With Xbox's next-generation gaming console, the Xbox 360, finally hitting stands, you could be forgiven for thinking that Andres Vejarano, Xbox regional marketing manager, home and entertainment division, Asia and Greater China, has earned himself a break.
But with phase one out of the way in most markets, the regional marketing team he leads is busy planning and executing the next stage of the assault: building on the highly-successful, pre-launch advocate programme, which reached out to media, technologists, industry pundits, retailers and consumers. "The results have been very strong. We've had 81 on-going blogs, and more than 800 forums, which show the community is talking about us," says Vejarano.
"The launch is the easy part, but the real challenge for us as marketers and sales persons is maintaining that momentum, and making sure that we make major milestones and experiences for our consumers as we go along."
With a raft of new titles scheduled for release later this year and next, Xbox 360 has a significant lead time over rival Sony, which is yet to release the PlayStation 3. Vejarano expects to draw on his experience garnered from a 20-year career in the industry to ensure Xbox makes the most of the advantage. It was during the '80s that Vejarano launched himself into the marketing industry, as a young FMCG executive with Unilever, based in Sydney. Giving him a solid grounding in marketing principles, Vejarano moved onto Arnott's and, finally, Penfolds' wines, before he decided to take a two-year backpacking sabbatical, a break which sparked a significant career shift.
Starting off in southern Europe, Vejarano moved across the Atlantic for a brief stint in New York, before working his way down to South America. It was during his time in the Big Apple that he was struck by what he describes as"a lightning bolt".
"I seemed to reach a crossroads in my career, where I asked myself, am I really happy and passionate doing what I'm doing," he recalls. "It was the vibrancy, the theatre of life, with music on the streets, the theatre on Broadway and new movies opening all the time. New York was an amplifier of the thing I had a passion about."
Upon his return to Australia in the early '90s, he landed a job with Sega, before moving on to Sony Music (which spilled over into Sony Computer Entertainment), where he was part of the launch of the first generation unit, the Sony PlayStation, into the Australian market. From there, he moved on to Scape, a joint venture between Village Roadshow and Network Ten Australia -- which subsequently folded -- and then a stint as a business consultant, before finally joining Xbox.
Vejarano says it was during his time at Scape that he learned the value of risk-taking, but also the pitfalls that litter the path to success. "I learned from the great things that were happening, but there were mistakes as well, because it was so fast-paced and rushed, that you didn't have time to do due diligence and look at every campaign and think about it," he says. "We probably burned a lot of dollars because we had this philosophy of get awareness at any cost, including sponsorships that did not really align with the brand. But sometimes, it is better to give it a go, to try it out, see if it works, and learn from it."
It's a credo that he lives by at Xbox, a brand he says is happy to experiment and learn from experience. According to Vejarano, the current Xbox 360 campaign has been perfectly executed, from on-ground activation to the teamwork of different departments. "We're all working toward the same direction. There's a team spirit beyond the marketing department."
