Marketing Plan for Microsoft Xbox in Gaming Console Market in India

Marketing Plan for Microsoft Xbox in Gaming Console Market in India Group 10: Ankur Chaudhary (1211326)Gaurav Parashar (1211340) Nikhil Wasnik (1211398)Shanthosh P (1211381) Saakshi Mahajan (1211378) Backdrop: The current gaming console market in India is around INR 900 crores . The most prominent players in this industry comprise of Sony (PS Series), Nintendo (Wii Series) and Microsoft (XBOX Series).The market share of Xbox in India is 23% by sales, compared to PS Series’ share of 40%-45% , which is in contrast to the global statistics where Xbox enjoys a market share of around 45%-47% compared to PS Series’ share of around 25-28%. The stark difference in the market share is a case for assessing the lag Xbox suffers, with regard to its marketing strategy in India. Project Details: In this project, we aim to study the gaming console market in India, specifically looking at current marketing of Microsoft Xbox in India and compare it with global markets (US and other deve loped markets).We will explore the performance of Xbox v/s the Sony Play station (current market leader in India) The market which we are studying is urban teenagers/young adults (age 10-25) and gaming consoles Gaming consoles in India have a market penetration of only 2% but with the increase in sales of big screen TV's and leisure wants of the urban teenager, the market is expected to grow at a fast pace in the next decade. We will explore the current marketing process of Microsoft Xbox in terms of integrated marketing mix and the customer ; partner relations.Gaming consoles belong to the hedonic category of products where rationalizing evaluation of alternatives by the shopper is important. The purchase for gaming consoles is typical approved by the parent and the user is the teenager. We aim to explore the decision pattern used individually by the parent and teenager. Some of the factors affecting consumer behavior in India are unique because of traditionally lesser spending on games, piracy in PC games and parental fear that games interfere in studies. We aim to do qualitative analysis the market, through surveys and interviews.The gaming console market has been segmented into customers using PS2 (cheaper old technology but still a step up for gaming in India), PS3 (premium cutting edge gaming) and PSP (gaming on the go primarily for the kids). We aim to study Microsoft's market segmentation, targeting and position in terms of its offerings like XBOX, XBOX 360 and Kinect. Overall we would address how Microsoft should reposition its gaming consoles in Indian markets to gain more market share and build profitable customer relationships.