Football is the biggest, most-watched form of sporting entertainment in the world. This idea is relevant for Entertainment Lions for Sports because a gaming brand became integrated into the live football-watching experience of one of the planet’s most popular football clubs. Partnering with Real Madrid, Xbox translated skills on the field during actual matches into button combinations for Xbox’s version of FIFA 18. Via live perimeter boards, commentary and post-match newspaper reports, football and Xbox fans could now watch the sport in an entirely new way, learning from the best in real time how to become better at FIFA 18.

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 with a bigger and more passionate fan base than videogame football – actual football. By partnering with a top club and attaching our gaming brand to actual football matches, 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