For the debut of “Madden NFL 16,” EA Sports’ flagship football video game, the company is going Hollywood.
The launch activities for the game, set for release Tuesday, are based on a five-minute viral video called “Madden: The Movie” that builds substantially upon last year’s “Madden Season” clip. Actor Dave Franco, who starred in last year’s video with comedian Kevin Hart, is back, and the clip again focuses on a theme of how the release of “Madden NFL” each year can turn longtime friends into rivals.
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“Madden: The Movie” anchors EA Sports’ campaign for this year’s Madden release. Among the stars (from left): Colin Kaepernick as Al Pacino, Rex Ryan and Dave Franco.
Photo by: ELECTRONIC ARTS
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But rather than spoof a music video as “Madden Season” did last year, “Madden: The Movie” instead mirrors a big-budget action film trailer and also features a bevy of NFL players, including Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, as well as Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan and actor Christopher Mintz-Plasse, best known as McLovin in 2007’s “Superbad.”
“Madden: The Movie” continues the digitally focused marketing plan EA Sports introduced last year for “Madden NFL,” in which the company bases much of its activity on YouTube and social channels such as Facebook and Twitter. The clip will be cut into several shorter versions and will also be used on EA Sports’ own website and on platforms of key partner ESPN.
The “Madden Season” video last year became the most widely viewed piece of content in Electronic Arts history, with more than 16 million views on YouTube alone, and it won an array of advertising and marketing awards. The challenge for EA Sports, again working with San Francisco-based agency Heat and director Wayne McClammy, is going beyond the achievements of last year’s clip.
“The movie theme was a clear next step,” said Anthony Stevenson, EA Sports vice president of global marketing and brand. “It’s become a great way to tell a brand narrative. The movie trailer ties into the game’s theme of being a playmaker but doesn’t hit you over the head with specifics about game features. It’s much more about the culture and celebration around ‘Madden.’”
“Madden NFL” traditionally is one of the industry’s top-selling sports gaming titles, with about 5 million units in annual sales and a growing digital services component.
In one of the more farcical moments of “Madden: The Movie,” Kaepernick appears as actor Al Pacino in his role in “Scent of a Woman.” That movie was released in 1992, before some of EA Sports’ target audience for “Madden NFL 16” was even born. The company will work with Google to track searches related to “Scent of a Woman,” which will in turn give a window into the level of the viral nature for “Madden: The Movie.”
“We did wonder initially if that was going to go over the heads of some of our audience, but it turned out to be one of the best parts of the video,” Stevenson said.
EA Sports executives declined to detail the marketing budget for “Madden NFL 16.” Traditionally, the spend has hovered in the low eight figures annually. Stevenson said this year’s figure is similar but is focused on greater efficiency with the heightened digital and social aims. The budget also considers a longer marketing window, reflecting Electronic Arts’ transition from less of a packaged goods company to more of a year-round provider of digital entertainment services.
The company last year followed “Madden Season” with a popular “Giferator” offering, in which real-life NFL highlights could be re-created as “Madden NFL” animations. The “Giferator” won its own collection of industry accolades, and Stevenson said a supplemental marketing plan for beyond “Madden: The Movie” is in development.
