We’re back! Digital Surf Media Version 3.0!
Forgive me huey for I have sinned. It’s been 4 years since my last blog post.
In this time:
1. We’ve had DSM version 2.0, which has been lost. I can no longer remember the log in details, and the domain hosting has well expired. Like a Uni student who left home, and has now come crawling back for the free rent, we’re back in the no frills environment where it all started.
2. Our Twitter account was deleted by an x-girlfriend.
3. Lists have become and almost acceptable form of journalism. Expect plenty of lists.
4. The cost of content has become higher, yet its value decline. No shiney photos around here.
5. Meme’s became a thing. But don’t expect the funny stuff around here.
6. Big Data. BIG data is the Dane Reynolds of digital! Whilst we don’t have access to that kinda moves, we’ll definately try chuck the fins out with some stats.
With a new age of professional surfing upon us, I’ve figured we’ll give this another crack.
Digital Surf Media 3.0 – back for 2014!
We Have Moved! Now @ http://digitalsurfmedia.com/
Like a gangly teenager who’s just hit puberty hard and fast, we’ve outgrown this site, and have moved to a new domain that looks just that bit sexier. Well, we think so. Check it out:
Pack up and come over!
Morning Of The Earth 2009, It Might Sound Like This
My head is spinning. I’m sure I’m not the only one, but I’m a bit over watching the new surf vids with nothing but air reverse after air reverse after air reverse. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty sweet trick, but anything in repetition like that is enough to make anyone blow a brain fuse. I think I’m starting to feel old, I used to eat the surf flick sound tracks for breakfast, I remember putting my tape player infront of Momentum so I could listen to Pennywise, Sprung Monkey, etc.. on the way to the beach to pump up. Now, I just can’t stand it.
It’s time like these, I slip the old Morning Of The Earth in for a play and wish I was heading up the far north coast of NSW, or pre-tourist-boom-Bali with a bag full of grass and shrooms, and delve into the unknown. Unfortunately that ain’t going to happen.
Over the past couple of years, 2 music producers / DJs outta the UK calling themselves Beyond The Wizards Sleeve, better known as Erol Alkan and Richard Norris have been getting their 70’s physchedelic groove on via a whole host of epic remixes, and uber cool DJ sets.
Nike 6.0 Sponsors HD Webcast for NSSA Titles
The Nike 6.0 NSSA Homepage
For the third year running, Nike 6.0 will present a three-day live webcast from the famed Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California, broadcasting the NSSA National Open Championships.
Shot with High Definition cameras and webcast live at nssalive.com. This year’s webcast will feature premier streaming capabilities for the online audience.
When?
Thursday June 25th- Saturday, June 27,
Who’s Surfing?
The three-day webcast will include coverage of all rounds of the Open Men’s, Open Women’s beginning with the Quarter Finals, Open Junior’s beginning with Round Two heats 5-8, as well as, Open Boys beginning with the Semis and Open Mini Grom beginning with the Finals. Additionally, Saturday’s coverage will include the National Explorer Championships & National Airshow Championships.
Webcast Hosts
The webcast will feature hosts Dave Stanfield, Peter Mel, Jodie Nelson and a roster of special guests to provide viewers with expert commentary and insights. Along with the webcast, photo and video highlights will be available at nssalive.com .
Can’t I Just Turn Up And Watch It?
The Nike 6.0 webcast of the NSSA National Open Championships will be available for online users to view in a high and low bandwidth stream with the same superior picture quality viewers enjoyed from the acclaimed webcast of the recent Nike 6.0 Lowers Pro, also hosted at Lower Trestles.
Nike Dip Their ToeFurther Into The Surfing Pool
This further commitment to the surfing community by Nike comes on top of news earlier this year that Nike had planned to buy shares in Quiksilver, according to the LA Times.
Brands & Media, According To Oakley’s Matt Murray
This story is taken straight from The Sydney Morning Herald. By Julian Lee.
