Airtel Rising Stars, The Hunt For Indian Soccer Talents Through Facebook

I used to wonder why Football hasn’t been promoted the way Cricket is done in our country when we have the talent. However, with time we are seeing a change in mindset and Airtel has now come with a massive talent hunt for 12 best U-16 soccer talents that would be given a chance to train at the Manchester United Soccer School. Not only would you play in the historic ground of Old Trafford but will also get trained the way gods of football like Rooney Wayne, Ryan Giggs, etc. are trained. The contest starts from 14^th July and is going to be conducted all over India. Besides this, to create a buzz about the contest Airtel has created a Facebook fan page and a dedicated Facebook app too.

Airtel Rising Stars Facebook App

Once the app completes the authentication process, you land up on a dashboard that breathes football from every section. The home page of the dashboard is a playground, which has a player running with a ball. Make the player run in the ground and you will uncover different sections of the app. The app provides complete details of the game and the entire process in sections such as Program Detail and Trail Schedule has some visually interesting sections designed for football lovers. ARS program format section is one such section, which shows the entire program format in the typical football match strategy. For example, a fan who is interested in registering will start from Facebook registration and move ahead by clearing the different levels of selection process and finally reaching the goal. This same selection process has been shown as ball being passed from defender Rio Ferdinand to midfield finally reaching to striker Rooney to hit a goal and which also is the final selection of the talent hunt. An awesome way of depicting a simple program format.

Another section that is also a visual treat and interestingly developed is the Trail Schedule. This section shares the cities in which the initial trails would be done and to express this feature, the app displays a map of India pointing cities that would be having the selections. In addition to this, the complete addresses are also displayed along with the cities.

Register Now is another very well designed feature which takes all the details of the participant along with parent’s consent for this contest. Invite A Friend, a Facebook feature has been also included to invite your friends to this contest and help spread the word.

Is the Facebook app cool?

The Facebook app is not only one of the best apps that I have reviewed in recent times but a lot of thought process has been invested in designing each section. Some of the reasons why the app is really cool are as follows:

1. The app follows all Facebook guidelines. Being a football contest related to Manchester United, this wrapping both the flavors has made the app one of the best apps in recent times.

2. You have to like the page to play the contest but that’s good since it is attracting football lovers. It makes sense to create a ‘like’ campaign to build a relevant community.

3. The app scores full marks in the design aspect. The team that designed the app has kept a football lover in mind and designed each and every section. ARS Program Format and Trail Schedule are a clear example of the awesome thinking that has gone into the design.

4. The app has been tested properly and has no glitches.

5. Including Facebook viral features such as Invite a Friend is really thoughtful and will give more scope to create buzz about the contest.

The Facebook page that is the home of ‘The Red Devils’ has already got a fan following of 764K and I am sure that this is going to grow as time passes and most of the credit will go to the Facebook app.

I am fascinated with the initiative by Airtel and the Facebook app, what are your reactions?

Author: Prasant Naidu     Prasant Naidu on the Web Prasant Naidu on Facebook Prasant Naidu on Twitter Prasant Naidu on LinkedIn Prasant Naidu on Google Plus Prasant Naidu RSS Feed

Founder and Blogger at Lighthouse Insights. Loves to experiment in social media and believes social media is a game changer for SME's. A diehard Royal Enfield fan,a voracious reader. I believe that knowledge should be shared so I often do it via training and speaking assignments on social media... View full profile

This article originally appeared on Lighthouse Insights and has been republished with permission.

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