What Wii can all learn from Nintendo

Have you heard this one before?  American consumers are overweight and obese.  Perhaps you've seen it on Television.  The American Center for Disease Control released a study that revealed that 25.6% of adult American's are labeled as "obese" and that doesn't count the millions upon millions who are defined as "overweight."
Americans live sedentary lifestyles.  We don't exercise enough, we eat way too much.  We smoke, we drink and we're just plain unhealthy.  I once heard a joke that said "even though China has a billion more people than than the US, the combined weight of our population is greater than theirs."  Wow, I hope that's untrue.
So, what does this ominous news have to do with Marketing in America?

Well, I just realized that American's have a Wii bit of a chance of beating out weight problems, at least some of us thanks to a brilliant combination of packaging message and marketing.
When Nintendo Corporation released it's Wii Fit to the US Marketplace it amazingly sold 690,000 copies in May 2008 alone.  The unit is $90.00 USD, which is not a paltry sum of money given our weakening economy.
So, when your humble narrator went with my wife to Target (a local retailer) early yesterday morning to stand in line for a Wii Fit, I began to wonder about American's obsession for this little plastic board.  I know we American's all think about our health and appearance all the time.  But why exactly are we so crazed about this little unit?  Will the Wii Fit be our great savior?  Is this is a Fad?
So we brought home our new Wii Fit and rather compulsively began to set it up.  We set up our personal profiles and did the body tests.  Wii Fit weighs you, measures your Body Mass Index (BMI), checks your balance and assigns you a Wii Age.  For a few more weeks, I'm 35 years old and according to Wii Fit I'm 43 years old with a BMI of over 27, meaning I am overweight (Ideally I should have a BMI of 22 or less).  Oh my, I have to lose about 20lbs, so I told the Wii Fit I wanted to do it 3 months.  I'll post again to let you know how I do.
After my second hour of playing (did I just call it "playing" because it supposed to be exercise) on my Wii Fit, it hit me.  Wii is a fantastic combination of what I am now terming "Excertainment" ( I coined the term fist) that hits squarely at American's culture.  American's like me love the Wii Fit because:

• American's want things easy.  Even our exercise.  A Wii Fit is a simple tool.  You can choose a "virtual" trainer, male or female.  The trainer teaches you step by step how to do every exercise by using voice commands, pop up text and sounds.  Its one of the best interfaces of software I have ever seen and it reminds me of the Adobe Flash platform, which many use in their Websites.  Its so simple to follow, that even an obese person with no history of exercise could jump right in.  Easy does it..... 
   
• American's MUST be entertained.  This is a fact that touches on every aspect of our culture.  Some may disagree, but I contend that American's would choose being entertained over being informed ANY time.  The Wii Fit sure is entertaining.  It has many different exercises and it's always sneaking interesting little menu screens and comments into it.  Plus, it hits squarely on our number one pastime (sorry baseball, you're out), watching television.  We can watch and work out on our 47' flat screen LCD's in our living room instead of watching Oprah.
   
• American's need motivation.  This is particularly true with health and exercise.  The Wii Fit answers this by challenging you to do more, by having a perceived sense of humor (some of the screens give you some "jabs", which are light mocking statements that are more humorous than mean).
   
• American's want privacy.  Many American's may join health clubs and fitness centers, but we often don't go to them with any regularity.  I think a part of the reason is the discomfort that we have with the possibility of being embarrassed by our perceived lack of performance.  By the way, I'm canceling my gym membership in lieu of the Wii Fit.  We didn't use it anyways.
   
• American's want things that others say are great.  This is Viral Marketing.  The reason that people are lining up for the Wii Console as well as the Wii Fit isn't because we are inundated with television, radio, and internet commercials (i personally have only seen about one TV commercial).  It's because everyone is talking about it.  My friend's who have the Wii Fit have been raving about it for months.  As I came into the AmeriStart's Corporate office this morning, I had a 5 minute conversation with our CFO and a new Business Development Representative we just hired about the Wii Fit, that ended up more like a pitch for the product.  I bet they'll both have one within 10 days (while supplies last).

Regardless of the fact that American's may or may not use the Wii Fit in the long run, Nintendo has broken a barrier rarely accomplished before by introducing something that touches on so many nerve points in the American culture.  It is amazingly impressive, especially given the fact that Nintendo is a Japanese business.
BOTTOM LINE...
As you look to American culture and how your marketing can impact them.  Ask yourself if your product, marketing and message conveys any or all of the following:

• Is it easy to understand or act on?
• Is it in any way entertaining (this is particularly important for your marketing message)?
• Is it motivating.  This can be applied in your call to action.  Why should American's respond to your message?
• Are you respecting their privacy?
• Will others talk about your product/service and start the "viral" marketing.

Answering one of these positively is a good start.  More than one just keeps improving.  If your product or service can touch on all of them like a Wii Fit, get ready for success in America.