We love a challenge...so what was it?

Icons.com hosted personal web pages for more than 50 footballers. Icons needed to re-engage its user base and attract new users. But the solution also needed to be mindful of the needs of players as well as the Icons staff.

Crikey, so what on earth did we do?

We created a network of networks. We built Official Player Websites, a hub site comprising 52 individual personal websites (each with their own specific URLs). The hub site shows all the players on Official Player Websites - and the latest and best rated content drawn from across all the individual sites. When fans click on a player on the hub site they are taken to that player’s site.

We built social networking functionality into each player site. As well as being able to access great content, fans have the unique opportunity to interact with their favourite footballers by posting on their message walls, sending gifts, asking them questions, uploading videos or commenting on the content.

We created a content management system for the Icons team to add news, blogs, photos and more to the player sites without hassle. The design of each player´s personal site can also be customised to give it a more unique look and feel.

And how well did we do it? We won’t boast too much, I promise.

In its first three weeks the sites have had more than 22,000 visits and 80,000 page impressions. More than 500 fans have registered as members on the site. The feedback from users and players has been very encouraging. Many have said they love the new sites. The Icons team is delighted with our handiwork too.

So where do we go from here?

We’re currently optimising the site, which is still in its beta phase. In the longer term we hope to introduce peer-to-peer communication within Official Player Websites. This would create a real network for the tribal football fan market.