Late 2019 saw the launch of an innovative, animated crossover campaign from EASports NHL and Adidas featuring superstars from both the NFL and the NBA.
The Minnesota Vikings receiver Adam Thielen, star of the Pittsburgh Steelers offence JuJu Smith-Schuster’s and the Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry’s make a splash in the world of CHEL (slang for the NHL video game series) and Hockey Ultimate Team, as well as being playable characters in ‘NHL ONES Now’.
The super hero style cartoon campaign not only introduces the athletes as a playable character in ‘NHL Ones Now’, but also come with story-driven signature apparel drops which are available for purchase both in-game and in the real world.
From Lowry’s maple syrup drip and Thielen’s sizzling threads, to Smith-Schuster’s scooped fit viewers and fans are encouraged to watch for them in real-world competition and, of course, buy their signature ranges..
The campaign is spearheaded by a stylish, animated spot and was launched in-game, online and across social media.
The creative promotes the trio’s range of hoodies, jerseys, and skates all of which can be purchase at adidas.com.
Take on reigning NBA Champion @Klow7 in his #NHL20 Featured Squad Battle NOW in Hockey Ultimate Team! pic.twitter.com/DoK8ezOHKA
— #NHL20 (@EASPORTSNHL) November 21, 2019
Take @TeamJuJu @Klow7 & @athielen19 onto the pond in #NHL20 https://t.co/XbAxDTWEXi pic.twitter.com/Wkn7yisqRk
— #NHL20 (@EASPORTSNHL) November 9, 2019
Thielen’s Bar Down Lounge
Adam Thielen is known for grilling secondaries, just like some of the best steaks that come out of Minneapolis… some of the best in the World. Get the ‘Bar Down Lounge’ adidas gear in-game and play with Thielen in Ones Nows.
Klow’s Syrup Shack
Pancakes as his pre-game meal, Kyle Lowry has embraced Canada, Maple Syrup and all. This collab throws back to the classic purple, showing deep respect for the city of Toronto. Get the ‘Syruo Shack’ adidas gear in-game and play with Lowry in Ones Now.
Juju Smith-Schuster’s Scooper Stars
On-field dominance, off-field swagger, JuJu serves up all the flavors of Pittsburgh. This Neapolitan ice-cream inspired collab represents the 3-river city and 3-stripe life. Get the ‘Scooper Star’ adidas gear in-game and play with JuJu in One’s Now.
Fans and players are also encouraged to challenge each athlete’s Squad Battle to get their home jersey:
Thielen’s Squad Battle started on 7 November and was in-game for one week, JuJu’s on 14 November and was in-game for one week and Lowry’s Squad Battle started on 21 November and was in-game for one week.
All six jerseys were also available in HUT packs.
In the world of Chel all the gear is earnable through the Weekly Challenge card
The campaign was produced by Laundry which also handled the design and animation and the team was led by partner/executive creative director PJ Richardson.
Comment:
The campaign’s objective was to give hockey some of the same culturally-driven coolness seen in NBA or NFL-inspired design and streetwear.
“The conceptual challenge was to explain how everything works and also give each athlete and brand partner their moment in the spots,” says Richardson.
“We came up with a simple narrative that each athlete is crashing the CHEL, and using their different moves and athletic abilities – whether it’s dunking or faking out a secondary – in their journey to the NHL as a fan. This way, we were able to show off their unique personalities and image recognition as superstars, some of their custom gear, such as hoodies, jerseys, and skates, and then tie everything back into the NHL.”
“There were a lot of layers to the message of this campaign, so we had to come up with an animation solution that not only generated excitement, but also kept the athletes and their respective apparel front and centre with visual continuity,” concludes Richardson. “This approach also enabled us to do some dynamic things in terms of camera moves, transitions, and character designs. EA was extremely open and collaborative every step of the way and we had a blast working with them.”
Thus far the spot has notched up 8,659 EA Sports NHL YouTube views since its 7 November launch.
Links:
EA Sports NHL
https://www.ea.com/games/nhl/nhl-20
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLydKeNR8rf-yoUu9J2acMg
https://twitter.com/EASPORTSNHL
https://www.facebook.com/EASPORTSNHL/
adidas
https://www.youtube.com/user/adidas
https://www.facebook.com/adidas
https://www.instagram.com/adidas/
Laundry
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.