It’s a brand new period for generations of soccer and gaming followers. Final yr, writer EA Sports activities break up with FIFA, soccer’s international governing physique, ending a three-decade licensing deal. The breakup signifies that one of the crucial in style and enduring gaming franchises can now not name itself FIFA and has been renamed to EA Sports activities FC as of this yr.
For EA, this presents a big advertising problem—for whereas the title FIFA is ubiquitous, gamers could also be much less acquainted with the writer’s identify. Now, EA has unveiled its new id to followers and is making an attempt to cement its place within the material of soccer because it enters an important interval for the model.
“We felt an immense accountability to successfully rebrand one of many largest properties in sports activities leisure—no imply feat,” David Jackson, vice-president of brand name at EA Sports activities FC, advised Adweek.
EA Sports activities sums up its transition like this: it’s evolving from “a online game product powered by international [soccer] to a worldwide [soccer] platform powered by a number of video video games,” in accordance with Jackson. “This is among the causes we made the seismic resolution to carve our personal path and our personal model.”
EA nonetheless has greater than 300 licensed companions, with entry to over 19,000 athletes throughout 700 groups and 30 leagues. However with the identify change, “shopper confusion is comprehensible–FIFA has been synonymous with the sport for many years,” Jackson stated.
‘Hidden in plain sight’
The rebranding course of started about 18 months in the past when EA consulted sports activities media enterprise Copa90. One of many truths they uncovered was that the sport “is a kind of generational properties, just like the Marvels or Star Wars of the world. It sits in that rarefied house, the place mother and father could play with their youngsters or siblings play with one another,” he stated.
EA then employed London-based company Unusual Artistic Studio to develop its new model id and emblem. Throughout the temporary that EA issued to Unusual, this line jumped out on the inventive crew: “[Soccer] is available in many colours however only a few shapes.”
