NFL Pros take “Madden To The People.”
Launch Campaign Fact Sheet
Client: EA SPORTS
label of Electronic Arts, Inc., Redwood City, Calif. (NASDAQ: ERTS)
Agency: Heat, San Francisco
Game launch: Madden NFL 11. For Xbox, PlayStation. Introduces fan-requested 3-on-3 online play; quicker full games.
Media: National broadcast, cable, and NCM cinema network.
Social media (Facebook).
Media Agency: Wieden+Kennedy, Portland
ECD: Steve Stone
ACD/AD: Anna Rowland
ACD/CW: Warren Cockrel
Dir’s./Prod. co.: Luke & Pete McCoubrey/@Radical.Media, Los Angeles
Brief:
Faster, funner “Madden” offers something for everyone, whether core
players, younger gamers, or lapsed gamers.
Tag (new): “Madden to the People.”
Executions:
Pros surprise unsuspecting real fans with game delivery, and play. TV :30 and :60, cinema :30, three mixed-length online video vignettes. (Vignettes not yet final as of 8/2 release date.)
Pro/fan scenarios:
Clips from each appear in the TV; each is sole subject of one vignette. Chargers’ Antonio Gates drops in on older, lapsed gamer. Texans’ Mario Williams and Ravens’ Ray Lewis lead Dallas high school
rivals L.D. Bell Blue Raiders and Trinity Trojans in 3-on-3 match. Chargers’ Luis Castillo is unexpected guest at 11-year-old’s birthday.
More scenarios:
Included in the TV; no online vignette. Saints’ Drew Brees takes on Times Square passers-by on 40’ x 40’ Spectacolor screen; tosses free Maddens to crowd. Cardinals’ Larry Fitzgerald challenges kids at waterside amusement park. Vikings’ Jared Allen sets up game screen at firehouse.
Sampling:
2000 Madden NFL 11s were handed out, free, during the shoots.
Breaks: August
text
San Francisco—A TV, cinema, and online campaign for the August 10
launch of EA SPORTS’ Madden NFL 11 features six scenarios in which NFL
pros surprise unsuspecting real fans with game delivery, and play. The
campaign, which broke August 1, was created by San Francisco
advertising agency Heat.
The use of unscripted gamer reactions stems from the brief, which
holds that fan-requested enhancements such as 3-on-3 online play and
quicker full games will draw in not just core Madden players, but also
lapsed and younger gamers. The new tag is “Madden to the People.”
The :30 http://bit.ly/a54EzO and :60 http://bit.ly/blDsIm both begin
and end with Super Bowl winning quarterback Drew Brees in Times
Square, where, amid crowds and cheerleaders, he challenges passers-by
to “a quick game of Madden,” played on a giant, 40’ x 40’ Spectacolor
screen, then tosses free games to the fans. A total of 2000 games were
given out in filming the campaign.
Three pro/real fan scenarios are seen both in the TV and as the sole
subjects of mixed-length online vignettes (not yet final, as of August
2). The San Diego Chargers’ Antonio Gates drops in unexpected at the
home of an older, lapsed gamer (“It’s going to be weird when I throw a
touchdown to you, beating you.”). Houston Texans’ Mario Williams and
Baltimore Ravens’ Ray Lewis lead arch-rival Dallas high school
football teams, the L.D. Bell Blue Raiders and the Trinity Trojans, in
an online 3-on-3. And Chargers’ Luis Castillo surprises an awestruck
11-year-old at his birthday party. Other TV-only cameos are by Arizona
Cardinals’ Larry Fitzgerald and Minnesota Vikings’ Jared Allen.
The campaign will run on national broadcast, cable, and the NCM cinema
network, plus Facebook. Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, is the media agency.
Creative credits go to Heat executive creative director Steve Stone,
associate creative director/art director Anna Rowland, and associate
creative director/copywriter Warren Cockrel. The directors are Luke &
Pete McCoubrey of production company @Radical.Media, Los Angeles.