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Fancam finds that a high-res picture is worth a thousand views

Fancam uses high-res imagery to capture entire events and allow fans to find themselves in the crowd.
Photos by: FANCAM
During each of the New England Patriots’ regular-season home games in 2015, sponsor Putnam Investments provided the more than 68,000 fans in attendance with a photo.

And not just any old selfie, either.

Using gigapixel photography, Fancam took a high-definition photo of Gillette Stadium during the game. Shortly after, it was made available online, where fans could interact with the picture, zooming in to find themselves or friends in crystal-clear resolution, whether they were in the front row on the 50-yard-line, or in the last row of the stadium, with the ability to tag themselves and share it across any social media platform.

“Instead of being able to give out foam fingers to just the first few thousand fans that show up, this is a way for everyone at every level in the stadium to not only participate, but also be able to share it with their friends,” said Mark McKenna, head of global marketing for the money management firm.

McKenna concedes that when he heard of the South African company and its technology before partnering for initially a single Patriots game in 2014, he was skeptical. “Even after a few meetings, we still had to ask, ‘Really you can get everyone in every seat and every section? And we can further customize the image with branding and video elements?’” he said. “It almost sounded too good to be true.”

KEY EXECUTIVES:
Tinus le Roux, CEO and co-founder
James Taylor, co-founder
  Michael Proman, managing director, North America

KEY CLIENTS:
Anheuser-Busch
JPMorgan Chase
Boston Celtics
Denver Broncos
U2
Taylor Swift

But, McKenna said, the results have been even better than promised. The Fancam image taken of the team’s game against Jacksonville in Week 3 of 2015 saw more than 600,000 visitors in the first 48 hours it was available, with each user averaging more than six minutes looking around the stadium. While McKenna declined to comment on the financial terms of the deal with Fancam, he said the firm has valued that level of engagement and exposure in the six figures.

Applying the technology to sports wasn’t on the forefront of Fancam co-founder and CEO Tinus le Roux and his fellow co-founders’ minds when they first began to experiment with the early versions of virtual reality, 360-degree photography and video about a decade ago. They were building a business around doing Google Street View-esque applications for businesses like hotels and safari lodges in his home of South Africa.

In 2009, they came across the higher-resolution version of that same technology, using their expertise to help lower turnaround times and improve the precision of the image. They used the technology to capture a rugby game in South Africa, and the outpouring of interest from fans pushed their efforts into global sports.

“It sounds somewhat philosophical, but my interest was based on the fundamentals of sociology,” le Roux said. “If you can create a visual representation of the communities coming together around say a basketball match, and be able to zoom in and show someone’s face in the crowd, I knew as a fan I would love it. There hadn’t been that sort of technology that could capture everyone in that way.”

But even beyond creating a photo of something fans liked, le Roux realized that sort of engagement would be enticing for brands as well.

“For fans, this is proof they were there, and it’s obvious why they like it — people like pictures of themselves, they like pictures of themselves at places they care about, and if it’s a cool picture, too? That’s three checkmarks,” he said. “But for brands, the opportunity there is predictable fan engagement, something that is very fickle and can cost millions of dollars and still not be achieved.”

To date, Fancam has captured images of more than 15 million fans at 700 international events, ranging from the SEC Championship Game and the UEFA Champions League final to U2 and Taylor Swift concerts. Clients include Bud Light, Coca-Cola, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft and MillerCoors.

Fancam CEO and co-founder Tinus le Roux at Gillette Stadium
Photo by: FANCAM
While the cost of employing Fancam varies by event and whether it’s part of a multi-event contract, brands typically pay about $20,000 for single events.

Le Roux concedes that they’ve had some price resistance over the years, but said, “if you find a brand that is willing to do the ROI math, it quickly becomes clear that 60,000 branded selfies will outperform digital banner ads, stadium signage and almost all other available fan engagement tools any day of the week.”

While he declined to comment on the company’s annual revenue, le Roux noted that Fancam has captured more than 600 events since 2011, and that it has already written 72 percent of last year’s total revenue through the first half of the current fiscal year.

Digital engagement was key to McKenna and Putnam as well, prompting the firm to go from working with Fancam for that one game in 2014 to now doing all Patriots games, as well as extending the relationship to its sponsorship of the Boston Celtics.

“As fans are looking around the stadium and engaging with Fancam finding themselves or a friend in the crowd, they’re spending a lot of time in a branded environment where Putnam is very visible,” McKenna said. In addition to searching Gillette Stadium, the Patriots’ Fancam also provides 360-degree tours of the Putnam-branded club level and the firm’s suite.

The process is simple, according to le Roux, and has added to the company’s success. One photographer can use a single camera and a tripod to capture the entire crowd via a number of photos depending on the venue size, which often takes less than five minutes. Five hundred or so images are then sent to the Fancam servers, where its production office essentially stitches the photos into one overall image. The company then creates a site for the image, and assists in promoting the site. Fancam currently has 15 photographers on contract in local markets around the world, and 20 full-time employees.

The one downside to capturing the image at that time is that it often can be done only during timeouts or right before halftime, resulting in a more restrained crowd as opposed to a jubilant one during a big moment.

However, in the last year, Fancam has started to install fixed cameras at venues across the U.S., removing the need to have a photographer on-site. When installed, these cameras not only can take multiple photos at different points during the game, but also are able to capture images during moments like a Hail Mary touchdown or during a buzzer-beater, which is currently impossible for a single photographer to do. Currently, three venues — Madison Square Garden, TD Garden and Minute Maid Park — have cameras installed, with several other venues in discussion for installation, le Roux said.

The company also is looking to get into the world of fan data, and has been experimenting with facial recognition technology to see if it can help both teams and brands learn more about who is in their crowds, as well as who is interacting with Fancam’s images online.

These two new initiatives — installing cameras in venues and delivering demographic fan data — are responsible for most of the company’s new revenue growth, said le Roux, who expects both categories to continue to grow.

Because of Fancam’s head start with the technology, le Roux said the company feels it doesn’t have much competition in the space. One of the only U.S. companies to use gigapixel technology, Blakeway Worldwide Panoramas, often works with Fancam on projects as they both have different strategic approaches, he said.

Going forward, le Roux doesn’t foresee increased innovation to the technology, but rather simply working with the market to recognize the value of a Fancam image.

“Really, it’s not about the technology,” he said. “We’ve been successful because people are Patriots fans, and as long as they remain Patriots fans, there is more than enough narrative in the season and within each game. We let the sport tell the story; we’re there to capture it.”

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