Best Fan Engagement by a Club
WINNER
Leicester City FC
With COVID-19 restricting any kind of face-to-face activity with supporters, Leicester City’s Supporter Engagement Department adapted by offering virtual and interactive experiences for its fanbase. Despite the obvious hurdles presented by the pandemic, a unique take on fan engagement allowed the Club to continue connecting with its fans and form unbreakable bonds throughout the uncertainty of 2020.
The Football Club utilised mascot Filbert Fox as the face of numerous junior initiatives, each designed to not only entertain but to educate, while virtual quizzes and events with first team players became a forefront of the Club’s wider outreach strategy.
An approach with increased digital engagement at its heart but also with core Club principles as a driving force, Leicester City was able to build on already-established relationships with fans, whose returned generosity would contribute to the opening of a brand-new facility at a major city hospital.
SILVER
Chelsea FC & Play Predictor, Infront X
Chelsea Football Club, one of the world’s most successful football clubs, turned to iX.co to design a premier digital platform for its fans. As part of the engagement, iX.co was asked to create a data-driven bespoke digital product strategy and revamp all of Chelsea’s digital platforms, including its mobile app, in advance of the 2018-2019 season. iX.co and Chelsea have worked together to enhance these platforms over the years, including launching the Play Predictor.
Play Predictor, which launched July 2020, has been an important addition to the 5th Stand, Chelsea’s fan-focused mobile app which has been designed to be a true community for Chelsea’s global fanbase. Since the app’s launch in 2018 it has been downloaded over 6.7 million times, making it the fastest growing football app in the world. According to a recent survey from the club, 92% of all Chelsea fans recognize the importance of having the 5th Stand app.
BRONZE
Chelsea FC & FA Cup Final Fest
When Chelsea progressed to the final of the 19/20 FA Cup, we wanted to bring the excitement of Cup Final Day to our fans who couldn’t join us at an infamous Wembley FanZone. In just 10 days, colleagues across multiple departments created a fantastic live event, hosted from the roof of Stamford Bridge and streamed for free to our fans across Facebook and YouTube. The campaign to promote the event had a ‘festival line-up’ look and feel, with new acts/guests announced every day.
The event included celebrity guests, former players including Didier Drogba, music, giveaways, competitions etc. – everything that you’d hope to get from the build-up if you were making the trip to Wembley. We also organised live links to the team hotel to speak to newest signing Timo Werner, as well as personal messages from A-Listers such as Matthew McConaughey. Not only did this set the tone for all the fans who’d missed out on a trip to Wembley, but it also allowed us to bring all our global fans with us via interactive prize giveaways.
The event was extremely successful, with strong streaming numbers both overall and peak live viewers from fans around the globe.
