Xbox hired a Football Manager player into a real club and made Game Pass credible

Football Manager had PC credibility, but Xbox needed console players to see Game Pass as the place to play FM24. A normal launch campaign would have shown football fantasies. Xbox and McCann London created one: Bromley FC advertised a real Support Performance Tactician job that could only be reached by earning the FM24 'Championes' achievement and submitting a pitch.

The winner, Nathan Owolabi, joined Bromley's backroom staff. One Show's case record says he worked on data-led selection, opponent analysis and tactics while a TNT documentary followed the move from gaming chair to dugout. Shortlist's launch coverage confirms the job was announced as an actual role, not a fictional ad prop.

The cleverness was the filter. A CV would have made the stunt feel like sponsorship theatre; an in-game achievement made gameplay itself the qualification. One Show reports a 190% increase in Xbox gamers on FM24 versus FM23, 1.5 billion campaign impressions, and Bromley's best season in 130 years.

Make the game the job application

The application mechanic turned product use into proof of competence.

A small football club made the promise believable because a fan could plausibly affect the backroom staff.

The documentary gave the campaign a season-long arc rather than a one-week launch spike.

The same mechanism served sales, PR and brand association without needing separate ideas.

When a product promises mastery, let users spend that mastery in the real world.

The campaign became an awards case across Cannes Lions and The One Show, while Bromley FC's season provided the rare proof that the stunt mattered beyond media. In the archive record, Xbox tied the work to FM24 becoming the most played Football Manager game ever and to a 190% player increase on Xbox.