The best footy campaigns of 2021 on Campaignware came from AFL and NRL clubs and a broadcaster finding new ways to reach fans through lockdowns and empty stadiums. Our seven picks include the Seven Network's AFL Finals MVP vote with Coles, the Cats v Dogs vote from Geelong and the Western Bulldogs, and Hawthorn's farewell message wall.
After 2020, 2021 brought another season of disrupted fixtures and stadiums without fans. Rights holders still found clever ways to keep supporters connected to their team, their club and each other. While Campaignware (then called Benchvote) was going through its own change, clubs and broadcasters across Australian sport were using the platform to engage fans and activate sponsors. Here are seven campaigns from 2021, in no particular order.
Key takeaways
- Sponsors want to be part of the moments fans care about most: a derby, a goal of the year, a farewell.
- Reuse what you already have. Match video, player headshots and fan content can all become a campaign.
- Give fans a say in real decisions, such as a jersey design, and they turn up in numbers.
- Simple formats built fast work: Hawthorn built its trivia quiz in less than 15 minutes.
The seven best footy campaigns of 2021
1. Seven Network x Coles: AFL Finals fan vote
For the first time on the Seven Network, footy fans could vote for the most valuable player (MVP) of each match in real time. Seven ran eight MVP votes through the AFL Finals series with Coles and its agency OMD. The vote was embedded in 7plus, with traffic driven through the broadcast and the commentary.
Tens of thousands of footy fans took part in this second-screen campaign, at a time when much of Australia was in lockdown. The Melbourne Demons won the AFL finals, but the Seven Network won the second screen. It's a strong example of branded content that adds to the fan experience. Read the Channel 7 x Coles case study.
2. Geelong Cats and Western Bulldogs: Cats v Dogs vote
Possibly the most original sponsor-led campaign of the year. The Geelong Cats and Western Bulldogs worked together on it with their sponsors, Whiskas and Pedigree. The promotion started ahead of the two clubs' Friday night derby and ran through the weekend.
A TV commercial and paid media, full of classic Australian humour, drove fans to the vote. It was built on Campaignware's head-to-head vote template, with custom data capture fields to collect useful insight for the brands. Fans voted in their thousands. It had everything you'd want: rivalry, humour, happy sponsors and a good old-fashioned cats versus dogs debate.
3. Melbourne Storm x Castore: member jersey vote
Looking for a better way to get fans invested in a jersey launch? Let your members design it. Melbourne Storm did exactly that with its apparel sponsor, Castore. Fans submitted designs using Castore's design template, the club shortlisted four and opened them to a public vote.
Storm built a microsite for the campaign that housed the Campaignware vote, the competition terms and the four fan-designed jerseys. Fans showed their support with their votes: this campaign was in Campaignware's top 3 of 2021 for the most entries on a single campaign.
4. Hawthorn FC: farewell message wall
A touching tribute to two club greats. Using Campaignware's user-generated content wall, Hawthorn asked fans to submit photos, videos or a simple text message about their favourite moment from Alastair Clarkson and Shaun Burgoyne.
Fans sent over a thousand high-quality, emotional submissions, which the club reused on social media and in the stadium. Content and vote tallies can update live for broadcast and stadium big screens, so fans could see the tribute come together as Clarkson and Burgoyne suited up for the final time. This one was from the heart.
5. Geelong Cats x Whiskas: goal of the year
What brand wouldn't want to be part of its sponsorship's best moment of the season? After another strong year for Geelong, Whiskas shortlisted 4 goals and put them to a fan vote.
With the video vote template, Geelong's marketing team turned video it had already produced into a fan vote and a data capture opportunity for its sponsor, with custom fields collecting GDPR-compliant data for the club and the brand. It's a great example of repurposing video across the website, social, app and YouTube, then giving a sponsor a premium destination of its own.
6. Melbourne Storm x FuelYourLife: the ultimate finals team
Melbourne Storm ran several fan campaigns on Campaignware through the finals, and this team selector stood out. For sponsor FuelYourLife, the club tapped into nostalgia by asking fans to pick their ultimate finals team from a shortlist of players from the last 20 years.
Fans love arguing about today's stars against the legends, and this campaign gave that debate a home, keeping fans and the sponsor in the conversation for longer. Storm used the rugby league team selector template, uploading player headshots to the pre-built rugby league formation.
7. Hawthorn FC: the Silk quiz
To mark the end of Shaun Burgoyne's career, Hawthorn created a trivia quiz on the club legend. With the trivia template, fans showed their club knowledge with questions on Burgoyne's disposals, kicks, team number and more. Hawthorn's marketing team branded and built the campaign in less than 15 minutes.
Thousands of fans took part through the quiz in the Hawks website and club app. It also reminded fans that the club legend was playing his final few matches for the club, a smart use of gamification to drive ticket sales.
How to run a campaign like these with Campaignware
- Pick a template. Use the polling and voting template for player, goal or jersey votes, a team selector for squad debates, trivia for quizzes, or user-generated content for a message wall.
- Put it in your brand. Add your club's branding, or your sponsor's, so it's ready to sell as a sponsor asset.
- Set prizes and terms. Add a prize fans want, your terms and conditions, and the data fields you and your sponsor need.
- Share it. Promote it on social, by email, in your app and on your website, with a QR code on the big screen or in the broadcast.
- Collect consented data. Every entry adds a fan you can reach again, and the data goes into your CRM.
- Report to your sponsor. Share the impressions, unique users, sponsor clicks and completion rates from the reporting in the platform.
A typical campaign takes 20 to 40 minutes to build, and most campaigns go live in under an hour. See how clubs and leagues use our fan engagement platform, or read the next roundup: best of footy 2023.
Frequently asked questions
What made the best footy campaigns of 2021 work?
They gave fans a real say in moments they already cared about, such as a derby, a farewell or a goal of the year, and they reused content clubs already had. Each one was simple to enter on a phone, carried a sponsor's branding where it fitted, and captured data the club or brand could use again.
How do clubs turn a fan vote into a sponsor asset?
Clubs put the sponsor's branding on a vote fans want to take part in, such as a goal of the year or player of the match, and add a sponsor prize. Custom data capture fields give the sponsor insight, and the reporting shows the sponsor what the campaign delivered. Geelong and Whiskas did exactly this with a goal of the year vote.
Can a broadcaster run a fan vote during a live match?
Yes. In 2021 the Seven Network ran eight MVP votes through the AFL Finals series with Coles, embedded in 7plus and promoted through the broadcast and commentary. Viewers voted on their phones in real time while they watched, which turned a second screen into a branded experience for the sponsor.
How quickly can a club build a trivia quiz?
Fast. Hawthorn's marketing team branded and built its Shaun Burgoyne trivia quiz in less than 15 minutes. On Campaignware, a typical campaign takes 20 to 40 minutes to build, and most campaigns go live in under an hour, so clubs can react to a milestone or a farewell the same week it happens.
Want to run a campaign like these for your club or your sponsors? Book a demo, or talk through your project.
