For some hardcore football fans, 2007 was a year to celebrate. Visual Concepts released their first football game since NFL 2K5 roughly 3 years ago when EA and the NFL agreed to an exclusive licensing deal. Fans rejoiced this year that a game, critically regarded as one of the best football games ever, would finally be getting a true successor.

In order to connect with these fans 2K embarked on a unique advertising campaign. Sure, there were TV spots, print ads, web banners and all the usual elements, but one thing stood out: web episodes. On the game's official website, six different rap artists lay down the truth as to why "the game is back," connecting with the fans at their level. The campaign's tagline is "Football Resurrected."

We talked to Tim Rosa, Director of Brand & Lifestyle Marketing at 2K Sports and Jason Zada, Executive Creative Director and Co Founder of EVB, about what went into this unique gaming ad campaign.

Sometimes, the way that ad campaigns are pitched and put together takes a lot of collaboration and brain storming. Turns out "Football Resurrected" came together rather naturally by contrast. The choice of EVB, an advertising company not traditionally associated with video games, also was a good fit for what 2K Sports was trying to do with All-Pro Football 2K8.

"2K Sports was bringing football back, so 'Football Resurrected' was a phrase that we just kept on coming back to, so we decided to position it as the official theme of the campaign," said Rosa. "It was a great mantra for the campaign and shows exactly what we're trying to do; bringing back the legends of the game and 2K Sports coming back with football."

"Through creative development, it's one of the lines that came up that we really liked, that football would have this rebirth," agreed Zada. "The campaign is a huge celebration of football in general, that it is being resurrected through the game."

"We met 2K at the beginning of the year and they liked the job we did with an Adidas campaign," continued Zada. "As an ad agency, we've done a lot of work with Major League Soccer, the NBA, NFL, etc. and they thought our work was innovative so they gave us a call. We understand 'lifestyle marketing' well and that led us to integrate [the ads] with the soundtrack."

Perhaps the most noticeable aspect of the "Football Resurrected" campaign is the list of well known artists signed on to promote the title. Rakim, M-1, Charli 2na and others (all of whom contributed to All-Pro Football 2K8's soundtrack) rapped about individual players or aspects of the gameplay. Legendary music video director Maz Makhani was also on hand as director of photography.

"We kicked this off with Rakim in the first episode and so we wanted to shoot him from the start because he's a legend and he'd focus on Jerry Rice, who is the spokesman for our game," said Rosa. "Rakim really killed it; he did a great job. After I watch it, I want to run across the room and tackle Mike Reinhart in our baseball division!"

"For promoting the game, there is the music tour that DJ Z Trip is doing. He mashed together a bunch of great tracks for it," described Zada. "Once we saw the artists, we thought it would be great to use these artists for the campaign. What we did fits with the general theme that 2K left the scene in 2005 and have decided to come back and then there's hundreds of classic players that are back and there's also the small little touches that the No Fun League won't allow that are back. By partnering with the NFL, you're bound by what the NFL does. For League purists, it might be good, but for others, they want to have smack talk and late hits and end-zone dances; it makes the game much more playable."

"I was surprised in working with the artists for this game," added Rosa. "There's always a process in contacting stars, with agents and whatnot, and sometimes you're not sure if you've connected directly with them. So the first time in the L.A. Coliseum (where the videos were shot), we were introduced to Rakim and he said, 'I just want you to know that I've been playing 2K Sports since the Dreamcast guys.' All of those guys are passionate gamers. For them, being included in a 2K soundtrack and game is a big deal. They respect our strategy with our music licensing and we've always made great games, but the past few years we've made a better connection with our fans and music artists."

"Maz is a legendary director of photography," he continued. "He's just so talented, and has great vision and he nailed it for us. Even with some of the constraints imposed he came through."

"Maz was great to work with, though I directed the clips and he framed the shots," agreed Zada. "The thing with all of these rappers is that they are all gamers. When they read the scripts, they really got into it; they said it was like something they'd say. There's this raw energy it brought out. It was a pleasure to work with them, and they brought an intensity that you just can't fake."

We recognized the uniqueness of 2K's campaign before even viewing the two-minute episodes. After watching them, however, the high level of energy that these well known rap artists brought to the episodes was immediately evident. The episodes gave a voice to the fans, echoing their sentiment and tapping into the raw energy of rap at its best.

"We always try and release great soundtracks for all of our games, and in this case, we wanted to create great content that was connected to the artists as well," said Rosa. "We did that by tying in the theme of 'Football Resurrected' with each episode focused on a player or a gameplay element. We have the tagline and theme of 'Football Resurrected' included in traditional media and the soundtrack, so extending it into the online episodes complements the entire campaign."

"[EVB] does digital content marketing and we try to figure out what the consumer wants to see and participate in and we try to make those pieces come to life," commented Zada. "For me, I'm a big next-gen gamer and I got the 360 and PS3 the second they came out, and I get a lot of content from the Live Marketplace. So we decided, 'Instead of trailers, let's have something with more of an emotional resonance.' We really wanted to connect with the fan in places like PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, YouTube, our own website... where we know the consumer will be. With each episode, we get just the right balance of the game play footage and the celebration of the game itself."

While it is unknown at this point how consumers are going to react long-term to All-Pro Football 2K8, all the right moves have seemingly been made with the ad campaign. "Football Resurrected" has high production values and an air of credibility often missing in ads. With EVB working on the campaign for NBA 2K8, hopefully more of these ads "speaking to the fan" will make an appearance in the future.

"2K is the challenger brand, and if we can make more of an emotional connection with our fanbase than the competition, then that's a great step forward. We're focusing on tactics that are more culturally relevant to our fans. We've always had a great reputation for games, but we're finally getting our marketing right. In the past, we were content to challenge the 800 lb. gorilla on its own terms. Coming out with this game was more for our fans and not necessarily to challenge Madden. I'm not saying we screwed up our marketing in the past, but back then we may not have articulated why our product is better. EA Sports has a 17-year legacy, and by contrast, we've been three brands in under five years (Sega Sports, then ESPN Sports, then 2K Sports). We're making strides right now to make sure 2K sports does succeed and you're going to clearly understand why we make the best sports games," concluded Rosa.