The Brief

The ‘It’s Your Call’ campaign made 3AW Football Radio relevant to a whole new audience by connecting fans directly to our commentary team, comprised of football legends. Through our branded Facebook page, we asked football fans to create and submit their own football commentary calls and gave them a chance to directly influence the LIVE game commentary on 3AW Football Radio.

Creative Execution

Vivid, off-the-wall radio commentary has always been a hallmark of Australian Rules Football. With ‘It’s your call’, we reminded football fans that radio commentary could be more colourful than any screen. Using the 3AW Facebook page, we asked fans to create and submit their own hilarious footy commentary calls before each week’s big game. And each week, the funniest and most entertaining submission was used during LIVE game commentary. 3AW commentators also engaged with fans directly by recording all their favourite calls and posting them back on Facebook. Calls that earned the most kudos on Facebook were featured in our print and radio ads.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

We knew we couldn’t rely solely on radio advertising to attract new listeners when they’re locked in on another station. We needed to go where the footy fans were. To spread the word about this unique opportunity, we leveraged the Australian Football League’s large fan base on Facebook. We also targeted fans of the football teams playing in each week’s big game, to spur on participation based on sporting rivalries.

Results

Footy fans were all over it “like seagulls around a potato cake”. Daily engagement on 3AW Facebook page increased 140% and average daily reach increased 280% (Source- Facebook Insights). We turned participants into listeners, gaining 72,000 unique listeners during the football season. 3AW Football went from 3rd and slipping, to Australia’s number 1 rated sports radio station (Source- GfK Group).