EA Sports has created a new signature Ronaldo skill move, called the Tornado’ to sit at the heart of its launch campaign for the latest iteration of the world leading football game FIFA 18.
The worldwide campaign, running under the ‘More Than A Game’ tagline and developed in harness with creative agency Adam & Eve, promotes the worldwide launch of FIFA 18 on 29 September.
A front-and-centre feature of the marketing sees EA develop a new skill move unique to the new game, Ronaldo’s ‘El Tornado’, which sits at the heart of the lead campaign commercial.
The spot comes in long form online film formats (90-, 30- and 15-second versions), plus social story formats and it is rolling out across broadcast TV globally.
The move itself is a seamless dragback, flick, and spinning volley (hence ‘tornado’) and it has thus far never been attempted in a real professional game.
Yet!
Any professional player who can prove they can replicate the move in training will have EA unlock the skill move for their virtual likeness in the game.
The aim of introducing the new skills is not just to front the promotional work but also ‘permeate the culture of football, video games, and sport’.
The campaign sees not just footballers like Antoine Griezmann, Dele Alli (who showcases his own ‘El Tornado’ Facebook Camera Lens), but other sports stars such as NBA star James Harden, as well as artists give their take on the new move and get inspired by it
‘El Tornado’ is then leveraged by brands like adidas and Coke, who have developed their own versions of ‘El Tornado’ content.
It has also ‘inspired’ Run the Jewels to create their own bespoke track, called “Mean Demeanor (El Tornado Mix)”.
From in the game to on the pitch then across the globe, watch FIFA 18 cover star Cristiano Ronaldo, Antoine Griezmann, Dele Alli, and James Harden put their spin on the latest skill move from The World’s Game.
The campaign also spans digital and social platforms including Facebook,
Twitter,
#FIFA18 | More Than A Game. https://t.co/kmmyU2G4gd pic.twitter.com/wIvEMWaU1W
— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) September 28, 2017
(with support from Ronaldo himself and his 61m Twitter followers)
Show me your spin on it #FIFA18 @easportsfifa https://t.co/UdcqDeIgLu pic.twitter.com/0hDtXPdmTm
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) September 29, 2017
and on Instagram.
“EA SPORTS FIFA is an iconic gaming and entertainment franchise. The chance to build a new skill into a game so embedded in culture is a rare opportunity,” said Adan & Eve CEO Mat Goff.
“It’s been fantastic working with EA, the best footballing talent on the planet and the FIFA gaming community and we can’t wait to see El Tornado take the world by storm.”
The Adan & Eve team leading the campaign included Tim Vance, Paul Knott, Rasmus Smith-Bech and Jonas Roth, while the spot was directed by Adam Berg through Smuggler and the campaign’s media agency was Starcom.
Comment:
Fifa 18 has 50+ skill moves – including four new tricks.
But the campaign’s new signature skill move aims to help the ongoing shift of gaming’s positioning from niche community to wider culture influencer.
The idea that a humble, albeit wildly popular, video game influences culture and the game it mimics, is fascinating.
It is certainly true that players in the gaming community upload skills and stories which in turn gather traction through influencers in and beyond the gaming and football communities as mimics spawn numerous attempts to copy and create spin-offs across the cultural landscape.
The gaming tail is now wagging the football dog.
To the tune of 6m Facebook views and 2m YouTube views on EA Sports Fifa’s own channels since it was first posted on 28 September.
Other pre-launch phases and elements of the campaign included Coca-Cola sponsoring a virtual player in the game (see case study) and June’s teaser work (see case study).
Links:
EA Sports FIFA 18
https://www.facebook.com/easportsfifa
https://twitter.com/EASPORTSFIFA
https://www.instagram.com/easportsfifa/
Adam & Eve/DDB
