|
‘Soccer Republic’ The Best Fan Site in the World? Probably...
A niche social network and fan site sponsored by Ireland’s leading telecoms company, eircom. Soccer Republic brings Irish soccer supporters closer to their national team, its players, and each other.
Brief
As lead sponsors of the Irish national soccer team, eircom wanted to create a place where fans of the Republic of Ireland football squad could get together and support the team on its 2010 World Cup campaign.
Strategy
eircom understood from day one that fans will only accept branded social media if it’s on their terms - a far cry from ‘make my logo bigger’ corporate sponsorship.
The strategy was to position the client as the ‘facilitator’, and present a raft of exclusive benefits for eircom customers.
The hook was eircom’s exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the team’s players, management and backroom staff (Two seats on the Irish team to the away game in Italy, anyone?).
Execution
The front-end content of the site features news that fans can’t readily access from other sources – it is the inside story from within the squad. The site is also careful to provide a fans’ perspective on the main stories – even down to analysis of items in the foreign media.
Then, in the ‘Fanzone’, bespoke social networking functionality is provided for fans so they can meet, upload and share content, comment, rate content, chat and join groups.
Michael Kennedy, Marketing Director at eircom said:
“Soccer Republic has all the bells and whistles of a contemporary social network. It gives fans the opportunity to be part of a vibrant and engaging digital community, with a host of exclusive benefits.”
To drive traffic, Soccer Republic is featured on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, bebo, YouTube and various blogs.
An online ad campaign was also created by Yomego, as well as a viral game involving video clips and an intriguing ‘What Happens Next’ mechanic.
It’s important that the momentum is kept going, as Michael Kennedy, explains:
“We’re actively encouraging users to give us open and honest feedback on what they like and dislike about the site. Future development of the site will be democratised, and we’re determined to stay true to the original plan; to develop a site for the fans, by the fans.”
Results
In just under two weeks, the site saw 1m page impressions and almost 100,000 unique visitors.
The Twitter feed is proving a great hit and YouTube generated over 5,000 views of the tour video in the same time period.
And, on the run up to and following the Italy match, visits to the fanzone increased by 310%.
It’s still early days for Soccer Republic and as with any social media project and any good relationship for that matter, you’ve got to keep working at it – and that’s exactly what we’re doing.
Steve Richards, MD at Yomego said:
“In sponsoring this kind of destination; by creating a place dedicated to a ‘passion’; by inviting fans to take control of the site and become stakeholders in its future development, eircom has firmly understood the principles of social media and between us, we’ve started something big.”
|