Client: Microsoft/Xbox
Xbox needed to earn cultural relevance in one of the world’s most competitive spaces: football. Outspent by competitors, it couldn’t rely on visibility alone. It needed to prove it truly understood fans. We found a tension at the heart of fandom. Football fans are superstitious, with many believing that their behaviours and rituals influence the results. We created xJ (Expected Jinx), a new football metric that calculated whether a fan’s presence improved or harmed results. Built using the statistical logic behind modern football analytics and launched through football-native creators, it transformed superstition into something measurable, personal and shareable. Fans didn’t just watch, they participated. Over 9,000 xJ calculations and 46,000 engagements showed fans actively testing and debating their “jinx status”, with some even staying away from matches. Through the invention of xJ, Xbox moved from outsider to participant, earning Xbox a distinct and credible role inside football culture.
