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Chelsea has opened a new store for fans – only it’s a digital one inside the avatar-based messaging app, Rawr.
The app enables users to create a virtual character version of themselves – an avatar – and dress them how they wish. For users on Rawr, it now means they’re able to dress up their characters in official Chelsea items, including the new home and goalkeeper shirts for this season, as well as scarves and other items.
As the above image shows though, items require in-app currency in order to be claimed.
While official club apps are very common, a Premier League club actively embedding itself in another app is a relatively new phenomenon – one that could become more widespread as clubs look for new ways to reach and interact with increasingly global and tech-savvy fanbases.
Rawr including Chelsea as their first team of any description might have been helped by the fact that Rawr’s developer, Oskari Hakkinen, is a fan of the London club.
Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck called the move into Rawr an “important step for the club as we look to engage and entertain our many millions of fans”.
Rawr launched in May for iOS and Android, and has so far received funding from early investors in Snapchat, WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook, as well as from Mark Zuckerberg’s sister, Arielle.
