automotive

GMC Gets Virtual On EA Sports Madden NFL 25



The Official Vehicle of the NFL is going to be the official vehicle of a digital NFL. General Motors' truck and crossover division, GMC, is signing for category exclusive backing of EA Sports Madden NFL 25 console game. The deal starts at the end of August when the 25th anniversary edition of the Madden NFL hits stores. The automaker says GMC vehicles -- the 2014 GMC Sierra pickup, Acadia crossover, and Terrain -- will, for the first time, be integrated into the gaming experience.

Vehicles will appear at various points during game play, including after a fictive Super Bowl victory, notes the General Motors unit. At that point the game’s digital MVP will be awarded a virtual vehicle. Also, the GMC Official Vehicle of the NFL logo, vehicle imagery and branding will be on scoreboards and in the advertising around the real stadiums that EA Sports has integrated into the game.

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The integration, per GMC, mirrors what the company does at venues as part of its Official Vehicle of the NFL relationship. During the NFL season, for example, GMC sponsors the “Never Say Never Moment of the Week,” which spotlights a superb athletic moment during the prior seven days. In the game those real moments can be replayed in-game at regular intervals throughout the season, assuming the player has an Internet connection and an Origin Account. 

GMC also has its name on an element in which game players can hand-pick the digital NFL team players, called GMC Collection of Professional Grade players.

An online sweepstakes that runs through July dangles a techie trip to EA Sports Tiburon studio in Orlando, where the winner gets a meet-and-geek with code jockeys for the game, plus the chance to test-drive Madden NFL 25 before it is released to the public. They will also be squired around town in the new Sierra.

Sandra Moore, director of GMC advertising and sales promotions, said in a release, that the game integration "Allows us to show that we’re a technologically savvy brand as well.” The integration also shines an indirect light on the fact that its vehicles have game-ready rear seat entertainment systems. 

GMC's sibling brand Chevrolet is also big in sports right now, with the MLB All-Star Game in New York at Citi Field where it’s getting a lot of brand activation touting Sierra’s sibling the 2014 Silverado pickup. In addition to branding at the venue, there are a pair of Silverados poised on risers mid-field. They just about got nailed a few times during Monday night’s Home Run Derby.

Separately, General Motors announced that Chevrolet has sold a record 2.5 million vehicles worldwide in the first six months this year, a 1.4% increase over the same period last year. The company says this is Chevrolet's 11th straight quarter of increased sales worldwide. 

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