The Western Bulldogs Give Fans a Vote of Confidence

The Western Bulldogs of the Australian Football League (AFL) recently turned to their online fanbase to decide which jersey (referred to as a guernsey) design their team will wear during the 2011-12 season. The Bulldogs created a fan-centric promotion on their team website that provided fans with an opportunity to vote for their favorite style jersey based on four options available.

The promotion also served as a terrific way for the team to collect consumer data. Nearly 3,000 fans submitted online entry forms with their votes, providing the team with an instant database to reach out to to drive merchandise sales in the future. The team created the simple survey using Survey Monkey and posted the promotion over a 2-3 week time period.

Check out the simple, yet effective merchandise promotion below and consider new ways that you can truly put fans in charge!

A special thanks to Nick Truelson for his insights and contributions to this column!

Essendon Turns to Augmented Reality to Engage Fans

Essendon FC of the Australian Football League (AFL) recently teamed up with an agency named tkmp to create an innovative augmented reality campaign that engaged fans in a new way on gameday.

Essendon FC used digital technology to project a group of virtual footballs onto the facade of the team's stadium, the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Fans attending the match were encouraged to stand in front of a digital screen outside the venue and interact with the virtual footballs. The unique experience allowed fans a chance to see themselves projected onto the side of the stadium.

Check out the innovative campaign below:

Essendon FC and tkmp also teamed up to project some cool visuals at MCG - check it out below!

Essendon Football Club Projections from tkm9 on Vimeo.

A special thanks to Sam Attrilof nexusmg for his insights and contributions to this column!