Nintendo was born on September 23, 1889, starting off as a playing card company and slowly making their way into novelty toys and, eventually, video games. Every gamer on Earth knows Nintendo! For decades, Nintendo has been (and will continue to be) a household name in the video game/entertainment industry, whether it be through their multi-million-dollar selling video games series (i.e. Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, etc.) or the video game consoles that they are known for (i.e. the NES, the SNES, the Nintendo GameCube, and in recent memory, the Nintendo Switch!). Even though their competitors, Microsoft and Sony, are going at it just as strong today, Nintendo still finds ways to stay fresh and uniquely distinct from their competition. How can this be? Well, it's very simple: Nintendo's marketing strategy, especially in today's digital age, is creative and unique, setting themselves apart from the likes of Microsoft and Sony. Throughout their history, Nintendo has always found numerous ways to creatively keep at it with their marketing and the way they approach good customer impressions!

The marketing strategy of Nintendo was already as strong as a fierce race horse throughout their lifespan prior to advancements in technology and the rise of the Internet (and therefore, social media). Dating back to their heyday (i.e. throughout the 1980s), Nintendo has basked in efforts during their early days to market to children and all sorts of teens through various marketing campaigns. One of these campaigns started in the mid-1980s with the release of their Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console through a slogan that's still popular to Nintendo fans today: "Now you're playing with power!" This slogan would eventually be used for several more campaigns for their video games console going into the late 1980s to the early 1990s. This slogan would later be modified for their campaigns surrounding their next console, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), released in 1991; the modified slogan used for TV commercials would come to be, "Now you're playing with power. Super power." These simple yet effective product campaigns, held long ago before the advent of the Internet, would turn Nintendo into the video game beast that we know today. Essentially, these campaigns, along with the sheer popularity of both the NES and SNES, immediately placed Nintendo into the echelon of video game history. The NES even ended the video game crash started by Atari in 1983 by selling millions upon millions of units to individuals who wanted to feel the sheer power of the NES, effectively making video games a viable industry once more!

In addition to these nifty product campaigns, Nintendo found other ways to keep their audience in-tact with their brand before social media. Their most notable effort outside of campaigns back then was Nintendo Power, a print magazine consisting of Nintendo gaming news, strategies regarding certain Nintendo games, which ran from 1988 all the way to 2012. This magazine would be popular amongst gamers who loved Nintendo, and it would be an excellent way for Nintendo to further market their products and also engage with their audience on some level. A promotional scheme in the early 1990s even existed for the magazine, which consisted of every new subscriber at the time receiving a free copy of the brand new NES game at the time, Dragon Quest!

Although Nintendo is known for its fun-having, colorful and delightful marketing campaigns and style of social media posts, the way they present themselves on social media represents a more formal tone. This formal tone, however, accompanies their main purpose/goal of offering the most fun products for children, tweens, young adults, etc. to enjoy. Basically, their social media postings will consist of a great mix between formal and casual tones depending on what kind of game is being promoted on their social media accounts. Sometimes, the tone in their brand personality may be very up-beat and positive to reflect games such as the Mario franchise, as well as Animal Crossing, Pokemon, Super Smash Bros., and Splatoon. Other times, their tone may be slightly more mature/majestic to reflect such games as the Zelda franchise, as well as Metroid, Fire Emblem, and Star Fox. They can either promote an upcoming game or even celebrate the anniversary of a previously released, beloved classic. This flexible, flamboyant branding style/personality gives Nintendo a rather sharp, versatile edge in regards to retaining the tone of their products/services while also striking a certain cord with the target audience for most of their franchises.

