Microsoft will capitalize on
the Kinect launch Thursday to rebrand the Xbox 360 from a game box into an entertainment console, but some wonder whether the Redmond, Wash. tech giant will integrate its search engine Bing into the
experience.
Kinect will allow Microsoft to better compete against video game console makers Sony and Nintendo, but the ability to search the Internet via voice commands would put it in a
position to take search and advertising market share from Google by becoming an alternative to Google TV.
The Xbox allows its 25 million subscribers to experience entertainment in their
living room through high-definition (HD) movies on Zune and Netflix, as well as sports on ESPN -- all through Xbox LIVE. The console also offers social options on Facebook and Twitter, and chat with
other LIVE players around the world. Kinect launches with about a dozen video games and allows players to control the content through the wave of a hand or sound of their voices.
The
rebranding effort will emphasize the way Microsoft delivers entertainment into the living room. Microsoft executives tout the combined events surrounding the Kinect launch as one of the most
comprehensive marketing campaigns in Xbox history.
Consumers can expect to see Xbox advertisements connected to a host of television shows such as "Glee," "Dancing with the Stars,"
"Survivor," and "Extreme Home Makeover," explains Rob Matthews, general manager of global marketing communications for Microsoft Xbox. "Next week, Kinect will advertise in North America on 400 million
Pepsi bottles and 12-packs," Matthews says, dropping names like Disneyland and Macy's, which also will have parts in Kinect's promotional launch. "This week, we'll be in every Burger King location,
and on millions of Kellogg cereal boxes."
Aside from TV ads and taking the gaming experience direct to consumers through a traveling semitrailer truck, the 14 days of Kinect on Facebook
leading up to the launch features live chat with celebrity hosts. Matthews calls the launch "socially empowered," adding that the Twitter campaign gives folks an opportunity to spread the word by
creating images and unlocking clues. The company also launched a search marketing campaign, including both search optimization and paid search.
Microsoft may have supercharged Xbox 360
through Kinect, but the one basic tool that could turn the console into a true entertainment experience doesn't exist in the box. Integrating Bing into the Xbox 360 console would give consumers the
ability to search for content on the Internet and provide a competitive alternative to Google TV and Apple TV. It would give advertisers another opportunity to raise awareness through the combined
Bing and Yahoo search deal.
"We are constantly looking at ways to enhance the service in the future," Matthews says, but he declined to make any announcements related to integrating a Web
browser. "We have nothing to announce today."
Maybe -- but adding Bing would likely make Xbox 360 video game gurus like 15-year-old Kohl Laren happy because he prefers to search on
Microsoft's engine rather than Google.
Matthews couldn't put his finger on the number of verbal commands Kinect recognizes, but analysts also identify the benefits of allowing Xbox 360 owners
to use voice search to peruse the Internet through Bing.
"It's a great idea," says Colin Sebastian, director of equity research at Lazard Capital Markets. He doesn't know of any technical
limitation that would prevent the integration of a service like Bing or voice search on the Xbox platform.
James Ragan, senior equity analyst at Crowell, Weedon and Co., doesn't think
Microsoft is late to the party, but he mentions that the retirement announcement of Robbie Bach, former Microsoft Entertainment division president, could put a veil of uncertainty onto where the
company will take the division.