I believe that Sony's marketing strategy was aimed at a wider audience than the average video game consumer at the time. The ads were edgier, the price was inviting, there was a gradually building library of games covering many diverse genres, and more.
There were more people in my social circle at that time that were interested in a PlayStation than anything else-- and many of them hadn't owned a console before. I understand that anecdotal evidence is about as strong as a wet napkin in these discussions, but hey.
As someone who has been fortunate enough to experience all of these console generations first-hand, rather than just reading about them-- I find the rise in popularity and pop culture of video games in the late 1990s and the 2000s to be really fascinating stuff.