Offline Meetups

RCB Fan Summit

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In India, if you don’t follow Cricket...There’s something wrong about you!

Cricket it not just a sport here.

It’s a Religion.

And the same holds true for RCB Fans!

What’s it about?Select ‘Ambassadors’ across as many cities as possible in India.

Let these Ambassadors run and conduct Offline Meetups in their cities.

Which cities?All the IPL Cities + Tier 2 cities

The RCB Ambassador Program

• Selecting the Ambassadors

• What is in it for the Ambassador?

• Meetups

• Getting Meetups Sponsored

• Secondary Role of the Ambassador

• Tertiary Roles

• Social Media Angle

• Awards

Content

Selecting the AmbassadorsHave a contest on the lines of Fanatic Fan Challenge

Judge the contestants on:Knowledge of RCB, Passion and commitment, creativity and man-management.

Every city will have 1 RCB Ambassador(along with 2 deputy-ambassadors if its a metro / IPL city)

Ambassadors chosen will have to possess:True love for RCBGood communication skillsGood executional / organizational skills

On selection the Ambassador is welcomed with a special kit which includes:- 2 personalised team jerseys (and other merchandise)- A glossy iD card which officially recognises him as the RCB Ambassador of a particular region.- An official RoyalChallengers.com email iD.- Recognition

(If one expects Ambassadors to do everything for love, passion etc...One needs to give them due recognition on the Website and other Social platforms where RCB has a strong presence.)

What is in it for the Ambassador

The Ambassador has to co-ordinate and conduct 1 meet-up every month.

Initially this can be funded by RCB - After a while the Ambassador has to get it sponsored / funded. (Just like people get Tweetups funded.)

Setting up an agenda of a meet-up and choosing a theme is of prime importance:

Trivia meet-upMeet-up to watch a matchMeet-up to play board gamesMeet-up for drinksBiking meet-ups!

One has to ensure that attending fans don’t get bored.

Meetups

This would be an integral cog in ensuring that the Ambassador program continues to thrive for long.

Why would a brand sponsor a meet-up?Direct exposure to people.But that’s not enough. What more?

Online coverage and presence on the RCB site / FB - Twitter etc.A post should be done thanking the sponsors

A collectible to be given out to all the attendees of a meetup. Can be a small poster of RCB with the sponsor logo on it. Can be a RCB trading card, badge, tshirt, cricket mini bat, photo-frame of the event etc.

Tip: Location sponsors. New restaurants, clubs, café’s, pubs etc are the ones which are often eager for new consumer acquisitions.

Getting meet-ups sponsored

He becomes the bridge linking the Community Managers with the fans of a city.He helps in communicating all the new initiatives undertaken by RCB.And lets RCB know of what the fans are up to.

Merchandising:This is a key to the success and long term profitability of any team.

The Ambassador will take orders for merchandise and other goodies. People still don't like paying online. So, RCB ships to Ambassador. Ambassador sells the goodies based on orders he receives at offline meet-ups. He can either send all this money back or can further invest it for logistical issues for future meets.

Not just jerseys btw.

Secondary Role of the Ambassador

The Offline Meet-ups become the breeding grounds of something like the : RCB FFC, Mighty 14 etc.

The Exchange Program:As the IPL builds up and the loyalty of a fan towards his team increases, many might start traveling to watch RCB play.

The idea:Fans help other fans when they are traveling for away matches.A fan from Bangalore can stay with a fan from Mumbai when he's here. (ala Couch Surfing)

Tertiary Roles

Every Meet-up needs to be covered well.

Ambassador takes the responsibility of adding all the photos on FB and tagging them.

Live Tweeting during the meet-up with apt #hashtag

A casual video of everyone introducing them (i.e. those who attend) - which is uploaded on youtube, fb etc.

Collaborative blog post. City manager takes the onus of putting up a blog post along with everyone else's quotes etc

Social Media Angle

At the end of the year. Give out awards!i.e.Most active RCB City.Best RCB Ambassador.Most regular attendee.Most active contributor in meetupsetc etc

Make the winners feel special.Send the best Ambassador of the year to some major cricketing event abroad.

Awards

Ambassadors should be evaluated on a quarterly basis and the best ambassador will get something – which will aid in vanity.

Thus if one feels an ambassador is not doing a good job...he can be replaced (Local elections )

Also all the ambassadors across the country can have a meeting twice a year. Where each ambassador presents what his city has been up to.

Other things

Ekalavya Bhattacharya

Thank You