If you are any level of gamer in today's digital age, you might have seen Nintendo on your feeds at least ONCE in your lifetime throughout your social media usage. Arguably some of their most notable online presences is on Twitter and Instagram, where vast gaming communities exist on these sites that consume the information from Nintendo's professional Twitter account. Their content consists of a grand mix of text and image, so naturally, their marketing/posts/campaigns/etc. are very effective on Twitter and Instagram (platforms where simultaneous text and image are effective posts). More specifically, they verbally promote their products/games/news/etc. through text, and then proceed to attach that text with a cleanly-put-together graphics and or a professional montage of footage (whether it be from a certain video game of theirs or from newly-recorded live-action footage). Other times, they post fun images of their IPs (sometimes through other fans' posts, in which case they give credit where credit is due). These posts are made in order to not only stick with their formal yet fun-having branding personality/strategy, but also get the word out in regards to their newest products, games, and general news/updates regarding their services (such as the eShop for the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and the Nintendo Switch). The "social" aspects of these posts follow suit as users across gaming communities interact with this info, as well as share it with their other gaming brethren.

When looking up Nintendo on Twitter, Instagram, or even YouTube, you may notice that multiple accounts under the Nintendo brand show up in the search results... Why is this the case? This is because Nintendo doesn't only cater to an English-speaking market. Keep in mind that Nintendo as a business started out in Kyoto, Japan long ago in 1889 (as a playing card company). Therefore, their audience has slowly grown from local Japanese gamers to gamers across the globe (including the Americas, Mexico, Spain, Germany, England, France, and countless others!). Their social media strategy, as a result, isn't fully reliant on just one whole account for each platform. Multiple international accounts are created in order for foreigners to understand the marketing content in a way that they will understand. Not only will language be taken into consideration, but also the rating system for games will be adjusted to a rating system that a particular region/country utilizes (i.e. the Americas will use the ESRB rating system for games, while some European countries will use the PEGI rating system for games instead).

Postings on social media are an effective way for Nintendo to regularly update gaming communities of their games, consoles, and services, but through the power of video content and live-streaming (through YouTube and Twitch, respectively), Nintendo is able to further engage with their audience through detailed, pre-produced videos that go in-depth on their upcoming products and or updates regarding their services. This is done through a series of online videos called the Nintendo Direct. This series of long-form video (which is live-streamed through YouTube and Twitch, then later made available as watchable full-length videos on both of these sites) would be an even grander way to appeal to gaming communities on social media and, therefore, stir multiple conversations surrounding the games, products, etc. that were touched upon in each entry of the series. These conversations would not only take place in YouTube comments but can and will spill onto other platforms like Twitter and Instagram! 

(Below is their most recent Nintendo Direct, which took place on February 8th!)

Recently, Nintendo has released two different services of their own in order to compliment their already-strong social media leverage: a loyalty program with points-based incentives called My Nintendo, and a Nintendo Switch Online app for Nintendo Switch users to chat with each other while playing multiplayer games such as Smash Bros. and Splatoon.

Players who are a part of My Nintendo are able to earn three different kinds of points: Gold Points, Platinum Points, and app-centric Platinum Points, which can be exchanged for all kinds of rewards, including, but not limited to, digital game downloads or merchandise off of the Nintendo online store. While Gold Points can be earned through game purchases through the Nintendo eShop, Platinum Points in particular can be earned by linking your social media accounts and or signing into the eShop itself. This loyalty program from Nintendo themselves truly found a way to integrate any level of social media use with their own services, which further leverages the way in which Nintendo approaches social media and the incentives behind it. This is Nintendo's unique way of bridging the gap between social media and consumer services, especially in regards to video gaming and the digital market behind it!

The Nintendo Switch Online app is essentially a companion to the Nintendo Switch's yearly subscription-based online service; it allows players to engage in online multiplayer with each other, as well as voice-chat, cloud-saving of certain games, and special online offers and promotions. Instead of solely utilizing their existing social media pages to offer these promotions, the Switch Online app can allow for a more focused strategy in offering these promotions and special offers to players, therefore enhancing the usability of the app outside of multiplayer gameplay. On top of special offers and online multiplayer, players are also able to invite other fellow players through actual social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Whatsapp, further connecting Nintendo's own online app with the most popular social networks on some level.