The Brief

Hanwha Eagles is a Professional Baseball team in Korea. Hanwha Eagles was once a strong team but recently their performance has plunged. As a result the number of spectators visiting the stadium has dropped as well. The club has since attempted multiple types of Fan bonding programs however the fans did not return. Ultimately Hanwha Eagles came to us for a solution to have the fans return to the club and root for their team. We began to interview and observe the fans before the season started, and we discovered that although they were not coming to the stadium they were still cheering their team on through the web, leaving comments as they watched the game broadcasted through their mobile phones. So they still loved their team and were cheering them on, it was just that their methods had changed. We utilized this specific insight and we tried a new attempt to invite them back into the stadium.

Rather than forcefully inviting them back into the stadium we wondered upon a new media channel that can send their web comments to the stadium for them. So instead of the media currently being used inside the stadium such as the LED screen, bill boards and placards, we needed an entirely new media. The Fanbot is a brand new fan cheering on & off line campaign, a medium that combines both fan cheering and robot mechanism. So after the fans upload their personal photos and customize the face images on their Fanbots and transmit their cheering comments, the comments can be sent to the players through the Fanbots inside the stadium, without the fan actually ever being there. Fans can also shout in unison cheers or conduct fast and slow waves during important moments for the team during the game.

Both baseball fans and athletes are excited about Fanbot, and international media such as BBC, New York Times, NBC, USA Today have reported articles and news about this unique and innovative fan support culture. Fanbot has triggered interest not only in the field of sports but from technology technical journals as well, having reached 374.5 million global impressions, and with 87,000 cheer messages sent through Fanbot, the club has reached 27% over their target ticket sales compared to last year. However the real success of the campaign is from the new fan support culture created together by the fans and the Fanbots.