Three’s debut campaign activating its new Chelsea FC shirt sponsorship was led by a virtual jersey launch in what agency Boys+Girls claimed was the world’s first AR shirt reveal.
Developed in harness with the club, kit partner Nike and new Three agency Boys+Girls, the AR shirt launch marked the start of the telco’s club sponsorship on 1 July.
Working with Nexus Studios, the virtual jersey launch saw the marketing team develop an augmented reality (AR) jersey that all fans could try on and then encouraging fans to be part of the first ever shirt ‘launched by them’.
Exclusively available on WhatsApp, the mechanic involved supporters simply taking a picture of themselves and sending it to a specific number and then instantly receiving an image back of themselves in the brand new kit – 3D rendered to fit their size.
To engage the fans around the world and celebrate the start of the Chelsea and Three partnership it was promoted across both Three and Chelsea’s social channels, primarily Instagram and Twitter where Chelsea FC boast 22m and 14m followers.
We just launched the new @ChelseaFC kit with the help of you, the fans. You look Want a virtual shirt of your own? Just WhatsApp ‘Virtual Kit’ to +44 747 656 1433 #ConnectTheGame
Here comes the small print! Full T&C's https://t.co/qIjSmdmpLt pic.twitter.com/UNk7vqh28r
— Three UK (@ThreeUK) July 7, 2020
Built around the telco’s focus on connectivity and how it links Three to its communities, customers and to football fans, this work starts a three-year positioning and platform called ‘Connect the Game’ which will span digital LEDs, stadium signage, experiential, fan engagement, advertising, branding, PR, web, social media, content, display and retail.
“Connectivity is at the heart of everything we do and partnering with an iconic club like Chelsea to drive meaningful connective and innovative experiences for fans around the world is an exciting opportunity for us to showcase that,” explained Three Uk and Ireland marketing Director Aislinn O’Conner.
Comment:
Far be it from us to dispute a claim about this being the first virtual sports shirt launch, but, err, it wasn’t.
After all, we’ve seen plenty of soccer shirts launched in EA’s FIFA.
Nevertheless, it represents an interesting and innovative use of dark social channel blended with AR.
This initiative is the first Three/Chelsea work from the Dublin based brand and entertainment agency based following its recent appointment to handle Three’s global sponsorship of the club after a competitive pitch.
Three’s initial ‘Connect The Game’ Chelsea FC activation rolled out on the same day as the club’s new 20/21 season Nike shirt launch ‘It’s a Chelsea Things’ was revealed (see case study).
Three UK announced its title sponsorship of Chelsea FC back in January 2020 and the brand will be the principal shirt sponsor of the Premier League club for the next three years in a deal that spans the entire Chelsea family including the Men’s, Women’s and Academy teams in addition to the Chelsea Foundation.
According to Forbes, Chelsea is the sixth biggest club in the world and its short is viewed on average by 50 million people a day around the world.
Links:
Three
https://www.youtube.com/user/three
https://www.facebook.com/ThreeUK/
Chelsea FC
https://www.youtube.com/user/chelseafc
https://www.facebook.com/ChelseaFC/
https://www.instagram.com/chelseafc/
Boys+Girls
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