NFL STREET - EA SPORTS "Word On The Street"
EA’s Madden NFL series consistently is one of the top selling video games in North America every year and the biggest selling football game since its introduction in 1995. In 2003, EA Sports readied the release of NFL Street, 7 on 7, pick-up-and-play football featuring NFL stars and legends battling in Urban settings where TD celebrations, trash talking and smashing opponents into garbage cans is encouraged.
Unlike Madden, this was a new, unproven title. EA salespeople needed to convince seasoned buyers from Walmart, Best Buy, Target, GameStop, Electronics Boutique and others that this was going to be a hot title, aking to their hugely successful NBA Street franchise,,,,, and worth a bigger buy in. However, unlike NBA Street, which was born from the blacktops and schoolyards that had been celebrated on TV and sponsored by Nike, And1 among others. With gaming and mass retail initial orders at 350,000 units, EA was way short of projections.
We believed that buyers needed to sense, first hand, the incredible feedback and anticipation for NFL STREET, to garner a larger commitment. To do this, we created a quick hit, 3-minute, unscripted video, WORD ON THE STREET, that captured the enthusiasm, impact, buzz and anticipation for NFL STREET from a wide range of target consumers from various ages groups, ethnicities and gaming levels (serious, football enthusiast and casual), The participants were given a 10-minute overview of the game and then were handed the controllers to play. We simply captured their reactions.
Armed with WORD ON THE STREET, EA went back to retail - providing buyers with this simple, yet powerful evidence that NFL STREET warranted a bigger buy-in with POS support. EA attributed WORD ON THE STREET as the catalyst to increasing initial retail orders to over 600,000 units.
Unlike Madden, this was a new, unproven title. EA salespeople needed to convince seasoned buyers from Walmart, Best Buy, Target, GameStop, Electronics Boutique and others that this was going to be a hot title, aking to their hugely successful NBA Street franchise,,,,, and worth a bigger buy in. However, unlike NBA Street, which was born from the blacktops and schoolyards that had been celebrated on TV and sponsored by Nike, And1 among others. With gaming and mass retail initial orders at 350,000 units, EA was way short of projections.
We believed that buyers needed to sense, first hand, the incredible feedback and anticipation for NFL STREET, to garner a larger commitment. To do this, we created a quick hit, 3-minute, unscripted video, WORD ON THE STREET, that captured the enthusiasm, impact, buzz and anticipation for NFL STREET from a wide range of target consumers from various ages groups, ethnicities and gaming levels (serious, football enthusiast and casual), The participants were given a 10-minute overview of the game and then were handed the controllers to play. We simply captured their reactions.
Armed with WORD ON THE STREET, EA went back to retail - providing buyers with this simple, yet powerful evidence that NFL STREET warranted a bigger buy-in with POS support. EA attributed WORD ON THE STREET as the catalyst to increasing initial retail orders to over 600,000 units.
