How Synergy Drives the PlayStation Network
The Sony PlayStation Network offers more than just online gaming to its many fans, and that's good for Sony and its advertisers. Susan Panico, senior director for the PlayStation Network (PSN), gave the opening day keynote for this year's Streaming Media West conference in Los Angeles. Afterwards, she sat down for a red carpet interview.
"I wanted people to see how PlayStation Network is this dynamic, ever-changing entertainment hub that helps us transcend lifecycles, whether it be a PlayStation 3, the upcoming PlayStation Vita, or, as we've seen with PlayStation Suite, we also have content available for Android phones," Panico said.
Two-thirds of the highly engaged, largely 18- to 34-year-old male PSN audience participates in online gaming weekly, Panico said. They also enjoy other parts of the network, including video-on-demand and music. That engagement makes the network more attractive to advertisers, as members will see ads for the same brands repeated in different areas, reinforcing brand awareness.
The company's resources let it offer brands unique targeted opportunities, including in-game advertising, customized mini-games, and in-show sponsorships, such as with the PSN original series "The Tester," a reality series where gamers compete for a job as a PlayStation game tester.
"Another interesting way we can engage the brand is through original programming, so 'The Tester' is a great example. In the past, Ford integrated the cars. We also integrated full episode tasks around a brand, as well," said Panico.
Toward the end of the interview, Panico addressed the security breach this summer that exposed the personal information of 100 million PlayStation Network members.
"In regards to the security breach that we experienced earlier this year, I'm really happy to say that we have 100 percent of our pre-outage audience back on PlayStation Network. In fact, we've added -- I think we had 133 percent growth since the network was back on," Panico said.
She credits PSN's supportive fanbase with helping the company get past the debacle.
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These Streaming Media Red Carpet Interviews are sponsored by Front Porch Digital.
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