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Garena and FIFA invite football fans to “Be the One"

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Southeast Asian online gaming brand Garena plan to capitalise on the football mania created by the 2014 World Cup, hyping the free EA Sports multiplayer football game, FIFA Online 3 with the help of  Saatchi & Saatchi Thailand. Garena was launched in 2009, and provides a platform for gamers in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines to play popular online games such as League of Legends, Point Blank, and, of course, FIFA Online 3. A next-generation sequel to the once popular, but now dated FIFA Online 2, FIFA Online 3 is currently the most popular sports game in Asia, with regular, heavily attended tournaments held in Thailand and Vietnam.

Garena was launched in 2009, and provides a platform for gamers throughout Southeast Asia to play popular online games

After days of gentle teasing via Southeast Asian football news sites, which were hijacked by Saatchi Thailand and Garena, who replaced the names of genuine football heroes with the names of Thai gamers, the “I Am The One” campaign has officially been launched with the “Messi's Arrival” spot. The spot reveals a limousine in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, surrounded by Argentinian football fans baying for a glimpse of the man inside. It's heavily implied that the man in question is Lionel Messi, the Argentina and FC Barcelona forward, and the face of FIFA Online 3, who is generally considered as one of the greatest footballers in the world. 'Messi' accepts a call from his manager, who tells him he is about the face “The battle of his life,” and that “The world is watching.” The camera then pans out to reveal a typical gamer in place of the beloved Argentinian football hero, followed by the tagline “I am the one,” and some footage of the game.

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The clip debuted the day before Messi and his national team defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the idea behind it is imagining the scene Messi might have experienced upon arriving in Brazil, seen through the eyes of a typical gamer, underlining the message that in FIFA Online, anyone can be 'the one'. Messi himself doesn't actually appear in the spot, but if he did, that would almost certainly detract from the campaign's message and theme. Saatchi Thailand and Garena have also launched a full website for FIFA Online 3, which will include an interactive version of the “Messi's Arrival” film, that will allow viewers insert their own faces into the clip.

Saatchi Thailand and Garena have also launched a full website for FIFA Online 3, which will include an interactive version of the “Messi's Arrival” film

Alongside the spot and the website, Saatchi Thailand will also be developing content based on results gleamed theough its 'Live Creativity' real-time social hub. Through this hub, they will be able to engineer content that reinforces and plays on the events of the World Cup as it progresses. Saatchi Thailand's executive creative director, Nuntawat Chaipornkaew explains how this work by offering a few examples: “When Brazil scored an own goal, our content team produced an ‘interview’ with a Thai player talking about how he just wanted to score the first goal. When Alonso lost a tooth, so did our stars. When Suerez hurt his knee, so did we.”

Official Saatchi & Saatchi Thailand Website

Official Garena Website

Official FIFA Online 3 Website

Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer, musician and (unfortunate) Manchester United supporter from Kidderminster in the UK. He used to think he was pretty good at FIFA, until he decided to play online. Never again.

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