3AW Football Radio was steadily losing its audience. Once loyal listeners were now watching the game Live on their smartphones. And worse still, tuning into rival radio stations. We didn’t just need to win back listeners, but also their loyalty. The creative solution needed to establish a bond between football fans and the 3AW commentary team.

On the 3AW Facebook page, we posted a call for entries, giving fans the opportunity to create and submit their own hilarious football commentary calls before each week’s big game. And each week, the funniest, most entertaining submissions were used during LIVE game commentary. 3AW commentators also engaged with fans by recording all their favourite calls and posting them back on Facebook. Calls that earned the most kudos on Facebook were featured in our print and radio ads.

Footy fans were all over it “like seagulls around a potato cake”. Daily engagement on 3AW Facebook page increased 140% and average daily reach increased 280% (Source- Facebook Insights). We turned participants into listeners, gaining 72,000 unique listeners during the football season. 3AW Football went from 3rd and slipping, to Australia’s number 1 rated sports radio station (Source- GfK Group).