Sony PlayStation is looking to pump up the volume about its “NBA 08” video game with an interview contest that invites fans to yack about their favorite round-ballers, themselves included.
In its “Game or No Game” grassroots verbal challenge gamers submit videos of themselves holding forth about their favorite NBA players or teams at http://www.gameornogame08.com. Four contestants who PlayStation judges to be the best personalities will win a trip for the NBA All-Star game.
PlayStation is also conducting a six-city tour to San Antonio, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Miami with an interview couch in tow to interview NBA fans for the contest. The couch will be placed in local partners’ locations, including Hard Rock Cafes and ESPN Zones.
“We’re looking for creativity and knowledge of the NBA,” said Victor Koppel, an executive in creative partnerships at LeadDog Marketing Group, which designed the campaign.
LeadDog created a character, Dr. HasNo Game (who once had game, but lost it) to do the “guerrilla” interviews and dish out T-shirts, key chains and other PlayStation-branded goodies at the events.
The Game Or No Game contest and tour aims at giving PlayStation’s latest NBA game additional legs. The contest site carries clips of pixilated NBA icons from the video game alongside the clips of real people talking about them. Driving traffic to the site is a prime campaign objective, according to Koppel.
PlayStation and LeadDog will make the final picks for the four grand-prize winners. A PlayStation unit, and a copy of “NBA 08” autographed by Phoenix Suns forward Amare Stoudemire is the second-place prize. An autographed Suns Stoudemire jersey is the third-place prize.
PlayStation also will award 145 daily prizes of PlayStation units and autographed copies of the game while the contest runs through Oct. 18. Winners will be notified in late October or early November.
Network
