With the Rugby World Cup about to flood New Zealand, the rush to create digital experiences to excite the thousands of fans and visitors is starting to hot up.
But what is the archetype rugby fan like? What drives, motivates and excites them?
Is there even such a thing as a 'typical rugby fan'?
Probably not. But we can look at factors which may influence fan behaviour.
An hour of scouring the web turned up these highlights worthy of consideration if you're thinking of how to tackle the rugby marketplace.
Rugby Fan Attraction Factors
Crowd at a rugby game, Athletic Park, Wellington, ca 1930
A marketing bulletin from Massey University (2004), focuses on factors which influenced New Zealand rugby fans to attend matches:
"Less frequent spectators valued, more than anyone else, a party atmosphere in the stadium, food and beverages, opportunities to socialise and pre-, post- and interval entertainment.
In contrast, the "die-hard" or hard-core fans emphasised the live sport action "on the pitch" and factors relating to the team or athletic performance, issues beyond management’s control."
They go to report that "performance of the team on the pitch is not of paramount significance."
The research segmented fans in to:
- Aficionados (hard-core fans) – 29%
- Fair-weather fans – 27%
- Theatre-goers – 44%
About three-quarters of the respondents were male, half were aged between 30 and 50, and just over half came from "high income" households.
Almost all (97%) were at the game with family or friends. A significant consideration in this age of social networking and connectedness.
These are all interesting factors to consider if you're designing a digital experience or interactive for fans.
> Get the full report (PDF, 53Kb)
You Tube
Perhaps the most startling insight to the world of some of the more enthusiastic ruby fans is YouTube.
Here’s a few:
Screaming Rugby Fan (TIP: turn down your headphones!)
Rugby Fan tries to Cope with All Black loss to France in 2007
Then I came across this...
...so I visited No.8 hoping to find the "true fans of New Zealand Rugby". They're actually hidden away from sight, but you can get a taste of some at the hot issues in the Banter forums.
Social Networks
The elephant in the room is Facebook, where the Rugby World Cup have (at the time of writing) a whopping 686,426 fans. Will this list eventually exceed the population of New Zealand?
You can even take part in their fan personality test.
And Twitter is always a good bet if you want to listen in on the conversation...
Another insight is the internet photo album, Flickr. What a colourful lot!
Kicking for Touch
Sniffing about on the web gives you a taste of rugby culture, but when it comes to the crux, you simply can’t beat full immersion.
The best thing to do is to mingle with the fans and attend a match - boots and all!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Photo Credits:
Caitlin and Sally, proud supporters :)
By Velvet Android
Crowd at a rugby game, Athletic Park, Wellington, ca 1930
By National Library NZ on The Commons
