Why, yes, in fact I have been working out. Since EA Inc. brought EA Sports Active to market last week, I’ve been getting in a few sessions of cardio and fitness, paying particular attention to my delts, pecs and of course my glutes.

OK, I’m lying. Or at least I’m premature—aspirational, we’ll say– about my fitness. Because I fully intend to purchase a copy of EA Sports Active in the next few weeks and to start getting in shape. And I won’t be alone: EA’s version of a fitness program for the Nintendo Wii console jumped into the top spot of Amazon’s video game sales ranks in the week of its release.

But I will be outside the target market for the software, which is taking aim primarily at women.

“Our key target was women 25 to 54 with a Wii in the home,” says Cricket Wardein, senior vice president and account director at Draftfcb San Francisco, which has handled the marketing. “A lot of these women work, they’re married with kids, they’re busy, and they just don’t have time to go to the gym or meet with a personal trainer. So the insight was that they were missing something.”

Pushing a fitness game for women is a big switch for EA, a game maker better known for testosterone-heavy products like “Madden NFL” and “NBA Live”. But they and Draftfcb are jumping in with both trainer-clad feet.

For one thing, online display advertising is using rich media to help convey what’s new about EA Sports Active. The software is customizable, so that if you want to do exercises to improve your strength or endurance, you can choose activities that focus in those areas. You can also choose games like boxing to increase your cardio capacity, or in-line skating, basketball or volleyball. Finally, you can simply choose toning exercises for your arms and legs.

The rich media display ads that are being deployed for EA Sports Active play on this customization by allowing viewers to click on small radio buttons at the bottom of the ad and see video clips of women engaged in those different workout styles. The video can also be clicked to enlarge to full screen.

It’s a clever use of rich media, because it not only highlights one of the main aspects of the software—its versatility—but by showing the system in use, it makes it easier to understand how it works—and how it’s different from Wii Fit, one of the best-selling programs for the Wii console.

According to EA Sports, Wii Fit has been a help, not a hindrance, and poses no problems in regard to differentiation.

“What was out there before was a trailblazer but it was very much along the Eastern style of fitness, focusing on balance and yoga-like activities,” says Monique Gomel, marketing director for EA Sports. “For the Western style cardiovascular, get-your-heart-pumping style of fitness, there wasn’t anything like that in the space.”

“This is more like a personal trainer,” Wardein says, comparing it to Nintendo’s fitness program. “It’s more sporty. You’re definitely going to break a sweat with this one.”

At the same time, Wii Fit has prepared the ground for a program like Sports Active. Many consumers have used Wii Fit and know what to do with the game’s paddles and nunchuks. The rich media ads make it clear that some of that equipment will be part of the EA Sports Active routine too; for example, a controller slipped into a Velcro harness around a player’s leg lets the console know how high you’re lifting that leg.

Since this is the age of social media, Draftfcb and EA also reached out to some influencers in the blog community, largely in female-oriented communities such as Cafe Mom, and generated some “hero stories” that potential buyers could identify with. Here’s one of those stories, which are available on the EA Sports Active Facebook page:



Videos of those first challengers’ stories are also posted to the EA Sports channel on YouTube

The EA Sports Active program includes a “30-Day Fitness Challenge” endorsed by celebrity trainer Bob Greene of Oprah fame (Greene consulted on the development of the program), and in preparation for the launch EA went out and recruited a dozen challengers to do the daily workouts prescribed by the program and talk, blog and video about their experiences.

Those results are archived on a special page of the EA Sports Active main Web site , where visitors can read their training diaries, visit a “Motivation Center” with information about nutrition and fitness, and use an interactive diagram (customizable for men and women) to pinpoint “trouble spots” and get recommendations about the best EA Sports exercises to treat them.

Videos of those first challengers’ stories are also posted to the EA Sports channel on YouTube. “It’s important to us in our marketing always to show people using the product, working out and in the zone,” says Gomel. “We will be in major malls over the summer with live demonstrations. But if you’re not trying the product for yourself, we want you to hear testimonials from others about it. Our challengers have been blogging and Twittering about the program on our Web site and their own.”

“Interestingly, that group of people lost a combined weight of 70 pounds,” Gomel says. “So they’re happy to talk about it.”

In retail outlets, EA has arranged to get EA Sports Active positioned outside the videogame area, so that targeted customers who might not venture into that teen domain will be able to find the product easily. The company is also making its first entry into some retailer categories, with placements for example in the Dick’s Sporting Goods chain. “They don’t sell any other video games, so it really is a testament to the fact that we’re a home fitness product,” Gomel says.”

But the software will also be prominent at the Game Stop chain, which is video game central. Gomel says EA Sports originally questioned whether that would help sell the product to that women’s demographic. “But we heard from the Game Stop team that there’s a lot of moms shopping in those stores, buying games for their kids,” Gomel says. “It’s actually one of their number one demographics. So they saw a big opportunity to offer something that group would be interested in for themselves.”

EA has actually had pre-launch signs, gondolas and other promo material up in GameStop stores since January, she adds.

In fact, GameStop has just launched a women’s fitness site called “Fit at Any Age” in conjunction with the National Women’s Health Resource Center. While the site offers a blend of general fitness information and specific tips from such celebrities as Michelle Trachtenberg, Virginia Madsen and Marg Helgenberger, in terms of product promotion the site seems to feature the EA Sports Active program almost exclusively.

In fact, if I understand the offer correctly as it’s laid out on the GameStop site, in-store GameStop shoppers can trade in three titles from a very, very long list of about 130 Wii games and save the $59.99 retail price for the EA Sports Active program. Not a bad deal, it seems.

And yes, Wii Fit is one of those tradeables—if you bring in the Wii balance board to go with it.

