Austin James Hurwitz

Moving to Snip.it

admin — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 19:33:14 +0000

Blogs are soooo 2012…

Snip.it is a great tool for posting and syndicating artifacts and ideas. A new Snip.it collection that I’ve just created will allow me to continue sharing snips relevant to sports marketing, more regularly and widely, in 2013 and beyond!

Please connect with me on Snip.it, as well as the other social profiles I’ve listed in the right column of this page.

As always, I hope you find my periodic entries to be great inspirational fodder for sports marketing innovation. If you have any thoughts or findings along these lines, I would be excited to receive and discuss.

Looking forward to continuing the exchange of ideas, and staying in touch with you.

Best,
Austin

Obsessed with Callaway Golf

admin — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:53:50 +0000

Since my last blog post, I’ve been obsessed with Callaway Golf. The past 18 months have been nothing short of amazing. Rounds and rounds of refining the strategic and creative work. All of the shoots. Phil, JT, JB, Alvaro, Annika, Freddie, Tommy–I even play with 2 gloves now! It’s been an adrenaline rush and, I can honestly say without a doubt, the most fun I’ve ever had in my career. There’s so much great work to share. What follows is the tip of the iceberg, with even more to come in 2012. As I write this, it’s truly exhilarating, and such a deep honor, to begin planning for 2013 alongside so many talented and genuine leaders.

2012 PRESS: http://snip.it/collections/19949-Obsessed-with-Callaway-Golf

EPIC CAMPAIGN

Callaway Golf Company creates products and services designed to make every golfer a better golfer. Since winning global agency of record last year, my work at Factory Design Labs has been focused on leading the development of integrated go-to-market plans for all of Callaway’s key business categories: Woods, irons, golf balls, soft goods, and interactive golf services. As a result of the following work, this has very recently helped garner the Odyssey Golf agency of record honors as well.

Take a look at golf today. Golf course after golf course; talking head after talking head. People have stopped listening. Our first challenge was to develop a campaign that would prove the amazing performance of Callaway’s new driver, irons, and golf ball products in disruptive, fun ways.

So we created a series of TV spots, to re-launch Callaway in epic fashion and take golf advertising to another level. Developed in creative partnership with Emmy and Grammy Award-winning actor, musician, and avid golfer, Justin Timberlake, as well as music video director Joseph Kahn (U2, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and 50 Cent), these “epic” commercials featured Callaway’s innovative new products and its pro golfers on the biggest stage: The Las Vegas Strip. View the commercials and other behind-the-scenes content from the shoot here: http://www.callawaygolf.com/fountains; http://www.callawaygolf.com/rooftops; http://www.callawaygolf.com/volcano

Before the first spot even aired, initial media impressions from earned and shared media during production shoots alone represented figures that outweigh what many campaigns achieve throughout their entire run through paid media. The commercials have garnered coverage with numerous media outlets, including SportsCenter and USA Today. One of the three spots was featured as Adweek’s prestigious Ad of the Day. From February to April, unit sales for the driver product alone increased +16% with retail sales increasing +93% over its predecessor.

