EA SPORTS leads the category of sports video games, but in 2008, sales were in decline. Blockbuster titles like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty and casual games like Wii Sports and Guitar Hero put the squeeze on the entire genre of sports video games.

Our goal was to lift not just sales of EA’s games, but for sports video gaming as a whole. So we set out to find a galvanizing truth that would breathe new life into the brand and category, and found a powerful driver for playing sports games: We play to win.

Armed with this insight, we connected the brand to the universal joy of winning. This reminded competitive spirits of all stripes the fun they could be feeling with EA SPORTS.

After all, there is no win like a sports win.

The new brand idea was announced not with a big bang but in a more conversational manner. The day after the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Superbowl victory, EA SPORTS President Peter Moore wrote about “The Win” on his blog.The big announcement did arrive several months later in the form of an anthemic brand TV spot. In a first for the company– and perhaps the entire video game category – the ad showcased the entire lineup of EA SPORTS titles. Our media plan reinforced the message, with the TV spots debuting during the NBA and NHL finals.A digital experience on EA SPORTS website took the campaign further by offering a variety of perspectives on winning, from pro athletes talking about their most influential victories to gamers sharing their most epic wins.The Win extended into social media spaces, the company’s blogs and even packaging.

So what about the results? The sports video game genre relative to others increased 25% from the previous year, exceeding our goals for expanding market and category share. And we started a new conversation with our consumers, with hundreds of people on YouTube, Twitter and EASPORTS.com talking about winning in sports and sports video games.