Virtual fan presence at Arena Riga.
photo: Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images
Their brand is synonymous with hockey and they have partnered with the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships for almost 30 years, since 1993 as official main sponsor. Even in markets where their cars aren’t driven in high quantities, hockey fans know the name “ŠKODA” from watching the Worlds on television, seeing their latest models behind the boards in the corners and their logo at centre ice.
In the stands, ŠKODA also has established a presence, with fans wearing paper helmets and waving paper flags with the company name on them. But as we all know, this year is very different, so ŠKODA has to be a little bit more creative to get involved with hockey fans.
“We can’t do the usual thing, because of the pandemic, so we came up with this Fanboard concept, where fans can upload their face and cheer for their team,” said Christian Philipp, the Head of Global Experience Marketing for ŠKODA AUTO. “In the past it was the helmets and the flags, now it’s the Fanboards, and eventually, we’ll see what it is in the future.”
Of course, the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship isn’t the first sporting event to take place under pandemic conditions where few if any spectators have been allowed. Far from it. So the idea of putting faces in the crowd to fill empty seats isn’t unique.
“What some of them do is place randomly chosen images on a cardboard background, which wasn’t really an option for us,” said Philipp. “We wanted to have real faces – real fans who want their faces to be at the game in their country’s jersey, and have that engagement with them.”
Fans watching the games on television have probably already noticed them, in growing numbers since the tournament started last Friday. But who are these fans whose faces are already there? And how do others go about adding their own?
“There is a microsite on our ŠKODA-auto.com webpage,” said Experience Marketing Specialist Lenka Peroncikova. “There you fill in a short form, enter your name and email address, upload a photo, and also by accepting the rules, you can enter to win tickets for the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, so that way we get fans engaged this year and can also bring them back in person next year.”
There are guidelines to what kind of photos can be submitted, and each one has to be approved before it’s made into a Fanboard.
“There is actually a human who approves each picture because we really didn’t want to have rude gestures or anything inappropriate,” said Peroncikova.
But that doesn’t mean people can’t have some fun with their submissions. And they do.
“We don’t necessarily decline pictures of faces that are not human beings,” said Philipp. “If people decide they want to send their cat or their dog or something else because it stands out from the crowd, we will approve it as long as there’s nothing inappropriate or offensive about it.
“The vast majority of the pictures, though, are of human beings, but still many of them personalize it in some way that stands out,” Philipp explained. “Some of them have a scarf, wig or hat on their head or are wearing a mask or sunglasses. Others have painted their faces the way you often see at a hockey game or have used Instagram filters.
“Sometimes you wonder why they’d want to do that because you can’t even see who it is, but they really want to stand out from the crowd, and some of them are very creative and quite funny.”
In the stands, ŠKODA also has established a presence, with fans wearing paper helmets and waving paper flags with the company name on them. But as we all know, this year is very different, so ŠKODA has to be a little bit more creative to get involved with hockey fans.
“We can’t do the usual thing, because of the pandemic, so we came up with this Fanboard concept, where fans can upload their face and cheer for their team,” said Christian Philipp, the Head of Global Experience Marketing for ŠKODA AUTO. “In the past it was the helmets and the flags, now it’s the Fanboards, and eventually, we’ll see what it is in the future.”
Of course, the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship isn’t the first sporting event to take place under pandemic conditions where few if any spectators have been allowed. Far from it. So the idea of putting faces in the crowd to fill empty seats isn’t unique.
“What some of them do is place randomly chosen images on a cardboard background, which wasn’t really an option for us,” said Philipp. “We wanted to have real faces – real fans who want their faces to be at the game in their country’s jersey, and have that engagement with them.”
Fans watching the games on television have probably already noticed them, in growing numbers since the tournament started last Friday. But who are these fans whose faces are already there? And how do others go about adding their own?
“There is a microsite on our ŠKODA-auto.com webpage,” said Experience Marketing Specialist Lenka Peroncikova. “There you fill in a short form, enter your name and email address, upload a photo, and also by accepting the rules, you can enter to win tickets for the 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, so that way we get fans engaged this year and can also bring them back in person next year.”
There are guidelines to what kind of photos can be submitted, and each one has to be approved before it’s made into a Fanboard.
“There is actually a human who approves each picture because we really didn’t want to have rude gestures or anything inappropriate,” said Peroncikova.
But that doesn’t mean people can’t have some fun with their submissions. And they do.
“We don’t necessarily decline pictures of faces that are not human beings,” said Philipp. “If people decide they want to send their cat or their dog or something else because it stands out from the crowd, we will approve it as long as there’s nothing inappropriate or offensive about it.
“The vast majority of the pictures, though, are of human beings, but still many of them personalize it in some way that stands out,” Philipp explained. “Some of them have a scarf, wig or hat on their head or are wearing a mask or sunglasses. Others have painted their faces the way you often see at a hockey game or have used Instagram filters.