PRESS
http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/579921-this-is-how-an-awesome-commercial-suppose-to-be/page__gopid__4175103#entry4175103
http://www.golflasvegasnow.com/las-vegas-golf-news-news-96/67-news/1866-alvaro-quiros-drives-bellagio-fountains-in-new-callaway-golf-las-vegas-commercial.html
http://espn.go.com/espn/page2/index?id=7531765
http://www.thedenveregotist.com/news/local/2012/february/2/and-heres-callaway-spot-factory
http://www.thedenveregotist.com/news/local/2012/february/10/behind-scenes-factorys-second-spot-callaway-vegas
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-callaway-138342
http://www.thedenveregotist.com/news/local/2012/february/27/factory-rolls-out-its-third-callaway-golf-tv-spot-more-vegas-craziness
http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/blogs/hotlist365/2012/03/golfs-social-network.html
http://www.waggleroom.com/2011/12/23/2657320/golfsmiths-dreaming-of-a-taylormade-white-christmas-and-a-callaway
http://www.golflasvegasnow.com/golf-equipment/1833-callaway-las-vegas-golf-week-continues-with-annika-sorenstam-justin-timberlake.html
http://www.pianetamore.net/blogs/entry/Callaway-takes-above-Vegas-music-group-for-golf-shoot
http://www.timberlake-justin.com/justin-callaway-take-over-vegas-strip-for-golf-shoot/
http://www.hookedongolfblog.com/2011/12/16/phil-mickelson-las-vegas-pyrotechnics-justin-timberlake-callaway
http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golftalkcentral/timberlake-bringing-sexy-back-to-callaway/?hj=xfs
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204624204577179013210803488.html
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/life/justin-timberlake-goes-golfing-callaway?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+APM_Marketplace+%28APM:+Marketplace%29
http://www.bandt.com.au/breaking-campaigns/timberlake-swings-creative-weight-for-callaway
http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/callawaygolf/40584/
http://m.adage.com/article?articleSection=adages&articleSectionName=Adages&articleid=http%3A%2F%2Fadage.com%2Fadages%2Fpost%3Farticle_id%3D231619
http://www.golflasvegasnow.com/las-vegas-golf-news-news-96/67-news/1829-callaway-tour-stars-hit-vegas-for-razr-fitting-and-commercials.html
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/15/4124807/callaway-golf-appoints-justin.html
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2011/12/callaway-takes-over-vegas-strip-for-golf-shoot/1

REAL RESULTS PROJECT

Manufacturers talk about what their products can do and support them with outrageous claims. But is there noticeable proof that real golfers can believe and translate to their game? Our next challenge was to prove that Callaway’s new driver was longer and better than any other driver in the market. And we showcased this by letting real golfers prove it for themselves.

We found golfers everywhere and had them test out the new driver. Through video and golf launch monitors, along with a custom iOS and Web app to capture all golfer data, we captured their reactions to how the driver compared to their old driver. We showcased the data and housed all of these reactions on a robust and dynamic web platform, at http://www.callawaygolf.com/realresults for the rest of the world to witness. To kickoff the Real Results Project, we conducted a series of live events in various locations in California, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey, and Ohio.

As more events are planned for the future, the campaign continues to capture more golfers taking part in Real Results Project with participating Dick’s Sporting Goods, Golf Galaxy (http://www.golfgalaxy.com/callaway_real_results.aspx), and Callaway Performance Center locations across the country. All locations utilize the custom application to upload new golfer data to the site.

PRESS
http://mydisruption.wordpress.com/2012/04/07/callaways-real-results-project/
http://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/5854-callaway-razr-fit-real-results/
http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/629215-callaways-real-results-ad-campaign-for-razr-fit/
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/feb/20/callaway-celebrating-mickelsons-success/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wjb10Rm8V8&list=UUDifOmdDEDNZkV0eZl2soQg&index=9&feature=plcp
http://www.livetradingnews.com/callaway-golf-companys-nyse-ely-razr-fit-driver-a-sales-winner-74422.htm#.T8Askb-lCiE

UDESIGN DRIVER CONFIGURATOR

For an industry like golf, which provides perhaps the most customizable equipment in sport, personalization is still in its infancy. Not even Nike provides the Nike iD for golf… until now. If you can change the materials and appearance of your shoes and other products then why, we asked, can’t you choose the performance and look of something as personal as our driver?

We integrated driver customization with personalization and created an application that put the tools in golfers’ hands—as with the Real Results Project experience, it’s completely compatible on all of the three screens. With the udesign site, at http://www.callawaygolf.com/udesign, golfers can now pick from thousands and thousands of configurations including any of 8 club and grip color combinations (http://pinterest.com/callawaygolf/customize-your-driver-with-udesign/). And we’re just getting started. This is the first, revolutionary step in a bigger endeavor. We’re helping Callaway, and undoubtedly the industry as a whole at some point soon, develop a whole new business category.

