Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has launched a pan-European user-generated content campaign with the UEFA Champions League to build brand association between PlayStation and football.
The entertainment giant has rolled out the campaign, PlayStation Freestylers, encouraging teenagers to upload footage of themselves performing tricks and skills to a dedicated YouTube channel.
The best entrants, judged by a panel including Freestyle football champion Dan Magnus, will win a place at the PlayStation Freestylers Grand Final at the Champions Festival in Rome, with the winner carrying the ball onto the pitch during the Champions League Final at the Stadio Olimpico on 27 May.
The activity is the first by SCEE to incorporate user-generated content into a major campaign, and the first time the brand has looked to directly link itself with football.
A SCEE spokesman said, "While we've worked with football game publishers in the past, we haven't connected the PlayStation brand with football like this before.
"It's the right target audience for PlayStation and gets people really involved," he added.
The SCEE competition echoes a similar campaign by Ford and Mindshare for last season's Champions League competition, which encouraged people to create their own versions of the Ford Champions League idents. The best were then broadcast during the Champions League final last May.
The SCEE spokesman said the PlayStation Freestylers campaign demonstrated the company's shift towards user-generated content in its marketing strategy.
"UGC is a big part of what we're doing," he said. "Little Big Planet lets users create their own levels and share them, while a community has built up aroundSingstar. Our ads now use real gamers who we've contacted through social network groups."
PlayStation Freestylers was developed by Jardine International and ex-Tottenham player John Scales.
Thanks newmediaage
Well I personally think that is a positive move. What do you think...
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