The Sports Life

EVB and 2K Sports Launch Lifestyle Marketing Campaign -- 'Football Resurrected' Marks 2K Sports' Return to Football

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) July 26, 2007 -- EVB, a digital content marketing firm, is unveiling a lifestyle marketing campaign today called "Football Resurrected" for video game publisher, 2K Sports. The campaign celebrates 2K Sports' return to the football video game market with All-Pro Football 2K8, a virtual football game developed by Visual Concepts featuring over 240 football legends including John Elway, Jerry Rice and Barry Sanders. 2K Sports ceased production of football games in 2004 when competitor, Electronic Arts, received exclusive game rights to use the NFL license.

To launch All-Pro Football 2K8 on July 18, EVB developed "Football Resurrected," a campaign that blends hip-hop, sports and video game cultures to connect with next-generation gamers and football fanatics through engaging content. EVB carried out its core digital concept across television, print, online, wild postings, street teams, packaging and logo design.

"We took a fresh approach to reintroduce 2K Sports to football gaming by utilizing a single digital idea that seamlessly extends across platforms, engages users and encourages them to interact with the 2K Sports brand," said Jason Zada, EVB Executive Creative Director. "Football Resurrected reaches consumers on a personal level, inviting them with original content that speaks to their passion for virtual football and music."

Kicking off the campaign, EVB developed a series of episodic videos, featuring past and present hip-hop luminaries, who poetically rhyme about the resurrection of 2K Sports. The six, two-minute episodes were directed and scripted by EVB's Jason Zada and feature artists including Rakim, Chali 2Na from Jurassic 5, Pep Love & Casual of Hieroglyphics, M-1 from Dead Prez, and Aceyalone. The first three episodes, "Rice Returns," "Give Me Real Football," and "Barry is Back" are now available for download on YouTube, Xbox Live? & Sony PLAYSTATION@3 websites and a dedicated All-Pro Football 2K8 website, http://www.FootballResurrected.com More digital episodes, including "My House My Rules" and "Singletary Hunts Again" will continue to launch through August 8.

Using the same episodic content, EVB developed "Football Resurrected" television spots. The 30 second and 15 second commercials feature a shortened version of Rakim standing inside a stadium tunnel where he freestyle rhymes about using Jerry Rice, the retired wide receiver and "Dancing with the Stars" participant, as a character in All-Pro Football 2K8. The TV spots air July 13 through August 12 on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, NFL Network, MTV, MTV2, BET, USA, Comedy Central, FX, G4, Spike, SciFi and TBS.

EVB developed print advertisements and street team posters that reflect each artist's episode by incorporating key elements of the artist's poetic performance into the print designs. Print ads will run in July, August and September editions of music, lifestyle and gaming publications. Street teams and wild postings will occur in conjunction with the 2K Sports national music tour from July 23 to August 25. The tour will host performances from legendary hip-hop artists in over 20 U.S. cities, including New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

"Football Resurrected complements our overall strategy because we wanted to return with not only an innovative game but a marketing campaign that reflects our originality and knowledge of our consumer," said Tim Rosa, Director of Brand & Lifestyle Marketing, 2K Sports. "Developing a videogame trailer is the traditional approach, so we created something less in-your-face and more about interesting, useful content. EVB's expertise in producing engaging content made them the right partner to achieve this vision."

About EVB, Inc

EVB (http://www.evb.com) is a leading digital content marketing agency that specializes in idea-driven, multi-platform marketing campaigns that act to engage and persuade the modern consumer in any medium. EVB is about engagement, not disruption, speaking to consumers on their terms. EVB's consumer-centric approach blends strategy with entertainment and interactivity to develop pioneering marketing campaigns that generate brand awareness, deepen consumer relationships and instill long-term brand loyalty. EVB was founded in 2000 by industry veterans, Daniel Stein and Jason Zada. The company directs marketing and digital media initiatives for brands such as adidas, Kellogg's, Wrigley, Microsoft, MTV and Office Max. In September 2006, EVB joined the Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC), a global leader in advertising, marketing and corporate communications.

About Omnicom Group

EVB is a part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (http://www.omnicomgroup.com ). Omnicom is a leading global advertising, marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, interactive, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.

# # #

MORE ARTICLES:

College Fanz Sports Network Announces Successful Close of Series A Round Private Placement: ESPN Founder making waves with his sports social ne
The College Fanz Sports Network today announced that it has successfully completed its Series A Round Investment.

RB Rankings - Players Worth The Price Of Football Tickets
Today we?ll continue our look at players who by themselves are worth the price of football tickets by ranking the RB?s in the NFL who are a cut above the rest. A good RB can make a bad team a threat and a good team great. The ?modern? RB presents a dual threat to opposing defenses, as the ?new breed? of RB can both run and catch. There are still throw-back types who smash defenses in the mouth all day long, but they are more easily defended than the RB who can sprint out into the flat, catch a pass and break off a big play. As usual, more than statistics go into these rankings.

Codes Of Conduct Affecting The National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is a multi-million dollar business that provides sports entertainment to millions of people around the world. As such, there is an extraordinary amount of expectations in place to ensure that every fan is entertained when they go to a game or come in contact with anything associated with the NBA. Some of those expectations are applied to the people who provide NBA products and services and others expectations apply to the players when they are on and off the court.

American Football Is Chess On A Playing Field
Cricket was once described as Chess on a Playing Field. Although they are two very different games, the same should be said of American football. This game is most often defined by the sheer physical nature of its play, but it is first and foremost a game of strategy.

Exclusive Live Coverage of CONCACAF Gold Cup 2007 Begins Next Thursday, June 7 on Fox Soccer Channel
Fox Soccer Channel kicks off its exclusive live coverage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2007 next Thursday, June 7, at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT with the U.S. Men's National Team battling Guatemala at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

4 Steps To A Perfect Basketball Shot
One of the first skills taught to budding basketball players is how to shoot the basketball Every kid goes into their first practice wanting to learn how to sink a shot and good coaches realize this

ALTRA Magazine Publishes Exclusive Behind the Scenes Photos of the Beijing Olympics Preparations in Their Winter 2007 Issue
On December 20th 2007, ALTRA Magazine published exclusive and compelling photos taken from behind the scenes of the 2008 Beijing Olympics construction sites, as well as its surrounding neighborhoods, for the "Countdown to the Beijing Olympics - Exclusive behind the scenes preparations" pictorial feature in their third issue - Winter 2007.

How To Improve Your Soccer Dribbling Skills
Soccer is a great game to be played, but it?s also a great game to be watched. Someone that?s not familiar with soccer might wonder what exactly it is that makes it the most popular sport on the planet.

OPEN Sports Announces Next-Generation Fantasy Football Commissioner That's Free for Life, Tackle the Pros Featuring Marshall Faulk, Marcus Allen, Ro
OPEN Sports (www.opensports.com), a new online sports entertainment destination and brainchild of Mike Levy, founder and former CEO of CBS Sportsline.com, is launching a new user-friendly lineup of interactive sports entertainment. New features include: a FREE for LIFE Fantasy Football Commissioner, Tackle The Pros Fantasy contest featuring former top football running back and future Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk and Pro Football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen along with NFL greats Jonathan Ogden, Rodney Peete, Roger Craig and Jason Sehorn.