FOR an ad agency or a television network, Billabong is the ultimate nightmare as a brand.
It does not make TV commercials, it does not book space on television. And its magazine ads are produced by its own team. Billabong is not just a surf brand, it is a media company, says the person in charge of producing the hours of surf-related content.
“This just ups the ante,” says Scott Wallace of the deal announced last week with Sony. “We are turning into a media company as well as a clothing company.”
The strategic partnership between the companies marries Sony’s expertise in video technology with Billabong’s street cred cool. Sony gets access to Billabong’s audience of tech-savvy surfies and followers while Billabong gets help in creating the content and getting it to as many people as possible.
Wallace, a former executive with the sports marketing company IMG, now vice-president, new media and strategic partnerships, is a busy man. Two weeks ago VAS, the company contracted to sell Billabong content around the world, was at a MIPCOM TV sales conference in Cannes marketing a 13-part series to potential buyers. “It’s centred around our athletes. It is less about the sport and more about the lifestyle of the athletes,” says Wallace.
The surf label produces up to 35 hours of high-definition video a year, drawing on events around the world – there’s almost one every week – and its small army of athletes as the subject.
“We use everything. We cut it up and use it for the web and then we use it for phone content.”
Each week Billabong produces 40 minutes of material to be used on mobile phone networks. When asked if it was working, Wallace is unable to share any figures but says: “It must be okay as they keep asking for more.”
A 25-strong audio visual team will be at the Billabong Pro Tahiti – one of four events in the world series the brand sponsors – in May to film the event, which will be made into a one-hour film that IMG sells around the world. During the tournament Billabong streams live feeds to its website, which attracts 1 million unique visitors during the event. Since last year the average visit has increased from 18 to 27 minutes, according to Billabong’s figures.
Now it is giving Sony Handycams to its athletes, who include surfers Joel Parkinson, Andy Irons, Taj Burrow and Tiago Pires, to film every aspect of their lives. Apparently there is demand to watch them eating breakfast, or at least the edited highlights, says Wallace.
For Sony’s marketing director, Toby Barbour, it is a way of getting his products before a younger audience. “We want to get them early so that we can follow [them] through the life stages with products such as Sony Ericsson mobile phones, Handycams and Bravia [TVs].”
But to what end does all of this serve Billabong? Wallace says it is hard to measure the return on investment of producing all this content, the cost of which he will not reveal. “I guess the ROI [return on investment] is about raising the profile of the sport, our athletes and, yes, ultimately our brand.”
He admits the proliferation of such content will help all surf brands but it is down to Billabong to bring that to life in its stores. As part of the Sony deal, the videos will be shown on Sony screens in 300 stores it owns around the world.
But it is clear that traditional communications such as TV ads do not work for the surf brand. “Our market is very tech-savvy … they all have a good still camera or a Handycam. [TV ads] are just not something they accept. ”
Tim Flattery, a director of Carat Engage, a branded content agency, says the announcement of a new broadband network has galvanised the industry. He predicts more companies will view the high-speed network’s ability to allow video content on demand as the turning point and move into areas such as that pioneered by Billabong.
“I think that will put to the sword the interruptive model. What we will see more of in the future is a sponsorship model for television.”
3 Million Online Viewers For Billabong Pro?
Live commentary from the Billabong Pro
Very interesting, Occy just dropped the comment that there have been 3 million people tune in to the Billabong Pro Tahiti. As much as I REALLY want to believe it, I don’t. But, down the line, it’s not out of the question.
Whilst I try make contact with the proper people to find out some more accurate figures, here’s something that definitely drove mainstream awareness through the roof.
Channel 7’s new ‘Sunday Night’ current affairs program ran a big feature on Mitch Parkinson and a bunch of grommets dream trip to Tahiti. Whilst it wasn’t quite a Guthy Renker commercial, the PR & Media team at Billabong definitely earnt their keep with this piece, not to mention Channel 10’s daily Sports Tonight updates.
Digital Surf Media 