Memorizing the Club’s Heritage Through its First Smart Jersey
10% of all registered buyers used their early access right to purchase the jersey of the next season before anyone else.
Client: FC Zürich
Industry: Sports
Bringing merchandise to the digital dimension
Swiss football club FC Zürich created a special warm-up jersey featuring collectID technology to take fans on a journey through its 125 years of club history.
Bringing Merchandise to the Digital Dimension
Swiss football club FC Zürich created a special warm-up jersey featuring collectID technology to take fans on a journey through its 125 years of club history.
Exclusive benefits for fans
This allowed the club to offer its fans exclusive benefits and upsell it’s products before public release.
Exclusive Benefits for Fans
This allowed the club to offer its fans exclusive benefits and upsell it’s products before public release.
%
Buyers Scanned Jersey
%
Buyers Watched the Movie Before Anyone Else
%
Buyers Bought the Next Jersey Through collectID
Challenge
- How to tell the story about 125 years of history
- High cost of paid social media campaigns
- Newsletters have low opening rates
Solution
An encrypted collectID NFC tag was embedded in FC Zürich’s special edition warm-up jersey to commemorate the club’s 125-year anniversary. With a simple scan with their smartphones, fans could register ownership of the jersey, which gave them access to exclusive and never-before-seen content from the club’s rich history and FCZ’s documentary movie “Nie usenand gah”. In addition, FCZ used the collectID technology to offer registered fans priority access to the new season jersey before anyone else. FC Zürich can thus interact more closely with its fans and use this unique and innovative communication and sales channel to upsell its merchandise products.
Results
- 15% of buyers scanned their warm-up jersey with a smartphone, while 13% registered ownership.
- About 300 fans watched the “Nie usenand gah” documentary before its Swiss TV release.
- 10% of registered buyers used early access to purchase next season’s jersey before anyone else.
Benefits for FC Zürich
Fans
- Fans can dive deeper into the history of their favorite club with a simple scan of their physical jersey on their smartphone
- Registered buyers received priority treatment that strengthened their emotional tie to FCZ (e.g. access to exclusive content around the 125th anniversary).
- The increased engagement and dynamic digital content results in fans valuing their merchandise more, leading to a higher perceived value of the jersey.
Benefits for FC Zürich
- FC Zürich increased sales by upselling products, with 10% of fans using early access to purchase next season’s jersey before anyone else.
- The club established a direct communication and sales channel with fans, reducing dependence on social media to engage fans.
- FCZ’s physical jersey telling the story of the club’s history created a stronger emotional connection, while digital content enhanced merchandise value and engagement.