Ferdinand Joins EA Sports For UFC Launch
Rio Ferdinand has teamed up with EA Sports UFC to launch the first ‘true generation’ sports title on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with the former Manchester United defender teaming up with UFC fighter, Brad Pickett, to film an exclusive training camp to drive awareness of the title.
Ferdinand, who ended a 12 year stay at Manchester United this summer, launched the content to his combined social media reach of over 10 million consumers over the weekend.
The piece, produced and delivered by Mojofuel, takes on the ‘Feel the Fight’ global marketing campaign as UFC fighter, Brad Pickett, puts one of the UFC’s biggest fans through his paces.
As part of the campaign, Brad will teach Rio the fundamentals of the sport derived from Muay Thai, Brazilian Jujitsu and wrestling before putting the moves into practice in the Octagon with a light sparring session.
The content, which uses WIREWAX, enables the viewer to engage with interactive titles that appear throughout the content, once the tag is clicked, viewers get an in-depth tutorial on how Rio was taught the UFC move and exclusive in-game content.
The consumer can engage with six tags which show Brad demonstrating the leg kick, overhand right, single leg takedown, combination punches, Muay Thai clinch defence and triangle choke defence to Rio.
The interactive content can be watched on mobile, tablet and desktop, with the full interactive experience travelling with the video wherever it lives, allowing viewers to watch, interact and share from anywhere.
Steve Callanan, CEO of WIREWAX, said: ‘We are thrilled to partner with EA Sports on the EA Sports UFC trailer. We believe that in today’s world, there are fewer opportunities to engage your audience and brands need to make the most of them. Mirroring how users take full command of their video game experience, we’ve handed over the controls to the audience – allowing them to touch and click on tags of interest to dive deeper into the content – providing a really unique experience for the viewer.’
‘When we first developed the creative for EA Sports UFC to deliver Brad showing Rio what it meant to feel the fight, we knew we had a compelling story to tell. WIREWAX enabled us to create a truly interactive experience for our highly engaged audience, providing an unique consumer journey as you switch between training camp, exclusive game play and action,’ said Gareth Arculus, communications manager, EA Sports.
