Making Atari Cool Again

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Atari teased the gaming world on June 8 with a YouTube video promoting the company's first new console in 24 years. Besides ominous background music and close-up shots of a wood veneer surface, the only message is: "Coming soon."

Henry C. Boyd III, a marketing professor at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, says the beleaguered company has an iconic brand but will have to work like Pac-Man to chomp its way back into the gaming hardware space. "Even when the teaser ad came out, a lot of people thought it was a hoax," Boyd says. "It does beg the question: 'Can they pull this off?'"

Response to the Ataribox ad, which already has 1.2 million views, shows the residual value in the name. "A whisper campaign can be good for a brand like Atari," Boyd says. "If you're reaching people in the know, and they distill the information out to other audiences, then that builds pent up demand from folks who want to know more."

Boyd says the marketing strategy hinges on how well Atari can recruit influencers — people like the cool kids in high school who spread new trends. Classic brands like Hush Puppies and Converse found success this way during their resurrections. "When I think of the movie 'I, Robot' with Will Smith, he's rocking the Converse All Stars from back in the day," Boyd says. "So you can do this if you have an iconic brand."

Atari might have its first product placement already lined up. The trailer for "Blade Runner 2049" shows a car zipping past giant Atari logos lit up at night in a futuristic city.

Even if Atari can create buzz, it will still need to drop a product at some point. The last time the company tried that — with Atari Jaguar in 1993 — the hype quickly faded. (Imagine the Pac-Man death sound effect.) A limited games library and sluggish sales sunk Atari Jaguar within three years. "It was a disaster." Boyd says.

In 2017 the company will need to carve a niche away from the "big three" in gaming hardware: Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft, owner of Xbox. "They're going to have to offer something fresh, something new in the gaming world that other companies haven't put out there," Boyd says. "That's tricky."

One strategy is to go retro, appealing to middle-aged customers who already have a relationship with Atari. "I imagine that's the group they're looking for — those people who might engage in a little nostalgia," Boyd says.

A riskier strategy would be to break ties with the past, carrying nothing forward but the Atari name. Regardless, Boyd says the company will need to offer something innovative with its games. "Content is king," he says.

One thing working in Atari's favor might be strong vision in the C suite. "We talk about being fearless at Maryland," Boyd says. "We look at Fred Chesnais, the new CEO at the helm. He's pretty daring. Kind of bold. Rather audacious."

Already, Chesnais has led Atari out of bankruptcy in 2013 with smartphone apps and licensing revenue. "He's sort of a turnaround artist," Boyd says. "Most folks would be impressed that he has turned around a company that was bankrupt to where it's profitable now."