Fan Forecaster
Digital strategy, design & development
The Brief
As the digital agency partner for the Hong Kong Sevens website for several years now, we’re always on the lookout for new ideas that could help the organisation reach and engage new fans.
The parameters we set for ourselves were that any campaign concept would need to have clearly measurable Key Performance Indicators, including fan engagement, and the impact on event sponsorship value, while also creating monetisation opportunities.
The concept we took to Hong Kong Sevens was to give the fans around the world an opportunity to actively engage with the event, rather than simply watching on television.
The Main Goal
- Increase fan engagement
- Generate marketing assets
- Develop monetization opportunities
- Raise tournament's digital status
Technology
Integrate a campaign game mechanic into the existing Hong Kong Sevens website interfaces, allowing fans to submit score predictions for match results at the Hong Kong Sevens. Points were accrued for correct match predictions, and fans automatically competed as individuals, as well as for a country they chose to represent.
Challenges
We knew we had to create an experience that seamlessly integrated with the design and layout of the 2018 tournament website, providing clear calls to action to encourage user engagement but without dominating the interface nor detracting from the core website experience for users not wanting to get involved.
We made minimal but effective alterations to the scoring component and used pop-up modals to discreetly house the main voting interface.
Results
With thousands of game predictions made and players from dozens of countries around the world getting involved, the Hong Kong Sevens Fan Forecaster was not only a success, but set a new standard for Fan engagement in the World Sevens Series competition.
The Hong Kong Sevens was also able to generate a large marketing list for future campaigns which it can use to increase awareness of next year's competition, well in advance.