Xbox’s dream soccer experience from McCann London wins Entertainment Lions for Gaming Grand Prix

Xbox won big last month when its campaign to bring an amateur tactician to Bromley F.C. resulted in the soccer club achieving promotion to a higher league. Now, the effort has secured another win in the form of an Entertainment Lions for Gaming Grand Prix award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on Tuesday. “The Everyday Tactician,” developed by McCann London, launched last November as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for avid players of the simulation video game series “Football Manager.” Xbox teamed with Bromley F.C., a London-based soccer club in the semi-professional National League, to hire one player to the real-life role of “support performance tactician” on the team’s coaching staff. The effort was timed to the 20th anniversary of “Football Manager.” Cannes Lions coverage See all of the Grand Prix winners here Top 5 Grand Prix campaigns All went according to plan as the campaign selected one lucky applicant, Nathan Owolabi, and filmed his experience for a three-part TV series depicting the collision of digital and physical worlds. But expectations were eventually shattered as Owolabi helped Bromley F.C. to win the National League Playoffs in May and achieve promotion to the English Football League for the first time in 132 years. The unconventional yet bold approach behind “The Everyday Tactician” paid off, showing that when creativity meets a bit of luck, something special can happen. In all, the campaign garnered 1.5 billion impressions and a 190% increase in “Football Manager” gamers on Xbox. Gold winners Two other campaigns won Gold in Gaming. They were:

Xbox’s dream soccer experience from McCann London wins Entertainment Lions for Gaming Grand Prix

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