Madden NFL 12 Post-MortemThe Madden NFL franchise is a 23-year-old football game series by Electronic Arts that still ends up among the top software sellers every year. The series is named after John Madden, former Raiders coach and well-known color commentator, and is now available for Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP, 3DS, iPhone, iPad, and Android. This year's release was made more dramatic by the NFL lockout, which put the NFL season into question from March 11 to July 25, when a new agreement was signed and the lockout ended.
IndustryGamers interviewed Anthony Stevenson, Director of Marketing for Madden NFL, about the marketing of Madden NFL 12. Our comments on the marketing are indicated in the Notes.
IndustryGamers: What was the marketing budget for Madden NFL 12, if you can reveal that number? How did that compare to previous Madden NFL marketing budgets?
Anthony Stevenson: I don't want to give the exact number, but we did decide to spend even more this year than we ever have before, because of the NFL lockout. We invested in the belief that there was going to be a season, even though nobody knew for sure. We have a TV budget in partnership with various companies like Wal-Mart and others. We were surprised that nobody was really that concerned about spending on Madden. They believed in Madden, and believed there would be a season. A large part of the increase in our spending was our partners stepping up and helping out. Madden is typically in the top 2 [best-selling games of the year]; we contended it would be top 10 if not top 5, even if there was no season. They [our retail partners] rely on Madden to be a big seller for them, so they would go with it.
Note: Other sources indicated the marketing budgets for Madden NFL 12 are in the tens of millions of dollars. Marketing budgets for products like this are often supplemented by cooperative deals with partners (like major retailers) who share costs of certain advertising and promotional items. It's an effective way to stretch your marketing budget, but it only works if you have strong relationships with deep-pocketed partners and a top-selling title that partners will want to invest in.
IG: How was the budget divided between advertising, events and other categories? How did this marketing plan differ from the marketing plan for Madden 11?
AS: I like to use the phrase “the new normal.” Our media budget has evolved quite a bit over the last few years, due to social media. Our fan base is very diverse, and some have been with us for 23 years. We used to focus the lion's share of our marketing budget around our core fans, figuring they could bring everyone else with them. In the last few years our social media has been doing a great job engaging our core fans, which allows us to shift more of the [marketing budget] mix into TV. At least half the overall spend is in formal advertising.
Note: Social media like Facebook and Twitter have been a gift to marketers, letting them engage and motivate their fan base in a very inexpensive way. Social media still feeds off of information and encouragement from the publisher, and thus requires dedicated attention. Promotions and events tied to social media are often based in print or TV ads, creating a self-reinforcing marketing campaign.
"The biggest surprise was I thought we'd have to walk into partners' offices and convince them to come aboard, but I couldn't have been more wrong."
IG: What were the key marketing efforts, the ones you feel had the most impact on sales?
AS: It's hard to say; we do so much over so many platforms and media, it's hard to pinpoint one. I can tell you the cover vote was first and foremost, it was critical. If you think about the situation after the Superbowl, we started to have fans and media ask us “Will Madden still come out?” We knew we had to work hard to get the message out. We have tremendous partners in the NFL and the Player's Association, we knew it was getting done. The whole point of the cover vote was, there's a lot of negative conversation among fans, so how could we let fans know the game was still coming? We started in March, over 5 or 6 weeks, we whittled it down to Michael Vicks and Peyton Hllis… we had generated over 6 times the media coverage and impressions, all driven by social media, all driven by the interest of fans. We took the one asset we had, actual sports fans, and gave them a chance to speak out. It became something bigger than the video game. At the end, there wasn't a single person asking if the game was still coming out. We have such a passionate fan base, they let us know what they like and what they don't like. I think our fans don't want to be marketed to, they want to be marketed with.
Note: Electronic Arts held a vote among their fan base to determine who would appear on the cover of Madden NFL 12. In the past EA has made the choice of the cover athlete, so this year's determination to let the fans decide was a huge change. On March 21, 2011, EA began a bracket-style 32 player tournament to determine the cover athlete. One player was selected from each team, and EA then let the fans vote, and of course this process was given a lot of play in the media. The fans used the opportunity to get involved with their teams and rally support for their choices, which created more engagement and enthusiasm among the fan base. The brackets finally narrowed down to Peyton Hillis of the Cleveland Browns and Michael Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles, and Cleveland fans came through with a finally tally of 66% to 34% for Vick. The winner was announced on ESPN's SportsNation, which shows just how well this marketing tactic paid off in PR value.