Along with converting sales and cultivating loyal customers, I don’t know that there’s anything more rewarding for a marketer than when marketing can make a real impact on product. It just doesn’t happen very often in big business, partly because of the risk/reward and effort required to do it right. Callaway has committed to augmenting their supply chain structure, operations, and e-commerce processes. It’s a truly amazing achievement and, as testament, one that’s taking notice in endemic and non-endemic circles alike.

PRESS
http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-equipment/blogs/hotlist365/2012/04/callaways-razr-fit-now-in-8-co.html
http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/633944-callaway-razr-fit-driver-ufo/#entry4689074
http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/633836-custom-colors-callaway-razr-fit/
http://www.thehackersparadise.com/forum/showthread.php?30658-Callaway-uDesign-custom-razr-fit-driver-colours
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/04/callaway-allowing-us-to-design-our-own-driver/1#.T4RatUzOzPo
http://espn.go.com/espn/page2/index?id=7796820
http://techland.time.com/2012/04/11/callaway-lets-golfers-custom-design-their-own-drivers-online/
http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/callawaygolf/55469/
http://blogs.golf.com/equipment/2012/04/callaway-udesign-customize-razr-fit-driver.html
http://gizmodo.com/5901038/a-fully-customizable-driver-for-the-pickiest-duffers
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/callaway-golf-introduces-mass-personalization-120000702.html
http://www.bornrich.com/callaway-online-personalization-service-offers-golfers-design-own-driver.html
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/golf/john-q-golfer/you-re-just-a-few-clicks-away-from-personalized-driver/article_6f580296-8582-11e1-bbf7-001a4bcf6878.html
http://www.execdigital.com/sports/golfcourses/udesign-callaways-new-razr-fit-driver
http://www.cbssports.com/golf/blog/eye-on-football/18685447/callaways-udesign-offers-golfers-new-level-of-online-club-customization
http://uncrate.com/stuff/callaway-udesign-razr-fit-driver/
http://www.golf-monthly.co.uk/tours-and-news/tournews/529995/callaway-udesign-launched.html
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/portrait-factory-design-labs-140881
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2012/06/15/customizable-new-callaway-driver-shines-for-u-s-open/
http://gearpatrol.com/2012/08/08/callaway-razr-fit-udesign-driver/

Other Performers, Social Murals, and Scanning-In

admin — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 06:31:33 +0000

Attending the Sports Marketing 2.0 VIP Summit last week in San Francisco, one of the panel discussions touched on thinking of ways to extend existing resources/programming to create other entertaining content and experiences. Filling downtime before and between action, with exclusive access to places and people of interest, was one suggestion. While arguably compelling for über fans, it got me to thinking about ways to engage more casual fans and influential family and friends that may not otherwise choose professional sports for regular entertainment. PUMA’s After Hours Athlete digital social program has some holes, but trying to connect with everyday folks by elevating leisure games in a fun way is an interesting concept. (The VR/Urban SMSlingshot and Multi-Touch DJ Light Table examples included below have admittedly loose ties to this subject, but they’re pretty cool and I just had to share here.)

Separately, one extension of the EYEPLY mobile service that I’ve been developing is a social mural in which marketers and regular folks alike can share messages via digital signage in ultra-local areas such as sports venues. The Canadian Tourism Commission recently installed an interactive Twitter mural that scratches the surface of this service.

Lastly, with so much emphasis on checking-in at locations and how to transform these features into more lasting value for users, some resorts haven’t overlooked facilitating the check-in process and have created networks based on actively scanning-in customers.

