‘FIFA 18’, the latest in the football videogame series, was going to be crucial for Xbox. However, Xbox’s competitor PlayStation had paid a fortune to buy all the marketing rights for the game. It meant that while PlayStation had total freedom to advertise the game any way they wanted, we at Xbox had the opposite – a 100% ban on marketing the game across all media. We couldn’t even show our own game packshot. How could Xbox market a game they were forbidden from marketing?

Due to PlayStation buying the marketing rights to ‘FIFA 18’, Xbox were not able to mention the game, show any game assets or even a packshot. So we leveraged something bigger than videogame football – real football. In partnership with top club Real Madrid and a top FIFA gamer, we translated every pass, every shot, every possible combination on the pitch into the corresponding Xbox controller buttons for ‘FIFA 18’, in real time. With live perimeter boards and commentary, as well as post-match newspaper reports, the tactic linked FIFA with Xbox in the minds of football-loving gamers, without ever mentioning the game or contravening the marketing deal. Our content gave fans a new way to watch football, to not just passively experience it, but to actively learn from the best and become better at FIFA 18 on Xbox.

The situation was an almost impossible one for Xbox. Forbidden from mentioning FIFA, showing any game assets or even a packshot meant that we had to target them in a more lateral way. So, we leveraged the one thing that has a bigger and more passionate fan base than videogame football – actual football. By partnering with a top club and translating the data of actual football matches into our button combinations, our target audience of football-loving gamers would know that what we were really talking about was ‘FIFA 18’, even though that was never explicitly mentioned.

The ‘Football Decoded’ campaign consisted of stadium perimeter boards, commentary and print, which decoded real football moves into the Xbox button combinations needed to perform them on Xbox’s version of ‘FIFA 18’. Campaign touchpoints were rolled out to coincide with key Real Madrid matches, to ensure maximum reach. Perimeter boards first appeared during El Clásico, the must-see match between Madrid and Barcelona, while post-match reports followed the Champions League quarter final. Overall, the partnership with Real Madrid was decided upon due to their scale and quality (most valuable sports brand according to Forbes; 290 million social followers; 4.5 million stadium visitors p/a etc.). This meant that a larger cross-section of gamers learned new Xbox FIFA skills from some of the best footballers on the planet.

- Over 100 million impressions

- Reached 650 million spectators per match (x 12 matches)

- FIFA unique player base grew by 10% year-on-year from launch through to Q3