Creative Execution

Using a real-time data feed from the Fairfax Live Match Centre we created a game that let players place a fielder to save the most runs possible during live World Cup matches. They could also re-position their fielder based on their knowledge of the teams playing, and where the batting team were likely to score their runs. Points were awarded based on number of runs their fielder saved over the tournament, with extra rewards for higher engagement. Players could compete directly with Facebook friends for bragging rights, and against the rest of the world for a $5,000 prize.

We set out to add another dimension to the Cricket World Cup content developed by Fairfax and we did just that. We had nearly 30,000 UVs engaging with the game and related cricket content. We had players from 122 countries (there’s only 47 cricket playing nations), playing 21,672 matches between them. Our players had a great innings, playing for over 4 minutes at a time and making an average of 8 position moves over the course of the tournament. Setting an incredible total of over 856,000 runs stopped.

The Cricket World Cup - one of the biggest sporting events of 2015 was being jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Fairfax knew Australians would be hungry for content, and wanted to be the go-to destination for cricket fans who wanted to keep up to speed on all things World Cup related. But as with any global sporting event, there were many local and global sites vying for fans’ attention. Cricket fans get their sports news and information from many different sites, and many of the competitors had marquee names writing for them exclusively during the World Cup. Our insight: Cricket fans are a knowledgeable bunch and are well informed about the finer points of the game. They’re also very competitive. We tapped into these insights to create an engaging experience that would keep them coming back for the duration of the World Cup.