Courtesy Technology, Times have changed.

Nowadays while we go to watch any match in the stadium, it is very easy to capture every moment of any sport with the help of our smartphone or any other ‘gadget’. Be it photos, videos or even selfie with our friends or that ‘special’ selfie with one of the player on the ground.  But it was not that long ago that we didn’t have a smartphone that could capture all those wonderful moments. We were glued to the match and still have great memories of the games that we witnessed some years back. The focus and attention towards the game was more during those days as we didn’t have an option/compulsion of announcing to the world about all the live action via stories/status on Insta/ Twitter/FB.  Fan Engagement is one of the key areas for all the sporting brands be it clubs or national teams. Fan engagement is not restricted to sports as all non sporting brands also make sure that they have a massive fan following. Sports in particular look up to the fans to keep the momentum going be it the ticket sales to fill up the stands in stadiums, the home fans cheering their team or those buying the merchandise. Some of the brands have even gone ahead and used the help of technologies like Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, etc. to keep their fans engaged.

So when i interviewed Blair Hughes and discussed about GGPP, he shared that it was indeed a vintage way of fan engagement. Blair Hughes, one of the award winning Fan Engagement specialist in the Sporting World has come out with an idea to engage the youngest fans: The Kids; & he thinks that the good old days has a charm of its own.

Blair Hughes is an award winning, globally respected fan engagement specialist from Australia who has helped clients grow fan bases & improve fan experiences. His clients include Chelsea FC, Denver Roncos, NRL, AFL and many more.

The GameDay Ground Hopper is an idea which is conceptualized & designed by Blair. The GameDay GroundHopper Pocket Passport (GGPP) is a fun and educational pocket sized booklet to document sports fans game day ground hopping adventures across the world’s sporting venues. The GGPP enables fans to record all the key moments such as the scores and player autographs to fan experience aspects such as F&B and entertainment that can all be cherished forever in one handy booklet.

GGPP was launched on 15th March 2019 at $5 with free world wide shipping. It has been sold to 18 countries till now including Portugal, Norway, England, Peru, France, NZ, USA and India.In addition to this the local reception for GGPP has been excellent as this has already been delivered to fans spread across all the states in Australia.

When i asked Blair about the money part, his instant reply was that this project is not for making money but to get young fans engage with the game. The cost of the project is mentioned in detail on the website to maintain the transparency.

As per Blair the biggest moment of joy is when you get the users feedback. Some of the fan feedbacks:-

“The majority of the fan engagement these days is digital which is great. But digital is quickly forgotten. That’s why I love @The_GGPP by @MrBlairHughes. A passport in the hand. Old School. Paper and pen. A Keepsake for my boys as we travel to sports events around the world.”

“Love this! The Game Day GroundHopper’s Pocket Passport, made for kids (or young kids at heart) to collect memories from sporting grounds, as well as track their game day experience with a bit of math and creativity”

Hughes said during the interview that “It’s designed to be a little book that kids and fans can fill out their match day moments at the game or afterwards and then have this as a keepsake to look back on down the track. It harks back to the old days a bit where you used pen and paper and is designed to enable deeper connections between fans. I’m all for technology and being on my phone at games checking scores and stats but this is a bit stripped back and I thought it would be a fun project that would resonate with fans which it has done so and more!”

You can get more details about GGPP at https://www.theggpp.com/ & follow twitter handle for updates: @The_GGPP

Looks like kids have absolutely loved this GGPP but surprisingly it is also seeing a great response from many who are still young at heart ;). Once in a while a retro idea can get you a good customer engagement platform.

GGPP The Retro Vintage Pocket Passport: Sometimes it is good to ‘disengage’ to get engaged with something you love 🙂