Other Performers

PUMA Social After Hours Athlete

VR/URBAN SMSlingshot

Kansas City Art Institute Multi-Touch Light Table

Interactive Twitter Mural

Canadian Tourism Commission

Scanning-In (the Old, New Check-In)

Epic Mix

Shopping Visual, Social, and Micro

admin — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 05:13:30 +0000

Small advances in smarter shopping tools are helping shoppers, and better enabling shoppers to help other shoppers, with research and decision-making. Google’s visual shopping acquisition, Like.com, allows users to quickly find items with similar visual attributes, services like Westfield’s Fashion Detector encourage shopping influencers, the “Groupon phenomenon” as well as promotions such as Uniqlo’s Lucky Counter allow digital social to drive discounts and prices, and game publishers such as EA continue to develop downloadable online content for micro-purchases.

Combine some of the elements from these examples with real-time customer tracking reporting and analytics in sports venues, such as the NY Jets Command Center dashboard, and you have the potential to create new revenue opportunities for sports brands and an incredibly intelligent buying engine and audience that can both keep up with the speed of live events.

Visual Shopping

Google and Like.com Automated Cross-Matching System

Shoppers Influencing Shoppers

Westfield Fashion Detector

Micro-Purchases

EA FIFA 10 Downloadable Online Content

Social Driving Discounts and Prices

Groupon

Uniqlo Lucky Counter

Customer Tracking Dashboard

NY Jets and Roundarch Command Center

Making Sound Visible and Holographic TV

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:57:37 +0000

My focus over much of the first part of this year has admittedly been on extending the visual and tactile experiences at live sporting events through the development of EYEPLY—video of the alpha, which was recently demonstrated at a live NCAA men’s baseball game, is now posted!

A few finds that piqued my interest recently got me to thinking about ways that we might further events by affecting sound in order to bring fans together in new ways. Evolving the Fan-0-Meter.

Also, has anyone else gotten a headache with all the 3D hype? Or, at least feel a little queasy when wearing the glasses? I’m much more intrigued by the prospects of holographic TV!

Making Sound Visible

Evan Grant and Cymatics

Alva Noto u_07

Battles and United Visual Artists “Tonto”

Best Buy Movie Mode

Holographic TV

Jun Murai, Keio University

Virtual Good Histories, Venue Partner Tour, More

admin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:29:09 +0000

Digital badges can be interesting when the effort and competition make them valuable. Likewise, optional electronic check-in services are best when you get something of value in return (going beyond the proof that you checked-in). Perhaps, it is for this reason that I just haven’t been able to get into virtual gift giving and collection. But add some automation and simple engagement to make these gifts more dynamic, and I start to see the point. Gowalla and Nike seem to be taking this idea in interesting directions. I especially like the Gowalla feature that allows users to contribute to an item’s history before dropping it for someone else to find, and the possibilities for live sporting events.

In addition to other findings this month, which are continuations of previous subjects and included further below, the Chicago White Sox have created a virtual tour specifically targeted at its corporate partnerships for U.S. Cellular Field that is worth sharing. [Shameless plug: EYEPLY can merge physical and digital infrastructures, enhancing in-venue media networks using mobile augmented reality, advanced pointing search, and other location-based platforms. Check it out!]

Virtual Good Placements, Pick-ups, and Contributed History

Gowalla Virtual Products

Nike True City

Partner-Targeted Virtual Venue Tour

Chicago White Sox Corporate Partnerships

More Stunts, Gesture Interface, and Crowdsourcing

Nike and CityScape Media “Can You Beat Kim?”

MIT BiDi Screen

AT&T Cotton Bowl Mosaic

WetSeal Denim Contest

Spherical Storytelling, Prediction Games, More

admin — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:21:41 +0000

While video remains one of the best methods for storytelling, technology solutions (albeit with added infrastructure and upfront planning) continue to make it more tangible for the audience. To continue this thought, which began in previous posts with “different angles” and “manipulation tools” (see Yinzcam here and others here), Immersive Video’s “spherical storytelling” approach is another example of handing over some controls to the audience and adding new dimensions to enrich video content.

