2012 Running Calendar

My first blog update for many many months, I thought I’d do it about Running, which is my second non-family addiction I have (the first being digital marketing, obviously).

Here is my 2012 running calendar which I’ve decided upon today:

4 February Sydney NSW
http://sunrun.com.au/

18 March Port Macquarie NSW
http://www.portmacquarierunningfestival.com.au/event/

14 April Canberra ACT
http://runningfestival.com.au/default.asp?PageID=21190

22 April Sydney NSW
http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/mens-health/urbanathlon/course/

13 May Bunbury WA
http://bunburyrunnersclub.mysouthwest.com.au/Marathon%202012

20 May Sydney NSW
http://www.smhhalfmarathon.com.au/

1 July Gold Coast QLD
http://www.goldcoastmarathon.com.au/default.asp?PageID=7669

July 15 Melbourne VIc
http://www.runmelbourne.com.au/home.php

July 28 Alice Springs NT
http://australianoutbackmarathon.com/half-marathon/

August 12, Sydney NSW
http://www.city2surf.com.au/

August 19 Adelaide SA
http://adelaidemarathon.sarrc.asn.au/

September 16 Sydney NSW
http://www.sydneymarathon.org/

In preparation, over the Christmas / NYE break I plan too:

- Run the 7 bridge Sydney course (22Km) + swim 500m in each pool I run past (North Sydney, Lane Cove, Drummoyne)

- Beat my BayRun best time of 00:36:36 and get under 35min

- Drink shite loads of wine, beer, champaign and Long Island Ice tea’s in recovery mode.

All I want for Christmas

Is a C63 AMG Saloon Mercedes.

Vote now on my chances of this actually happening!

My avatar is now live on the VJ Website

Pop on and throw me around the place a bit.

www.visualjazz.com.au

Map of the Australian digital marketplace #2

*New Update: Boffswana amended to reflect agency size (thanks rob@boffswana.com)*

Updated chart to reflect the great results for both Boffswana and Deepend in the recent B&T Awards.

Visual Jazz launches new website and “VJ Brew” blog

My agency that I run the Sydney operations for, Visual Jazz, has launched a new website and new blog (“VJ Brew”).

The website is clean and uncluttered, and has our avatars running around the screen which you can pick up and throw.  My highest throw is 2124m high using our Creative Director Gavin Heron….

The blog is called “VJ Brew” because we love our beer (especially one particular brand) and it also represents a collective platform of content from all areas within our 90+ strong people, mixed together to brew up opinionated commentary about the industry which we live and love: digital.

Check’em out here:

Visual Jazz Website.

VJ Brew.

Monopoly City Streets: End is Nigh

Now, that’s a real shame:

http://www.monopolycitystreets.com/game.html#en

Summer cricket online: Johnnie Walker on SMH

I’ve been a fan for many of the past years of the Johnnie Walkers live score updates on the www.smh.com.au (or the age.com.au and others) websites for all the Australian Test Match cricket games.

You know summer is really here and the cricket season is in full swing (*bliss*) when this feature starts appearing.  I especially enjoyed the download widget last year.

But this year as I tune in to hear Australia adequately (not brilliantly though) squeeze the life out of the West Indies bowlers on ABC Grandstand, I’ve noticed a massive leap-improvement of the Johnnie Walker offering.

This new enhancement has a lot of new information and live features at a touch of a button.

Pie charts, batting statistics, umpire statistics, newsworthy news flashes (FYI Hussey just past 17 Test 50′s) and much more all wrapped up in a new interface design.

Much less Johnnie Walker branding, but he’s still there walking….

The ONLY thing they now need to do is take the whole thing off and away from SMH/TheAge and put it onto NineMSN and get the rights to stream live video content through this branded application….or, do a deal with ABC Grandstand to stream their radio coverage….

It’d put a bit of a dent in productivity, but I’ve seen recent statistics that say workers in Australia do multi-millions of dollars of extra work for free for corporate Australia these days, so, you know, a bit of balance is called for!

I love it, and if you like cricket you’ll be a fan soon too.

Get the score live now here.

MSN Messenger – something big is brewing…

Rumor has it that something #big is brewing from the team at MSN Messenger….talking to some insiders at the #ninemsn trade show in #Sydney this week…

Can’t reveal just yet what it is, but it’s expected to shake up the social networking space a bit…

Monopoly City Streets

Just thought I’d write about it as I enjoy it so much – the Monopoly City Streets online brand (game) experience using GoogleMaps at it’s core.

Still playing….everyday for about 7 weeks now….it’s so damn addictive!

Mind you, if you don’t log on everyday to collect your rent, you don’t earn a penny.

Now a Level 5 with 8 streets and $1,601,625,000 in accumulated wealth and over $100,000,000 in daily rent revenue…

If only virtual life mirrored real life….sometimes it does, Telstra recently abandoned all their second life customers: kinda reminds you of their regional Australia policy not so long ago…).

I even own the whole “Sheridan Street” in Palm Cove near Port Douglas….

It’s good to dream sometimes…

Having said all that stuff, this is by far the longest engagement I’ve had with a non-digital age brand in the online space…ever.

I love how digital constantly breathes new life into old school products – and in cases like this (and the new Trivial Pursuit online game) enhances on the original experience.

Volley Warehouse Campaign: Adnews Article

(Digital Choice Article: 26th October 2009)

Dunlop Volley (Volley Warehouse Campaign)

I recently came across this very cool and humorous digital execution from Dunlop Volley – a well known brand but one I hadn’t seen much from in many years. I am probably not the exact target market for this brand, but it really appealed to me.

The Volley brand has a 70 year history in tennis attire and has more recently developed into a sporty/fashion brand for the sub-twenty-people demography (or those still aspiring to be sub-twenty).

The campaign centres on mock-invention ‘As Seen on TV’-style videos contained in a warehouse-style website, all of which is a tongue-in-cheek poke at trashy slash-price advertising.

The mock-inventions solve core issues of the target audience’s life, such as the Dish Jockey that enables you to do the dishes as if you were still at the party the turntables, and the Gig Viewer which ensures you can see the band regardless of where you are in the mosh-pit. The TVCs are extremely well cast, and comments on YouTube show that some viewers thought they were for real products. This is a rather scary fact, but indicates that the ads have hit the mark.

A terrific addition to the site is the user generated content capability in the Warehouse Blog which has drawn some very funny uploads. The stand-out clip for me is ‘Kaboom’. Warning though, trawling through all these clips is addictive.

With a buying audience that is very marketing savvy, the site is sure to appeal for the humorous take of slash-price star-burst adverting commonly shown today. Best of all, it’s delivered in the place where this audience spends most of their time – the internet.

What I really like about this campaign is that it doesn’t have technology as the core feature; it has a simple and humorous idea which is delivered very effectively to the intended audience online.

The campaign also doesn’t take itself too seriously, and the brand is subtly woven into the themes of the mock-inventions and site content.

A real winner for me, this one should pick up some awards but also lift sales of Volley shoes.

Kudos to Marilyn & Sons, who came up with the idea, and a big hats off to the client for running with it.