Nissan is introducing this year?s iteration of its Diehard Fan mobile application, which lets users virtually paint their faces in their college football team?s colors, after seeing 500,000 downloads and more than three million photos taken during its first rollout last year.

The automotive manufacturer?s face paint app now offers new designs, a public fan gallery and 3D animated cheers, enabling football fans to enjoy complementary mobile experiences during games. Nissan?s Diehard Fan app, which helps the brand connect with sports enthusiasts of all ages, also boasts a sweepstakes that invites users to design a Titan truck in their favorite college team?s colors for a chance to win an actualized version of the vehicle.

?Year one of Nissan?s Diehard Fan app was a big success, with over 500,000 downloads and over three million photos and videos taken for an experience that fans were able to tie back as something that only Nissan was able to bring them,? said Jeremy Tucker, vice president of marketing communications and media at Nissan North America, Inc.

?For year two, we saw an opportunity to aggregate some of that content through a new fan gallery, allowing people to see other same-school fans from different parts of the country - all unleashing their inner fanatic.?

Tying up brand engagement
Nissan?s revamped Diehard Fan app includes new designs for virtual face painting, a public fan gallery and 3D animated cheers. A slew of new schools have also been added to the app, such as University of Hawaii, San Diego State, Notre Dame and Michigan State.

The augmented reality app can be downloaded onto iOS and Android devices. Consumers can snap a selfie, choose from a variety of paint designs and virtually emblazon their favorite college team's colors over their faces, enabling them to skip the process of actually painting their skin.

Each face paint design was hand painted on a real-life model before being digitally remastered for the app.

Users can now add animated cheers to their paint-adorned selfies, letting them take their game faces to another level. Fans can browse these team-specific cheers by swiping up or down in the app.

Once individuals are pleased with the final product, they can share their selfies with friends via social media.

Additionally, photos and videos can be uploaded to the new fan gallery feature, which allows users to browse other images and show support for their favorite teams with fellow fans across the country.

Consumers can also view celebrity game faces in the Hall of Fame tab.

?This year, Nissan is making the experience even more social through the public fan gallery,? Mr. Tucker said. ?There now also is animated cheers functionality that provides fans another unique, engaging way to express their passion for their team, plus more face paint designs and more schools added.?

Revving up new sweepstakes
This year, Nissan is also fueling more in-app engagement with a sweepstakes that invites individuals to virtually customize its Titan vehicle for the opportunity to win a 2017 model made in their team?s official colors.

Fans can enter the contest within the Diehard Fan app or by visiting DiehardFan.com on their smartphones or desktops.

Entrants must first select a college team and customize the vehicle?s upper body color with the available choices. Afterwards, they can choose the lower body color, side graphics, hood graphics, rear decals, wheels and bolts.

Once all features have been personalized, consumers will be asked to input their name, email, school of choice, phone number and ZIP code into an entry form to submit their customized car.

The grand prize winner will receive an actualized version of his or her submitted Titan truck, alongside a four-day trip for two to an undisclosed awards event hosted by Nissan.

One hundred second prize winners will earn $100 prepaid gift cards.

Following last year?s successful in-app engagement, Nissan is well-poised to ramp up college football excitement among sports fans and insert itself into relevant conversations.

A Nissan executive at the Mcommerce Summit: State of Mobile Commerce 2016 said that a significant amount of research and planning went into developing its Diehard Fan app, resulting in a top-five ranking on the Apple App Store in the sports category (see story).

?Nissan?s Diehard Fan app is about engaging and activating college sports fans of all ages,? Mr. Tucker said. ?The majority of the app?s users are between 25 and 54.?