“Sometimes you wonder why they’d want to do that because you can’t even see who it is, but they really want to stand out from the crowd, and some of them are very creative and quite funny.”
photo: Andre Ringuette / HHOF-IIHF Images
As of Day 5 of the tournament, more than 10,000 submissions had been made, with entries coming from all 16 participating nations. Of course, like you see at a typical World Championship, fans from some countries participate in greater numbers than others.
“So far we have received more than 10,000 picture uploads and we believe that by the end of the tournament, we will reach more than we can produce because we have a capacity of 15,000,” said Peroncikova. “And because of that, there is also a luck factor as to whether or not your picture will eventually be placed in the arena.”
With a seating capacity of just over 10,000, Arena Riga doesn’t have enough room for 15,000 Fanboards. The Olympic Sports Centre across the street has room for even less.
“We replace the fans every game,” said Philipp. “The fans there today won’t be here tomorrow as long as we have enough entries from the teams. From countries like Germany, Switzerland or Latvia, we really have so many entries that every game, we have 100 per cent new Fanboards in the arena. For some of the others, such as the USA or Canada, some fans will be in the arena two or three times.”
Fans will want to know which game or games their likeness will be on display in the audience, so for those games fans will receive a ticket by email so then they can watch the game and try to see themselves, and also have a game ticket as if they were really there.
“Surely, it’s not the same as the real experience, but it is an experience,” said Philipp
When you see the Fanboards on TV, you’ll notice that they are not placed in blocks according to teams, but rather mixed up, with fans of one team sitting next to another. That was done on purpose.
“According to the theme of the event, which is ‘Passion, No Borders’, we want to mix up the teams,” said Philipp. “We don’t want to show what we see in football with blocks of fans all from one country, but fans sitting beside fans from other countries and sharing their passion for the sport. That’s one of the great things we see at a normal World Championship and that’s what we want to show here.”
There is still hope that at some time before the end of this World Championship, a certain number of live fans will be permitted to enter the arena depending on discussions within the Latvian government. What would happen to the Fanboards then?
“We have an agreement with the organizers as well as the IIHF about that because, obviously, we can’t run a promotion like this and one day just tell the fans, ‘Sorry, we can’t place you in the arena anymore’,” Philipp explained.
“At Arena Riga, the organizing committee has a lot of seats blocked off that are currently covered by banners, so we’re not putting Fanboards in all the seats throughout the arena,” said Philipp. “What we could end up seeing if we bring in real fans is a sort of ‘chessboard’ situation, where we’ll have fans socially distanced from each other and the vacant seats between them occupied by Fanboards.”
An ideal situation for the final, according to Philipp, would be to have every seat in the arena occupied by either a live person or a Fanboard.
“We’re still discussing with the organizing committee about the possibility of placing them throughout the arena, not just in the areas visible on television, which would paint an impressive picture, from my point of view.”
“So far we have received more than 10,000 picture uploads and we believe that by the end of the tournament, we will reach more than we can produce because we have a capacity of 15,000,” said Peroncikova. “And because of that, there is also a luck factor as to whether or not your picture will eventually be placed in the arena.”
With a seating capacity of just over 10,000, Arena Riga doesn’t have enough room for 15,000 Fanboards. The Olympic Sports Centre across the street has room for even less.
“We replace the fans every game,” said Philipp. “The fans there today won’t be here tomorrow as long as we have enough entries from the teams. From countries like Germany, Switzerland or Latvia, we really have so many entries that every game, we have 100 per cent new Fanboards in the arena. For some of the others, such as the USA or Canada, some fans will be in the arena two or three times.”
Fans will want to know which game or games their likeness will be on display in the audience, so for those games fans will receive a ticket by email so then they can watch the game and try to see themselves, and also have a game ticket as if they were really there.
“Surely, it’s not the same as the real experience, but it is an experience,” said Philipp
When you see the Fanboards on TV, you’ll notice that they are not placed in blocks according to teams, but rather mixed up, with fans of one team sitting next to another. That was done on purpose.
“According to the theme of the event, which is ‘Passion, No Borders’, we want to mix up the teams,” said Philipp. “We don’t want to show what we see in football with blocks of fans all from one country, but fans sitting beside fans from other countries and sharing their passion for the sport. That’s one of the great things we see at a normal World Championship and that’s what we want to show here.”
There is still hope that at some time before the end of this World Championship, a certain number of live fans will be permitted to enter the arena depending on discussions within the Latvian government. What would happen to the Fanboards then?
“We have an agreement with the organizers as well as the IIHF about that because, obviously, we can’t run a promotion like this and one day just tell the fans, ‘Sorry, we can’t place you in the arena anymore’,” Philipp explained.
“At Arena Riga, the organizing committee has a lot of seats blocked off that are currently covered by banners, so we’re not putting Fanboards in all the seats throughout the arena,” said Philipp. “What we could end up seeing if we bring in real fans is a sort of ‘chessboard’ situation, where we’ll have fans socially distanced from each other and the vacant seats between them occupied by Fanboards.”
An ideal situation for the final, according to Philipp, would be to have every seat in the arena occupied by either a live person or a Fanboard.
“We’re still discussing with the organizing committee about the possibility of placing them throughout the arena, not just in the areas visible on television, which would paint an impressive picture, from my point of view.”