IG: How did the NFL lockout affect marketing plans?
AS: In years past, we would spend so much money in the beginning of August. The TV ads are talking to the mass fans, but they're not fully engaged in early August. So it made so much more sense to move the launch closer to the football season launch when fans were engaged.
Note: Part of the challenge of marketing is being able to deal with the unexpected, and even use it to your advantage. As in football, sometimes your play collapses and you have to improvise.
IG: How would you describe the outcome of your marketing efforts?
AS: Results were fantastic, sales were up 10%, which we attributed to grabbing more football fans because of the date change.
Note: That's pretty good, considering overall software sales are down for the last year. Fans could have been annoyed at football because of the lockout and labor dispute, and disinclined to pick up a new version of a game that's been around in similar form for years. Boosting sales 10% over last year has to be considered a solid marketing achievement.
IG: Were there any surprises in the results of particular marketing efforts, good or bad?
AS: We had to plan for three scenarios: no season, half season, or a full season. The biggest surprise was I thought we'd have to walk into partners' offices and convince them to come aboard, but I couldn't have been more wrong. They invested in a big way, more so than ever before.
IG: Any key Madden marketing efforts coming up for the next few months?
AS: Our TV creative is airing now; we do a lot through the course of the season, following the rhythm of the season. We do a lot on Facebook to let the fans weigh in. The Madden Ultimate team is constantly releasing new content during the season. Holiday above-the-line [spending on advertising and promotions] is the big one; we're really excited because we're going to do some things differently. Madden has been atop the best 5 or 6 bestsellers during the holiday over the past several years. Recognizing that's a big deal, we're going to get behind it in a big way, do some things we've never done before.
Note: It's important to keep the marketing efforts going throughout the season to maximize the overall sales. This game is the perfect gift for a football fan, so strong advertising in the next couple of months can be very productive. Certainly EA wants this title to be among the top software sellers for the year, and they need to spend marketing dollars to make that happen.
IG: How is Madden NFL 12 doing on mobile platforms? Any plans for the PS Vita?
AS: iPhone and iPad are doing great. Mobile platforms have given us another way to reach mass football fans. Fans who say, 'I've never played Madden before,' here's a way to try it out. It's an onboarding platform; it's almost like a demo for the console games. It allows us to reach fans in a whole different way. Hopefully they love the experience and go to other venues. The next step is how we connect the mobile platform experience to the console experience. We'll always try to be there for any new consoles.
Note: Creating new versions for the PS Vita, the Wii U or other new platforms is almost a given for a hit game like Madden. What's different here is the potential to get buyers on a mobile platform to buy the same game for a console, and to perhaps cross-connect those players in the future.
IG: What does the future hold for the Madden NFL franchise? How do you keep the success going?
AS: We are so lucky to have the fan base that we do. From the day they get it they are telling us what they want to see improved and what they like. With online communities, we changed the way fans and friends play online. We will continue to innovate with the technology. We are really fortunate to have the fans we do, and the growth of the NFL as a sport means there are more new fans to reach, and we'll look for more ways to reach them. At some point new consoles will come out and we'll get to harness that power. As technology evolves, we'll evolve with it.
IG: Final thoughts?
AS: We rely on the fans to make this franchise what it is. Go out and pick up a copy of the game!
Note: And so we veer from marketing into sales with the classic sales technique ABC: Always Be Closing. As a marketer, you never want to miss a chance to increase sales of your game. What better way to end an interview than to encourage readers to buy the game? The marketing for Madden NFL 12 is a classic big-budget production, with lots of media spending. They've also worked hard on promotions, social media, and marketing through partners. One thing that stands out in this marketing battle, though: They have no real competition since EA has the exclusive NFL license. If you want to play a football game, you really don't have any other choices if you want to see your NFL teams on the screen. Marketing gets harder when there's an opponent on the field. With this game, EA's competition is mostly last year's Madden game, and they've managed to beat that by 10%, which is a definite win. Next year's battle will be 10% tougher than this year, and those marketing efforts will begin as soon as these efforts tail off.
