I have heard more about Ni no Kuni, Lost Odyssey and some random phone games than I have about Persona 3 over here in the UK. I've only heard about Persona 3 at EoFF, actually. I think it's a marketing issue as much as anything. I don't think it's had anything remotely close to an FFVII scale of impact on the wider market.

Personally, I think a new IP is needed to really break the market.