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.

Now, that’s a real shame:

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

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.

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…

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.

(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.

Got in this morning and saw this on NineMSN by American Express…

Big #fail!

If you are going to get your agency to do some creative and place some media (let’s face it, NineMSN home page doesn’t come cheap!) make sure they actually know what they’re doing especially for an OPT.

Having one banner run over the top of another is, at best, amateurish.

**Update 10:55am: this problem is still there….helloooooo….anyone care about getting it right?**

Pulled this summary together for a good friend of mine that provides services to the digital marketing industry.

**Updated 17:46 29/10/09**
Boffswana added, Igloo/Reactive upgraded/moved, Eclipse/NextDigital drop a bit creatively, Clems drop a bit creatively.

**Updated 18:50  29/10/09**
The Furnace moved right to reflect technical team size.

*Updated 18:25 05/11/09**
Citrus raise up the rankings of Creative capability thanks to recent work in market.
Eclipse has been deleted as they apparently have been disbanded and now totally absorbed into “Deloitte One”…

(Click image to enlarge)

Only a rough cut, and my perspective/opinion of the lay of the land.

Probably got a few bits slightly out of place, interested in any feedback…keen to adjust it to be as reflective and accurate as possible…

New campaign site from our nearest and dearest in VJ Melbourne for Jetstar’s new Mastercard offering.

See it here

Credits:
The Jetstar marketing team, and from VJ super kudos to Abs for a great design, and to the whole campaign team including Hobbers, Steve, Tim M, Jason C, James, Vince, Sunny, Bonnie, Caroline, Tomma, Gav and Sammi….and last but not least the lovely Steph Webster!

I love this.

Its been around for quite a while now, but it’s an awesome feed of the nightly news.  I mean, who is really out of the office these days before 6pm?  I’m certainly not, and love the live feed.

Even more, I’ve started noticing midday Live updates by NineMSN News Desk….not Channel9 news either…perhaps a steady shift occurring?

Anyway, I think there is a lot of scope here for broadcasters to multicast their content online to reach their audiences who, let’s face it like me, are still stuck @ work!