Optus Sport Launches ‘Fancestry’ To Help Australian Fans Find A Premier League Team

Optus has launched a new digital platform called ‘Fancestry’ to help Australian football fans discover their football heritage and which English Premier League side they were born to support.

(And to boost awareness and trial of the broadcaster’s exclusive EPL offering.)

The idea is based on the insight that that while most Australians love sport, they don’t grow up with a Premier League team. So, by tracing their ancestral family roots back through the generations, they can find a real reason to support a specific Premier League team.

Working in collaboration with Ancestry Australia and agency M&C Saatchi Sydney, Fancestry revolves around an interactive digital platform where users can analyse their surnames and match them against a set of 20 billion records to identify which football team their​ ​ancestors​ ​are​most  ​likely​ ​to​ ​have​ ​supported.

Fancestry has been designed to find a team for everyone: so if it can’t find any British ancestors living in the UK at the turn of the 19t​h century, it will determine a team to support through the user’s family name, country of origin and UK migration​ ​data​.

Fancestry, which is accessible from ​any​ ​device,​is hubbed around a bespoke site at www.fancestry.optus.com.au.

Users who discover their team through ancestry are also provided with the times and dates their new side’s matches so they can follow them  ​through​ ​Optus​ ​Sport’s exclusive Premier League coverage.

In fact, all users who discover a team via Fancestry are automatically eligible for a two-week trial of the Optus’ EPL broadcast offering.

Optus Sport is the only Australian channel to broadcast every English Premier League match live.

Mark Schwarzer, former Australian soccer star and current Optus Sport Premier League analyst Mark Schwarzer played in the Premier League for several season and thus has witnessed the passion of the fans first hand.

“Most Premier League fans have loyally supported their team for generations and this passion shines through to the players,” Schwarzer commented. “I love that Optus Fancestry is giving Australians the opportunity to discover their team based on their family heritage. They can revive old family traditions and identify the teams they were born to support.”

M&C Saatchi creative director David Jackson also said: “As a long-time supporter of Leeds United and the days of Harry Kewell and Mark, I was gutted when Fancestry told me my team was Burnley. But since Leeds United are currently running around in the 2nd Division, I finally have a team to cheer for during this Premier League season.”

“Optus Fancestry allows peop​le to learn more about their heritage and gives a new generation of Premier​ ​League​ ​fans​ ​the​ ​opportunity​ ​to​ ​discover​ ​their​ ​EPL​ ​roots,” explained Optus head of television and content Corin Dimospoulos. “​Curious fans can also use it to get their hands on the information they need to understand​ ​their​ ​new​ ​club’s​ ​history​ ​and​ ​players,​ ​and​ ​stay​ ​up-to-date​ ​on​ ​the​ ​matches.”

Ancestry marketing director Nigel Seeto added: “Ancestry helps people gain a new level of understanding about their lives and the story that led to them. Optus Fancestry brings this to life in a fun and relevant way for a new generation of Premier League​ ​fans,​ ​ensuring​ ​they​ ​can​ ​discover​ ​more​ ​about​ ​their​ ​sporting​ ​heritage.”

The M&C Saatchi Sydney team developing the initiative included ECD Michael Canning, CDs Andy Flemming and David Jackson, senior creative Luke Simkins, executive digital producer Gemma Heyes, group heads Jonny Berger and Adrianne Nixon, senior account manager Chris Warden, integrated producer Zoe Andrews, plus senior software engineer Ben Patterson, integrated designer Bianca Cassaniti, creative technologist Simon Kent, UX director Ken Mariewski and digital producers Mike Montgomery.

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Links:

Optus

https://fancestry.optus.com.au/

https://sport.optus.com.au/

https://www.youtube.com/user/yesoptus

http://www.optus.com.au/

https://www.facebook.com/optus

https://twitter.com/Optus

@Optus

M&C Saatchi Sydney
https://mcsaatchi.com.au/