Kapil Ohri
Digital

IPL: Delhi Daredevils to build an online community of fans

Delhidaredevils.com will allow fans to interact with each other and aggregate information about team members through a blog

GMR Sports, which owns the Delhi Daredevils team, is using the digital medium to generate support and build a community of fans for its team.

It has launched a website called www.Delhidaredevils.com, designed by Arc Worldwide, the integrated marketing services agency of Leo Burnett, where users can register and become a Delhi Daredevils fan.

The site allows members to get information about the players, tickets, schedule of matches and to view the merchandise of the team. Currently, the site has a limited user generated content option as there is an unmoderated message board, which allows members to write about the team. But there are plans to make the site more interactive and engaging in the future.

IPL: Delhi Daredevils to build an online community of fans
According to Karl Gomes, executive creative director, digital, Arc Worldwide, “We will be using the site as a platform to build a community around the team. Fans will be allowed to interact with each other. We will also be introducing a blog which will be managed by our team. The blog will aggregate all information regarding the Delhi Daredevils and provide all inside information about the players.” He adds, “The site can also be used for selling team related merchandise, depending on the availability of such merchandise.”

A community called Delhi Daredevils also exists on Facebook.com, a social networking site; 786 Facebook members have joined up. Although Arc Worldwide has not created this Facebook community, it is helping the owner of the community by supplying exclusive material like videos and pictures related to the team.

Arc Worldwide is using both the online and offline media to promote the site. It has employed mobile marketing and search marketing to create awareness about the site. Till now, 3,000 users have already registered with the site. All offline campaigns will carry the URL of the site. Leo Burnett is the creative agency for the offline campaigns of the Delhi Daredevils and it will soon be launching posters of the team.

The Delhi Daredevils team includes Virender Sehwag (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Asif, Daniel Vettori and Glenn McGrath.

Some other IPL teams have also created their own websites: Chennai Super Kings has www.Chennaisuperkings.com, the Shah Rukh Khan backed Kolkata Knight Riders has www.Kolkataknightriders.com, and Vijay Mallya’s Bangalore Royal Challengers has www.Royalchallengers.com.

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