business strategy that highlighted disruptive principles in order to one of Sony and keep ahead of the competition that was so fierce at the time.

The concept of a disruptive strategy is one which is well-known within business, however which is often not used. A disruptive strategy is one which describes the typical target market and strategic business plan that is associated with connecting to that target market. A disruptive business model looks to expand the target market dramatically with an offshoot of the typical marketing strategy. It is a change in strategy that is meant to differentiate the organization from its Editors dramatically. Essentially, the "leading change requires appeals at multiple levels: emotional, factual and symbolic" (Rudin, 2012). As such, disruptive strategies are often giving a brand competitive edge above other competitors in the market based on the fact that they have broadened the terms of their sales potential.

Nintendo is a clear example of how a disruptive strategy can bring new life into a brand name. The company essentially took the concept of video gaming and brought it to entirely new demographic who had otherwise been previously Lord by other attempts to market videogame consoles and games. The "videogame industry has been focusing far too much on existing gamers and completely neglecting non-gamers" (Farhoomand, 2009, p 1). For far too long, the videogame industry with catering only to a very specific target market this limited profit potential as ," the target consumer group of videogame consoles narrowly confined to teenagers"( Farhoomand, 2009, p 3). In the face of fierce competition, Nintendo realized how to broaden its strategy and take into account other demographics that would've normally not been targeted by typical video gaming business models. Essentially, "the object of this strategy was quite simply to reach out to non-gamers in order to create a bigger market" (Farhoomand, 2009, p 4). Nintendo began a marketing pain that was designed to attract everyone, not just the gaming teenagers that were targeted in past campaigns.

The company met this objective with the launch of the Wii. According to the research, "the Wii was unimpressive, well-designed and tiny machine controlled with the one my controller that resembled a TV remote control. Without an elaborate joy pad and wire, gamers can navigate the system simply by moving the controller. Motion detectors would then translate the movement of the want into on-screen action, enabling simulation of real life game such as tennis, bowling, and even boxing" (Farhoomand, 2009, p 5). Moreover, it was clear that the strategy Nintendo was following was not to appeal console gamers playing by themselves in lonely dark rooms. This strategy was more geared towards family and group interaction, with games that were driven towards group involvement. In this regard, the Wii was seen as "a machine that puts smiles on surrounding peoples faces, encouraging communication among family members as each of them found something personally relevant and were motivated to turn on the console every day in order to enjoy the new life with Wii" (Farhoomand, 2009, p 5). The console was not just one that could be marketed to a single demographic, but could be broadly marketed to lease areas of tumors ranging from young to old and poor to rich. It was essentially a console that offered "interaction with video games simple and intuitive" (Huse, 2010) Moreover, Nintendo's Wii targeted adults, as well as families in general. The Wii promised the capability to facilitate adult getting in shape and exercising. Wii Fitness was an adaptation of the original console that allowed for adults to track and monitor their progress as they worked towards dieting and exercising to become more fit and energetic (Farhoomand, 2009). This was an entirely new strategy, one which targeted individuals that would normally not have been seen as a gaming potential. Overall, Nintendo's Wii targeted individuals with the demographics that were previously unknown within the videogame industry. This is essentially what associated their business strategy with the disruptive strategy.