1 st Annual Royal Challengers Bangalore Fan Summit 2010

1. 1st Annual Royal Challengers BangaloreFan Summit 2010 Social Media & Mobile Applications Concept: Purnima Malhotra

2. Social Media & Mobile Applications A quick look into some new ideas and concepts that can help involve new fans, keep them hooked on to their favorite team’s website year-round and make RCB fan club the biggest, brightest and most interactive amongst all teams!

3. Social Media • Orkut • Facebook • Twitter • RCB Official Website

4. Orkut Our first aim is to cater to all the fans on various social media. While we are active on Facebook and Twitter, in fact most active amongst the 8 teams, let’s not ignore Orkut, for the simple reason being, Orkut still has fan base from every look and corner of the country.

5. Orkut Let’s consider one example The ‘Rahul Dravid-the Wall’ community on Orkut is way too popular and active as well. The team is involved in a book on the cricketer, titled Behind the Wall. They often actively engage in offline meetings and are quite a known name.

6. Orkut Link-up with these communities with an RCB Official Thread. Find loyal fans from RCB database who can be the representatives for RCB in these communities. Even if we link one community per player, based on its size, our message will now reach at least 20-25 more fan groups. And that’s on a GLOBAL scale! More recruits. More participation. More ideas.

7. Facebook We already are quite active on Facebook, aren’t we? Let’s make it even better by adding ‘RCB-City Chapter’! RCB-Delhi Fan Club, that’s the name! Let there be different groups on Facebook to involve better participation from different cities. ‘Moderators’ or ‘City Heads’ can be assigned to look after the group. This will also be helpful in coordinating offline meet-ups better.

8. Twitter When it comes to show-off my passion for RCB, I can even paint myself Red & Gold! So why not have an official Twitter design template to show my support for RCB! Even in case it is difficult to set this RCB template amongst the listed options in Twitter settings, we at RCB can customize a few and let the fans download it for their twitter page!

9. @ RCB official website Now here’s a long list of ideas, concepts and contests that can keep the website buzzing with activities, even during the off seasons, and attract fan participation from all over!

10. Player of the Month Pick up a ‘Player of the Month’ and post articles, photos, podcasts etc on him. Invite the audience to write and share. Pick up some of the best write-ups, photos etc. on him from the past and post. Share his statistics and unique records. Let the fans take the center-stage discuss about the player in terms of RCB’s strategies with respect to that player.

11. Fan of the Month Earlier, based on participation and interaction, we selected a ‘Fan of the Month’, and awarded jerseys. This time around, we give the ‘Fan of the Month’ not only RCB goodies, but also a chance to involve the audience his/her way for one whole month! A chance to start discussions and moderate those. Or a chance to hold any contest if he or she so desires.

12. Year-round Contests Probably one of the most active phases during an off season was the Weekly Quiz time and then Crosswords. Let’s make a come-back! Pick up four most interactive contests from quizzes, trivias, crosswords, Spot the ball etc and allot a week to each. RCB now features four contests every month. The prizes can be kept surprise and increased from the predictable wrist bands and bandanas, to maybe autographed posters, team-autographed bats or even RCB badges to let them flaunt their fanaticism.

13. Appreciate Consistency The most active participants and consistent winners can be awarded with access to Fan Blog on monthly basis. On the yearly basis, they can be given premium awards like RCB jerseys, RCB bag packs or bats autographed by the team!

14. City Heads City Heads can be decided on the basis of their involvement with our activities, on yearly basis. City Heads are the in-charges of the offline meet-ups. City Heads will invite the members from their city to contribute ideas, share views, write-ups, podcasts etc and upload it on RCB’s official website on behalf of the contributing members. Content posted under this category shall be legible for ‘Most Consistent contributors/Fans/Participants awards.

15. Invite Content Invite content from your audience! Encourage the writers to air their ideas by making a separate section for calling entries. Content can be uploaded by CMs. City Heads can make her/him the ‘Contributor of the Month’. This will involve participation and active interaction amongst the present fan base as well as attract new members.

16. Month e-zines! In line with our ‘Go Green’ initiative, unlike the earlier proposed idea of fan magazine, we now come up with monthly e-zines, a bigger version of our newsletter. Feature the recent news involving RCB players, team management etc, up-coming activities, offline meet-ups, up-coming cricket schedule, contests and special features by fans. These e-zines can be a fans’ initiative or designed by tech gurus at your end. Same goes for content!

17. Calendar-cum-Schedule Mark the important dates, mark schedules on it! Mark important days like birthdays, RCB players’ matches for their home country, deadlines for contests, upcoming offline meet-ups etc. Keep a different tab for this calendar-cum-schedule so that it’s easy to access and everyone can keep an eye on up-coming action.

18. External Link Sharing We have it on Facebook, let’s bring it to royalchallengers.com. External Links, with due credits, should be allowed for sharing on the profile pages of Fanatic Fans. This would mean that the fanatic fans can now share any articles, podcasts, interviews etc of RCB players from external sources, on their profile page.

19. RCB Badges for FFs’ social forums There’s this one for The Fan Summit and there was one widget for FFC-2. The idea is to create RCB badges to flaunt our fanaticism at our social networks. This will make RCB more searchable and tap in fans from other corners of the globe.

20. Mobile Applications Most of us today use high-end phones with an aim to stay connected even when mobile! We now deliver RCB to your phone! Listed below are some ideas to actively involve fan participation by offering better mobile applications.

21. Free Downloads Here’s something in offing for the mobile-audience! The creative heads at RCB, can create customized content like wallpapers with different players, team wallpapers, apart from the existing logo-wallpaper, different ringtones customized out of team anthem, and RCB themes for mobiles.

22. SMS Alerts With a minimal subscription charge, or even for free, RCB can spread a word about the latest action on field and off it by sending the RCB alerts! Similar to our emailing system, SMS alerts for contests, deadlines, announcements etc can also be activated.

23. Inbox Quizes Lets not limit the contest to web users only. For mobile users subscribing to RCB alerts on their phone, reward them with RCB goodies for monthly Inbox Quizes. This can help involve a lot of fans on a personal basis. Answers to quizes can be posted as a reply to these SMS to a standard RCB mobile number!

24. Mobile Games These games can be played at royalchallengers.com on your mobile or even downloaded from the website to your mobile phone. ‘IPL Cricket’ as a game application for mobile users can be developed. Let the users customize their team. Selection is now in their hands. The matches would be against the other 7, now 9, IPL teams!

25. Thank You!