Days are hard for Schalke fans, their team’s performances on the pitch are rather disappointing or, quite frankly, devastating. The club are looking for a new sportive direction. But their development off the field and especially in the digital realm has been innovative and could be considered groundbreaking. Schalke 04 were early adopters considering eSports. Now, they have released an AR app that offers fans so many routes to get closer to their beloved club – and earn themselves rewards like collectible cards. Maybe this is kind of a welcome retreat for some disappointed fans. For the club, it could mean a lot more digital engagment, eventually.
Schalke 04: Forward-looking traditional club gets into AR
Loved and loathed in the Ruhr area, followers around the world and the odd appearance in the Champions League: Schalke 04, despite never winning the Bundesliga to date, are a cult club, a traditional powerhouse in German football – and beyond. Sadly for them, last season’s success wasn’t going to last this campaign. Right now, after they got a hiding from Manchester City in the Champions League, they are somehow fighting relegation domestically. While fans are depressed, they might just have a reason to engage with their club in a positive manner.
The Schalke Quest App, released a few days back, makes fans immerse in Augmented Reality to discover new experiences tied to the club from Gelsenkirchen. Created by Berlin-based ForwardGameAR, the app shall offer supporters around the world new virtual experiences and enhance the stadium experience as well. Alexander Jobst, marketing director at Schalke 04, stated:
We are constantly working on improving our fans’ experiences around the world. Therefore we are now pleased to announce our new app, Schalke Quest. Working with ForwardGameAR has proven to be a great success. We recognised the talent they have in their development team and are happy to have found a partner who is passionate about the project too. The consumer’s behavior is constantly changing in our digital society. In order to react to that, we decided to develop something for our fans with ForwardGameAR. Schalke Quest is a fine example that tradition and innovation are at their strongest when they are working alongside each other
The fans are urged to “play“ Schalke 04 in the “real world“, although it’s much more of a virtual, yet augmented reality. As soon as users enter the app, that asks for location data and a bluetooth connection, they can discover virtual boxes that contain questions regarding the club history of The Knappen. Answering correctly to such questions can earn the fans some rewards like digital collectible cards. Schalke are certainly not the first club banking on such content, as Arsenal London also offer collectibles like that.
Like the Gunners supporters the Schalke 04 fans can exchange collectible cards with other app users to complete their own set from Embolo to Rudy. Aditionally, they can create their own virtual fan clubs to engage digitally in the context of this new and attention-getting app. Furthermore, these fan clubs shall become spaces to exchange diverse items in a move to bring fans together on a digital level.
Another feature, though, is the option for two app users to get engaged in a duel to test who has got the best knowledge of the club.
AR apps might just give clubs more ways to express themselves digitally
The new app is available now to Android and iOS users everywhere around the world.
With the announcement of this particular app and its innovative playful features, we can certainly assume that AR is going to provide all those digital-affine fans everywhere new ways to engage with their clubs. Probably, features like Quest’s will boost dwell time inside these very apps. And that is a very important metric for the success of digital media overall. For it enables more marketing opportunities, too.
There are already a number of alluring AR apps from reknowned brands like Snapchat for a main example or IKEA’s feature to place furniture inside your flat via Augmented Reality. So, if big brands use such technology, why shouldn’t the sports business? The MLB and NBA do have AR apps to engage fans. With the MLB app, fans in the stadium can even amplify their experiences with live data brought to their devices. The NBA’s version offers enhanced insights and tempting games.
Schalke 04 are a club that have understood how important it is to leverage these opportunities. And maybe, just maybe, this gimmick might distract the crestfallen Royal Blues fans from their team’s woes on the picht. Although, probably no technological solution will ever have that power.