Ultimate Fan

Project type: Applications, Campaigns, Products

The first fully-fledged implementation of our Badges Facebook Application, Ultimate Fan is the game that rewards fans the more that they support their nation during the Rugby World Cup 2011.

Ultimate fan was created after we were commissioned by ITV to create a social experience that allowed fans to show their commitment and fandom during the Rugby World Cup 2011, as well as increase ITV’s viewership figures for the tournament.

Fans earn badges by performing various acts of fandom, such as getting up early to watch their team play, owning their team’s official kit, or predicting the results of matches. Each badge is worth points, with the user receiving the most points over the course of the tournament becoming the Ultimate Fan.

The application took advantage of the latest trends and best practices in gamification, including curved level progression, varied rewards for interacting with the app and ITV, and an even spectrum of easy- and hard-to-achieve badges to provide challenges for both inexperienced and hardcore fans.

On top of this, users were also able to support their team by overlaying their Twitter or Facebook profile picture via a custom page on Twibbon.

Ultimate fan was a great success, particularly in terms of repeat usage. Over 50% of badge-wearers returned to the app to add more badges as the tournament progressed, while the average user added more than 8 badges over the course of the game, proving Ultimate Fan to be one of the most engaging and fun Facebook applications of 2011.