Facebook app firm Fantom wins deal with UK football club Derby County

3 Jan 2013

Dublin Facebook app developer Fantom has signed a deal with Derby County to launch the Derby County Football Club Online Sticker Album, which gives fans new ways to interact with the club’s players. Fantom says it is now in negotiations with Premiership football clubs about similar deals.

Fantom’s app is a digital activation tool, using a collectible card game to engage fans and have them interact with the brand.

Research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute suggests that even passion brands are struggling with digital engagement, particularly on Facebook.

A diverse range of brands use the Fantom app, from the TNA Impact Wrestling franchise to the UK Science Museum.

“The Fantom app offers our fans something unique and different, and offers us a brand engagement solution for Facebook,” said Faye Nixon, marketing manager at Derby County.

Derby

The Fantom app, which has other Championship Teams and Premier League teams in the pipeline, is built on HTML5, and runs on Facebook, browser, and mobile.

Version 2.0, scheduled for release in December, adds self-publishing tools to allow brand managers to publish and manage their own digital albums.

The Derby County Fantom app can be accessed on Facebook.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com