A smartphone app, Fanstars, was developed that depicted an exact replica of the night sky above Sochi with 4,000 real stars that fans could tag with messages of support for their sporting heroes. Messages could be sent to either individual athletes or the whole Czech team.

The athletes could then read, like and respond to these messages through their very own personalized versions of the app – that they were given upon arrival in Sochi. These messages gave the athletes additional moral support and motivation from Czech fans literally all over the world – the equivalent of the “12th man” in football.

Integration between smartphones and Facebook was seamless and a total of 72 touchpoints, ranging from leaflets to Facebook ads, were covered for a mere $1,500.

Fanstars became a movement that engaged Czechs fans around the world. Thousands of fans from the Czech Republic and another 18 countries worldwide cheered on the athletes with thousands of messages of support, with every single athlete responding at least once.

The Fanstars app hit number 3 on the App store and number 8 on the Play Store, making it the most popular entertainment app for the Sochi Olympics.

Fanstars created the largest digital platform of direct communication between athletes and their fans in the history of Olympic sport.

The Czech Republic had its most successful Winter Olympics in history, with four of the six medal winners attributing their success to the support they received from Fanstars.