Positioning Electronic Arts as a Corporate Anchor in Central Florida

Challenge

Since 2005, Curley & Pynn has managed strategic public relations and marketing communications for Electronic Arts (EA) Orlando, home to one of EA’s largest EA SPORTS studios – EA Tiburon – and corporate locations where teams develop and deliver digital interactive entertainment experiences that inspire the world to play.

In 2022, EA Orlando completed construction of its new, 175,940-square-foot Florida headquarters in downtown Orlando’s Creative Village, a 68-acre urban innovation district and hub for Orlando’s digital media industry. Curley & Pynn was tasked with capitalizing on this unique inflection point in the company’s history to continue building awareness of EA’s legacy in Florida, including its civic and economic impacts.

Objectives

Our primary objective was to secure at least 40 earned media placements (a 25% increase from 30 stories secured the prior year), positioning EA as more than just a digital media and interactive entertainment company, but also a creator of industry opportunity, top employer and active community member.

Solution

While the opening of a new headquarters facility would normally offer ample storytelling opportunities, ongoing precautions related to the COVID-19 pandemic limited access to the building and greatly impeded our ability to conduct traditional media activities as a result. Instead, we worked with EA to identify creative story angles that would emphasize what the new building represented.

First, we identified key themes around which to build our media relations plan, including EA leadership’s vision for the Orlando location and its role in advancing the corporate mission, EA’s tremendous growth and retention of more than 1,000 employees in Central Florida, a spotlight on efforts to engage with new neighbors in downtown Orlando and amplification of the company’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Along with identifying these areas of focus for the year, we collaborated monthly with EA Orlando leaders to plan communications around studio events and activities, and conducted research to find speaking engagement and award opportunities that would result in additional media coverage.

Top stories included:

• WFTV-TV: New Mural in downtown Orlando
• Telemundo 31: El centro de Orlando se pinta de color Latino (downtown Orlando is painted in Latin color)
• Orlando Business Journal: Inside EA’s new downtown Orlando studio: 3 cool things at the gaming giant’s downtown campus
• Orlando Tech News: EA summer camp helps address oncoming tech workforce shortage
• Sanford Herald: Seminole High student selected as one of 12 to use coding skills at the EA STEAM Camp
• Orlando Business Journal:2022 Power Players: Meet Central Florida’s Heavy Hitters
• West Orange Times & Observer:Leveling Up: UCF Student Luis Santiago

Results

In 2022, Curley & Pynn secured 45 earned media placements for EA Orlando, exceeding our goal by 12.5%. These placements had potential to reach 28.8 million people in Central Florida and beyond, and positioned EA Orlando as more than just a digital media and interactive giant, but also a creator of industry opportunity, champion of employees, essential corporate partner and active community member.