Ok we all know the news.  Shit has gone down, hit the fan and maybe walked away with all your user data. 

" Ok we all know the news.  Shit has gone down, hit the fan and maybe walked away with all your user data. 

So lets say you are in charge at sony right now,  your in a situation that will probably damage your most valuable brand and the whole world is kind of pissed at you.

What to you do next to get everything back on track?

Here is what I think I would do (as of right now... this might change as we get more news)

1 - Find out the full extent of the leak.   We dont know how many of the 77mill PSN accounts where effected. We dont know if CC numbers where got.   you need to know and to let the people know.  everything thinks EVERY psn user has had there account info got at and we dont know for sure yet so fine out.  Might catch a break and find out only a fraction of users got there stuff downloaded.

At this point people dont care when they can play COD again.  They care if there credit card details are in the hands of south american drug lords.  

2 - a freebee.  PSN will be back and you have to give people something... anything to make up for this cock up.   make PS+ free for a month once the ps store is back online.   its good because its something free and its REALLY good because some of the people might want to continue being a member of Plus.

2 -  Get the trust back.  With the PSN back online "soon" you need to get people wanting to trust your service again.   you know what will get people using the PSN store again?  crazy steam like sales.    toss up a few games for 75% off.   bundle stuff.   make offers so crazy that people wont want to miss them.

4 - Prepare for the worst.   Sales will probably be affected for the next few months.  you probably have a price cut already planned for later in the year so wait and see how that goes but The brand might be fucked for a while.   Might be time to look at rushing the next home console out the door for holiday 2012 or early 2013 with a re-named playstation network.    maybe even think about dropping the playstation brand.

5 - resign or be awesome.    With this kind of cock up you can do one of 2 things.   own up to your mistakes and resign or  have a awesome plan to get everything moving again and he hailed as the guy who lead sony through the crisis.     (I wouldn't be shocked if Kaz Hirai stands down over this.  I guess it depends if the hack was due to a clever exploit the hacker used or just plain bad security)

6 -  HIRE A NEW PR TEAM FOR FUCK SAKE!    

"

" "Get the trust back" will be damned hard. They waited 7 days to inform users their CC numbers might be lost. This is more than a slight mistake. "

Excellent ideas.

@p_p_o_d:

Well, japanese companies aren't exactly known for offensive communication. Especially not in cases like this.

But you are right, this is not the first hack and it will not be the last.

Fake your own death.

" @Pink_o_mat:  There's no proof they knew it before they told us. According to Sony, they hired a pro that used some days to find out what had happened, and when he told Sony they told us. "

I think right from the moment they got hit they were on investigating what exactly happened and I think their priority should continue to be keeping the public 100% up to date on what's really happened. Apart from that I agree they need to do a lot of compensating to try and win people back.

free psn + for a month for everyone. Psn+ for 2 months free for current plus members.

@Blommer4:

You're right! I'm just pissed because my CC data might have been copied.

They are going to drop the price BIG TIME at E3.  There is no way they can compete, given this recent scandal, without seriously getting competitive on price.  I think you're going to see the base PS3 (160 GB model) going down to $229 and a bundle including Move for $299. 

I don't know how their PR department is going to spin this, but that will be their marketing strategy.

"They are going to drop the price BIG TIME at E3.  There is no way they can compete, given this recent scandal, without seriously getting competitive on price.  I think you're going to see the base PS3 (160 GB model) going down to $229 and a bundle including Move for $299.  I don't know how their PR department is going to spin this, but that will be their marketing strategy. "

" Fake your own death. "

If i was sony, i would make a broadcast laughing at my users, telling them i know they will come back regardless of what i do and/or not do and light up a cuban with a 100$ bill. 

Good ideas. Definable free PSN+ for a month would be a relativity cheap and easy way for them to win over a good number of people but I think if i was a PSN+ member and all I got out of the deal was a free extra month id still feel a bit pissed. They would have to really up the stakes for them. Judging from how badly handled this whole thing has been I wouldnt be shocked if all you got was a crap arcade game of a netflix voucher of something completely shit. This isnt the end for Sonys PS3 but it could very well be the end of it for 2011. What makes it worse is they appear to have known about issues including the hacker / Anonymous mess and really didn't do anything to upgrade their security. Its a complete disregard of their customers. This is worse that the Toyota deal a while back or the RROD bull from MS. If it turns out to bad as bad as some suspect it is more than just an inconvenience of being without your games system for a few weeks, or using a rental car it could potentially screw people lives up with credit, defaulting on bills or mortgages etc. Sony is very lucky that it happened this time of year and not the run-up to Xmas or release of some major exclusive titles or they would more than likely feel a bigger hit in sales than what they are about too. Some parents would avoid a system tarnished with news like this especially when some are as scared of online tech already.

Spend my time planning an hour and a half long apology for E3. Oh and some Uncharted 3 if there's time.

Fire all the PR dudes, hire hotz, keep investigating the 'intrusion,' let people know whats going on for once. Scrap, build a brand new premium network that should at the very least be on par with Live. Make it free for a year. They must already have shit in the works for the PS4 right? Compensate Plus members with an extra month.

Get off their asses and release cross-game chat.

"Spend my time planning an hour and a half long apology for E3. Oh and some Uncharted 3 if there's time. "

Easy 1-2 punch:

Cross the border to Mexico and hide.

" If i was sony, i would make a broadcast laughing at my users, telling them i know they will come back regardless of what i do and/or not do and light up a cuban with a 100$ bill.  "

my Sony what?