What's Wrong With U???

What's wrong with you? That is the question Microsoft is asking the Asian market referring to the low sales of Xbox 360's in that region. Microsoft set up a website called whatswrongwithu.com to generate interest in their video game console.

The site brings you to 4 links of different languages, three of which are in Asian. The other says Singapore and the content off that link is in English. According to a blog I read about the website the three countries that are being targeted with the site are Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Korea. These are most likely the other 3 links. These large Asian markets have been virtually unresponsive to the Xbox 360. They have shown a much greater interest in the Playstation 3 from Sony. This unusual marketing tactic seems a little harsh and disrespectful to its audience.

I find this website to be offensive. If I were someone in this Asian market this site would do nothing more than turn me away from this product. Microsoft is saying that because sales of their product are down in one area of the world there is something wrong with these people. The site tries to highlight things that the market is interested in such as "Great Japanese Games," but I find this approach degrading. One headline of the site says, "Xbox has it all! What else are you looking for?" I feel that the site is almost talking down to the people its directed at. From the title to its structure, the site is degrading to the audience that it needs the most help from.

I believe that this site is counterproductive because of how Asians will perceive the site. In addition, the site is very pushy at getting personal information. I understand that they would like to know more about their Asian audience to better serve them, but they are very forward with the process. First, they ask for an e-mail address and you cannot navigate away from the page without giving your e-mail or exiting the site. Once you give your e-mail another window appears that says "We want to know more!" The site is not only degrading, but it is pushy and invades the privacy of its visitors.

This odd marketing tactic gets my thumbs down. I think it is very ineffective. There are numerous alternatives to increasing Asian sales dollars and Microsoft messed up with this marketing strategy.