And, speaking of tangibility and dimensionality, prediction games help personify products and services as well as generate new levels of relevancy and interest. Gaming and fantasy sports are not new, and yet Red Interactive Agency’s Foodball campaign shows us another way to apply its mechanics; Sports Illustrated’s forthcoming Tablet conceptualizes how games might be implemented from more of a micro (e.g., play-by-play) perspective.

To wrap up 2009, I’ve also included a few other recent odds and ends that I’ve touched on previously. Enjoy!

Spherical Storytelling

Immersive Video

Prediction Games

Red Interactive Agency and Outback Steak House Outback Foodball

Sports Illustrated and The Wonderfactory SI Tablet (Skip To 2:38)

Affecting AR with Color and Light

The Pixel Farm

RTT and Ferrari

Disney Storytellers Sandbox

Sony Ericsson “Friend Tree” Greeting Card

More Interactive Installations

Mode Studios Human and Atmospheric Interaction LED (Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division)

The Popcorn Makers “Disturb Me” (Thewhitehotel, Brussels)

Mind Space Solutions Digital Binocular Station (Canterbury Museum, New Zealand)

Fraunhofer IGD Movable Screen (Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam)

Payment Cards Mobile System

Square

Points and Revenue Sharing for Rewarding Social Experiences

HelloHello.net

EYEPLY Intro, Social About Events, Moments, More

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:32:28 +0000

Since April of this year, I have been busy developing a brand new mobile service that augments entertainment and shopping venues and their events. My partner and I formed EYEPLY to create added value for marketers and consumers in these environments, by utilizing the latest in location-based smart phone technologies, such as augmented reality and patented point-based platforms. Last month we were invited to speak at the 10th Annual International Symposium On Mixed and Augmented Reality in Orlando, and we are now in the midst of sharing the EYEPLY demonstration (a baseball application) with potential partners. If you’re interested in learning more, visit us at eyeply.com.

In keeping with the EYEPLY theme for my post, many of the artifacts that I’ve collected since my last entry are extremely relevant to the feature set illustrated in our demo: Creating new social connections and activities around events, providing personalization and fun games to leverage micro-transactional opportunities, offering new ways to entertain, engage, and reward your interaction with the venue, and capsulization of the entire experience to automate the recording and sharing of memories with friends.

Social Around Events

Hot Potato

Micro Fantasy Sports

Fanball SnapDraft

Interactive, Themed Parks and Retail

Shocktoberfest iScareYou App

Disney World and Raytheon “Sum of All Thrills” Ride

Disney World Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure

Disney Stores Overhaul

Embellishing and Sharing Moments

thisMoment

Seamless Transactions, Thermo-Sensitive Ink, More

admin — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:38:55 +0000

For retail transactions in the physical world, order selection continues to get easier for consumers with the help of digital services. Most recently, I was excited to find the Starbucks Card Mobile application example (see below for video) as well as the San Francisco Giants Loaded Ticket announcement.—Using your mobile phone or physical ticket to load funds and make payments, as you would a card, are interesting options.—But whether your phone has to use a 2D code like the Starbucks app, alphanumeric code or barcode (Yowza and SF Giants Loaded Ticket), or RFID (McDonald’s Japan ), payment solutions still require a smart reader (device or human) to process transactions at checkout. It will be exciting to see developments that circumvent or evolve digital readers, to become smarter and more ubiquitous, especially within the hustle and bustle of the sporting venue experience.

Some other quick hits from September / early October:

I have posted about electronic paper and inks in the past, relevant to how they could enhance print media, game collateral, etc. While not electronic, Murmure’s thermo-sensitive ink could provide some tactile benefits of its own with these touch points.
There’s nothing remarkably new about Chyngle’s linear interface, and its feature set is very limited, but it has launched an application with the University of Michigan Football Program and certainly worthy of sharing in the context of my interest in sports marketing technology propositions—and bias toward my home state of Michigan.
Although I haven’t yet tried it out myself, Animoto’s video mixing pitch seems like an interesting way to transform assets into more compelling mementos for consumers.
There have been some other interesting movements with RFID and AR that I would like to share as well.

