ANZ Support Band

The ANZ Support Band is an interactive wristband created to connect fans directly to the New Zealand Team athletes for the Tokyo 2020 Games. Satellite was brought on board to design and build the software on the support band and relay support from the NZ Team app to the band.

COVID-19 limited global travel which meant that fans, friends and family were not able to be present and physically support our athletes in Tokyo. The ANZ Support Band was a way of enabling fans to show their support for the NZ Olympic and Paralympic athletes for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. 

The ANZ Support Band is an example of wearable technology. It’s a fitness tracker wristband with adapted technology that allowed fans at home to send  “pulses of support” to athletes competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

10,000 ANZ Support Bands were made available to the public while athletes of the NZ Olympic and Paralympic Teams were also given a band. 
Fans could send their support by tapping their band or through the official New Zealand Team mobile app (built by Gladeye). These taps of support were counted and at pre-determined times of the day, athletes were sent a notification showing them how many “pulses” of support had been sent.

The atmosphere at the live events plays a huge role in excitement and inspiration for the athletes, so without the energy and encouragement of fans at the live events, having the Support Band deliver the support was really appreciated. The impact of the Support Band spurred the athletes on to confidently represent New Zealand in the Tokyo 2020 Games so they could bring back some medals.

Satellite customised the operating system’s embedded electronics to enable it to pair with the NZ Team mobile app via Bluetooth BLE. We created specific user journeys for the public to send support or receive medal updates, as well as for athletes to receive support tally notifications

After the Olympics, user can revert their support bands back to a fitness tracker, giving them ongoing value after the games.