Five Tweets w/the Rhino:
EA Sports
Our second segment of Five Tweets with the Rhino takes us into the world of Sports Gaming…EA Sports: It’s in the Game!
With the company about to release some of the hottest sports games for the summer (Tiger Woods 11, NCAA 11 and Madden 11), we thought it was the perfect time to interview EA Sports Senior Community Manager Will Kinsler.
Kinsler oversees the entire North American EA SPORTS community manager team. His team is active on various social media sites such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook as well as traditional outlets, blogs and forums, etc.
The team spends a great deal of time communicating with fans about their games through EA Sports’ various websites; however, they also organize online events such as leagues, tournaments and community play dates to receive feedback on their games before launching to the public.
EA Sports has been well established in social media for the last couple of years, as their community forums date back prior to 2006 and are popular among gamers because of the access they receive to game developers for interaction and game input. Within the last year, Kinsler believes his team has become more organized around broader social media effort.
EA Sports has several sites for their different assortment of sports game titles, but here are a couple that Team Rhino suggest visiting:
Rhino side note: Kinsler is a must follow on Twitter @raczilla, not only because of his ability to inform his followers about everything related to EA Sports, but also because he mixes in tweets about all subjects, which include sports, news, life, family, etc. EA Sports is very lucky to have him as their Senior Community Manager, because he truly gets how SOCIAL MEDIA can reach their gamers directly and because he loves what he does for a living.
Now for the “Five Tweets with Will Kinsler” (Rhino Reminder: All questions are asked and answered in 140 characters or less!):
1. What valuable information does social media channels provide you in your day-to-day role with the team and your duties?
A. Social media channels give us direct access to what fans are saying about our games. It makes them accessible to us, and us to them.
2. The recent Doritos campaign to let fans choose Madden 11’s cover (Drew Brees won) was a brilliant idea to get fans involved. How did it go?
A. The Doritos campaign was very successful, and is part of a broader engagement where fans also voted on our demo and rookie ratings.
3. With three games about to launch and a new MMA game, what is one social media campaign or contest that people should be on the lookout for?
A. We have an NBA Jam facebook contest where fans have a shot at getting their catchphrase in the game. Check it out!
4. What are some of the most frequent topics EA fans want to discuss with your team?
A. That varies quite a bit. Some people care about rosters and ratings, others care about gameplay, presentation, or different game modes.
5. With so many robust SM channels and forums, which one of the outlets provides you the most fan interaction and game input?
A. Our live dev team chats have provided some great direct feedback. Have a look at our EA SPORTS NHL live chat page.
