The Circle Agency and EA aim for a perfect 10
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The EA Xmas Experience Tour is celebrating its tenth anniversary, visiting four centres across the UK to drive brand awareness, sales and pre-orders during the crucial Christmas trading period. Westfield Stratford, Manchester Arndale and Meadowhall in Sheffield will host the tour for 25 days from Thursday 29th November, opening a week later at Westfield Merryhill – a brand new centre for the campaign.
Consumers have the chance to play the latest games from EA; Need for Speed™ Most Wanted, Medal of Honor™ Warfighter, EA Sports FIFA 13, and Deadspace 3 (providing a chance to trial the game ahead of its official release date on 8th February 2013).
Activated by Circle Agency – which has devised, produced and implemented every aspect since 2003 – the campaign has grown significantly over the past ten years creating true legacy for the brand and evolving with the introduction of new technology and social media channels.
Penny Humphrey, head of brand experience at EA™, explained: “Back in 2002, we made our first foray into the discipline and toured shopping centres with just five gaming stations and one brand ambassador. Ten years on and it is one of EA’s longest running experiential campaigns worldwide. It is a powerful example of how successful experiential can be – driving incremental sales in our most crucial quarter.
“The EA Experience Tour is where EA UK’s experiential journey began and what proved to our stakeholders that we should continue to invest in this discipline. Although the central premise around the tour is trial – ten years has insured that we improve ROI consistently year-on-year by constantly evolving the mechanics, stand design, consumer journey, opportunity for trial, and overall brand theatre. And it’s worked. Consumers come back year after year and expect us as part of their Christmas shopping experience.”
Training has been vital to the success of the campaign and all brand ambassadors – even if they have worked on the tour for the past decade, as some have – undergo two days of extensive training. This year’s activation once again focuses on delivering hands on trial of EA’s latest games. EA Sports FIFA 13 will take centre stage, with daily tournaments and the chance to win a private party on board the EA Sports Dugout for ten people. A Need for Speed Most Wanted competition will also be run to win an iPad 2. A new iPad app version of ‘Get in the Game’, allows visitors to photograph themselves and choose one of many screenshots, which they can then share with their social networks.
Christmas sales will be immediately rewarded with a gift with purchase offer, a bespoke EA gift wrap pack which includes gift pack, ribbon, a gift card and while stocks last, a special gift relating to the game purchased.