Mobile 2D Code Payment and Loading Funds

Starbucks Card Mobile

Thermo-Sensitive Ink

Murmure Contact Thermo-Sensitive Business Cards

Mobile Venue Information; Networking With Call and Text

Chyngle

Video Mixing With Your Images, Video, Text, Music

Animoto

Some Interesting RFID and AR Developments

Mobile and RFID Tracking

Adidas and Marvellous London Marathon RFID Runner Tracker App

Mobile AR User-Published Tagging

Tonchidot Sekai Camera

(FF To 00:45; For English Subtitles: Select CC From the Up-Arrow Menu,
Located In the Video Player’s Bottom-Right Corner)

geoPaste

Mobile AR Image Recognition Gaming

Hidden Park

Marvellous and Vodafone HTC Street Event

More AR Face Recognition (With Expressions)

PlayStation EYE Vision Library

Mobile AR Markerless, Animated 3D Objects

Layar3D

AR Finger Tip Tracking

Handy AR

AR Telepresencing

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

More AR Browsers (With Some Interesting UI Nuances)

Robotvision

Christian Doppler Laboratory

Relocating AR, Notecast, Living Print/Shirts, More

admin — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:48:19 +0000

Well, there are no shortages of players in mobile augmented reality that are focused on browsing and searching data associated with nearby points or persons of interest. As I’ve posted previously, I believe that augmenting landscapes with third-party data is just a small sampling of the added value that this technology will provide for major entertainment (sports and more) and shopping venues in the near future.

My enthusiasm for this subject is tempered, however, in these respects: I do NOT believe that consumer adoption and behaviors with compatible smart phone devices in the US will allow these solutions to be successful for quite some time in larger, open spaces. Contributing factors include the lack of community size and activity, as well as limited valuable data, currently provided by current applications.

Here’s one exception, which some seem to be banking on: Tourism. But how often are we tourists versus ticket holders or shoppers? Further, being a tourist naturally implies that we won’t be there for long, and it’s not as likely that we will return (at least, not for a long time). And when we are tourists, do we always think of ourselves like that—to the point, would we know to use our phone like that and what areas would be covered?

I have posted examples in past posts, but here is a handful from the last month: Yelp Monocle (Site / Video), Metro Paris Subway (Site / Video), Acrossair AR Browser (Site / Video), Soundwalk with Layar (Site / Video), Graffitigeo (Site / Video), Gamaray TweetWorld (Site / Video), CrashCorp (Site / Video). But what if we started with more enclosed, social, entertaining, and shopping ecosystems in our towns?

One example from iTacitus, which I have given post real estate for its video below, does have an interesting historical element.—Imagine walking around a ballpark that has been rebuilt or renovated over the years, for instance and being able to allow spectators to see how it used to look or what happened in particular areas at times in the past.—And for another alternative to browsing and searching locations, the Hilton Hotels-Disney World Notecast looks like an interesting option for getting a venue’s points of interest in the hands of ticket holders.

Separately, while I’ve posted about electronic ink before, I’ve included some other interesting ways to make print (e.g., programs) and merchandise come alive. Likewise, my interest in interactive projection and other ways of getting spectators into the game, inside, on, and just outside of venue walls continues this month.

Augmenting Cultural Heritage and Notecasting

iTacitus

Hilton Hotels, Disney World, and TimeStream Notecast

Living Print and Shirts

Americhip and Entertainment Weekly

Amor e Ódio CAOS Living Book

Adam White and Don Albrecht Threadless

AmbiKraf Fast-Changing Wearable Display

Getting In the Game With Projection, Photography, 3D and More

Sportpong

FanChatter

RDF Digital, Artificial Life, MoPA-TV Sleuths Children TV Show

Mobile 3DTV

SCVNGR XPLR

Whrrl