Why, yes, in fact I have been working out. Since EA Inc. brought EA Sports Active to market last week, I’ve been getting in a few sessions of cardio and fitness, paying particular attention to my delts, pecs and of course my glutes.

OK, I’m lying. Or at least I’m premature—aspirational, we’ll say– about my fitness. Because I fully intend to purchase a copy of EA Sports Active in the next few weeks and to start getting in shape. And I won’t be alone: EA’s version of a fitness program for the Nintendo Wii console jumped into the top spot of Amazon’s video game sales ranks in the week of its release.

But I will be outside the target market for the software, which is taking aim primarily at women.

“Our key target was women 25 to 54 with a Wii in the home,” says Cricket Wardein, senior vice president and account director at Draftfcb San Francisco, which has handled the marketing. “A lot of these women work, they’re married with kids, they’re busy, and they just don’t have time to go to the gym or meet with a personal trainer. So the insight was that they were missing something.”

Pushing a fitness game for women is a big switch for EA, a game maker better known for testosterone-heavy products like “Madden NFL” and “NBA Live”. But they and Draftfcb are jumping in with both trainer-clad feet.

For one thing, online display advertising is using rich media to help convey what’s new about EA Sports Active. The software is customizable, so that if you want to do exercises to improve your strength or endurance, you can choose activities that focus in those areas. You can also choose games like boxing to increase your cardio capacity, or in-line skating, basketball or volleyball. Finally, you can simply choose toning exercises for your arms and legs.

The rich media display ads that are being deployed for EA Sports Active play on this customization by allowing viewers to click on small radio buttons at the bottom of the ad and see video clips of women engaged in those different workout styles. The video can also be clicked to enlarge to full screen.

It’s a clever use of rich media, because it not only highlights one of the main aspects of the software—its versatility—but by showing the system in use, it makes it easier to understand how it works—and how it’s different from Wii Fit, one of the best-selling programs for the Wii console.

According to EA Sports, Wii Fit has been a help, not a hindrance, and poses no problems in regard to differentiation.

“What was out there before was a trailblazer but it was very much along the Eastern style of fitness, focusing on balance and yoga-like activities,” says Monique Gomel, marketing director for EA Sports. “For the Western style cardiovascular, get-your-heart-pumping style of fitness, there wasn’t anything like that in the space.”

“This is more like a personal trainer,” Wardein says, comparing it to Nintendo’s fitness program. “It’s more sporty. You’re definitely going to break a sweat with this one.”

At the same time, Wii Fit has prepared the ground for a program like Sports Active. Many consumers have used Wii Fit and know what to do with the game’s paddles and nunchuks. The rich media ads make it clear that some of that equipment will be part of the EA Sports Active routine too; for example, a controller slipped into a Velcro harness around a player’s leg lets the console know how high you’re lifting that leg.

Since this is the age of social media, Draftfcb and EA also reached out to some influencers in the blog community, largely in female-oriented communities such as Cafe Mom, and generated some “hero stories” that potential buyers could identify with. Here’s one of those stories, which are available on the EA Sports Active Facebook page:



Videos of those first challengers’ stories are also posted to the EA Sports channel on YouTube

The EA Sports Active program includes a “30-Day Fitness Challenge” endorsed by celebrity trainer Bob Greene of Oprah fame (Greene consulted on the development of the program), and in preparation for the launch EA went out and recruited a dozen challengers to do the daily workouts prescribed by the program and talk, blog and video about their experiences.

Those results are archived on a special page of the EA Sports Active main Web site , where visitors can read their training diaries, visit a “Motivation Center” with information about nutrition and fitness, and use an interactive diagram (customizable for men and women) to pinpoint “trouble spots” and get recommendations about the best EA Sports exercises to treat them.

Videos of those first challengers’ stories are also posted to the EA Sports channel on YouTube. “It’s important to us in our marketing always to show people using the product, working out and in the zone,” says Gomel. “We will be in major malls over the summer with live demonstrations. But if you’re not trying the product for yourself, we want you to hear testimonials from others about it. Our challengers have been blogging and Twittering about the program on our Web site and their own.”

“Interestingly, that group of people lost a combined weight of 70 pounds,” Gomel says. “So they’re happy to talk about it.”

In retail outlets, EA has arranged to get EA Sports Active positioned outside the videogame area, so that targeted customers who might not venture into that teen domain will be able to find the product easily. The company is also making its first entry into some retailer categories, with placements for example in the Dick’s Sporting Goods chain. “They don’t sell any other video games, so it really is a testament to the fact that we’re a home fitness product,” Gomel says.”

But the software will also be prominent at the Game Stop chain, which is video game central. Gomel says EA Sports originally questioned whether that would help sell the product to that women’s demographic. “But we heard from the Game Stop team that there’s a lot of moms shopping in those stores, buying games for their kids,” Gomel says. “It’s actually one of their number one demographics. So they saw a big opportunity to offer something that group would be interested in for themselves.”

EA has actually had pre-launch signs, gondolas and other promo material up in GameStop stores since January, she adds.

In fact, GameStop has just launched a women’s fitness site called “Fit at Any Age” in conjunction with the National Women’s Health Resource Center. While the site offers a blend of general fitness information and specific tips from such celebrities as Michelle Trachtenberg, Virginia Madsen and Marg Helgenberger, in terms of product promotion the site seems to feature the EA Sports Active program almost exclusively.

In fact, if I understand the offer correctly as it’s laid out on the GameStop site, in-store GameStop shoppers can trade in three titles from a very, very long list of about 130 Wii games and save the $59.99 retail price for the EA Sports Active program. Not a bad deal, it seems.

And yes, Wii Fit is one of those tradeables—if you bring in the Wii balance board to go with it.