Madden NFL 15’s Unusual Ad Blitz

August 21, 2014, 12:00AM

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For over 25 years now, EA Sports’ Madden games have been entertaining the populace, bringing in millions of football fans and casual players with each growing year. This year’s entry, Madden NFL 15, is no exception, although EA Sports has taken a different approach to how the game is advertised, and where. Rather than rolling out an ad campaign on TV, EA Sports premiered this ad on the company’s YouTube channel.

Rather than going with a traditional trailer that shows gameplay, the new Madden NFL 15 ad features comedian Kevin Hart and actor Dave Franco interacting with each other over a gameplay session, including such out-of-control circumstances as a bear playing violin in a pool, and a house catching on fire. A number of football players also appear, taking part in crazy activities themselves, including a “blah blah blah” style rap. The ad, in other words, has a hearty dose of strange that’s very far away from a typical sports game ad.

<span style="">It’s a not-so-typical approach when it comes to advertising, but one that works, according to EA Sports vice president of global marketing and brand, Anthony Stevenson. “</span><em>Madden</em><span style=""> is a franchise that’s 26 years old, and that’s a little bit of a blessing and a curse,” he said. “It’s a blessing because we probably have one of the most passionate fanbases in the entire video game industry, and they’ve been on this journey with us for the past two decades, almost three decades. The curse side of it is that our fans have been around for a while, and there’s a whole younger generation. We think of them as digital natives; these are people who have grown up with everything from iTunes to Amazon, Facebook, and Twitter. That’s what they’re used to. For a franchise that’s 26 years old to appeal to that audience while still pleasing our core that’s grown up with us is really a challenge.”</span>The team wanted to reach out to a younger audience, with Hart being the key player, since his style of comedy is quite popular with that audience. A number of YouTube celebrities were also brought in for the commercial, including Epic Meal Time host Harley Morenstein, who makes the announcement about Franco’s house fire.</p> <p>“You’re not going to attract a new audience with a feature,” Stevenson said. “You’re going to attract a new audience by catering to what they’re passionate about, which in this case is football, competition, and the celebrity talent they like that are in the creative…The goal with TV and digital is we want to get a new audience who’s not going to be attracted by ‘Hey, we’ve got a brand new way to do playcalling.’ That’s not going to appeal to them. What we’re trying to do is make them reconsider <em>Madden</em>, as, ‘Hey, Madden’s a cool brand. They get it. I love to compete, so this might be something for me.’</p> <p>“If you can get people to talk about your brand, to talk about your product in a positive way, ultimately that’s what’s going to lead to sales,” Stevenson said.</p> <p>He was also quick to point out the interactivity on Madden’s official Facebook page, with posts asking about real-time contests, and not just about the game itself. “That says nothing about the game,” Stevenson said. “Nothing at all. We’re not even talking about <em>Madden</em>, necessarily. But it’s on the Madden platform and we’re facilitating conversations amongst people with common interests. And if you can do that, that’s going to lead people to want to go learn more about the game. You don’t have to force feed it to them.”</p> <p>Share-worthy content seems to be the key to the new campaign. “There’s a lot of noise out there, a lot of brands putting out different pieces of creative, and the stuff that’s really going to bubble up and rises up, especially with this particular target, is something that’s share-worthy,” Stevenson concluded, stating, “We’re a week or so away from launch and now we have to make sure the whole world knows. And how do you do that You put out something that’s share-worthy and you let your audience basically become brand evangelists. They become a louder bullhorn than anything you could put on TV, or any amount of money you could put behind something on TV.”</p><div class="ad-wrapper row show-for-small-only"> <div class="ad-container ad-container-dfp">  <div id='div-gpt-ad-662b932da92bf' style='height:250px; width:300px;' class="midmobile"> <script> googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-662b932da92bf'); }); </script> </div>  </div> </div> <p><em>Madden NFL 15</em> arrives on August 26th for PS4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and Xbox 360.</p> <p>Source: <a href="http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-08-20-the-method-to-maddens-ad-madness" target="_blank">GamesIndustry International</a></p> <p> </p> <p>

Madden NFL 15’s Unusual Ad Blitz

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