At first I thought this has got to be a bit naff. The RZA remixing the Nike6.0 Team. Really?
Not another damn remix!
Boy, was I wrong. This is cool as f**k.
Nike have really started to drop the hammer in the surf market with these productions.
The RZA vs. Kolohe Andino from Nike 6.0 on Vimeo.
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Online traffic to quiksilverpro.com.au, the first event of the 2010 ASP World Tour has shown significant levels of viewers, according to results from online traffic analysis Alexa. Marking a triumphant start to the new year, viewing of the Quiksilver Pro on the Gold Coast hit estimated “219,000 daily users” according to comments made by on air commentators. Whilst it was an impressive start to the year, traffic did not top that of the most watched contest last year, the Billabong Pipeline Masters, but managed to just nudge in above the second highest rating contest, the Rip Curl Search by a whisker.
Last week, in-time for the QuiksliverPro at Snapper Rocks, Quiksilver released an iPhone App enabling live viewing of the contest from your Apple branded mobile phone.
There are over 100,000 iPhone apps, out there and many of them are average or unimpressive at best, so with anticipation, I downloaded the app and had a look around. Installing the app before the contest began told me little about it. Lots of Quiksilver branding (to be expected), a Day counter, showing how far into the contest waiting period we are, a ‘Live’ toggle, indicating if the contest is on right now or not, a ‘Call’ count-down telling us when the next heats may or my not be called (very handy for us over here in the UK, being that the heats run mostly over night..), photos, videos and news buttons plugging you in to the media from the event as it arrives, Results, Windguru Forecast and ‘Media’ Section all adorn the bottom of the app homepage allowing easy access to the the peripheral data.
So, down to the meat. The contest starts and the heats are in the water, I hit the small but usable ‘Live’ button top-right of the homepage.
A new screen transitions-in, with a big play button, and the form for sending messages in to the commentators beneath it.
I hit the play button. The screen transitions into the native Quicktime fullscreen player for the iPhone, and I’m watching ASP contest surfing live from Australia, sat on my sofa in the North East of the UK. There are few glitches, no pixelation, and the audio and video quality are both about an 8 out of ten – as good as the web at-least.
A quick look backwards
I’ve followed the ASP tour for nearly twenty years, on and off. When I started, I would have to read Surfer Mag each month to see what had happened, and in those day the tour was much less developed, with events changing from year to year and structure and sponsors still figuring things out.
In the last few years, the ability to watch the event live on the web has totally changed the way the tour is covered from a spectator and media point of view. I can now watch live from wherever I am in the world, which is handy, as surfers are often strewn all over the globe. That said, the quality of the streams and the websites has been shaky, with certain contests and sponsors doing the job better than others. There were times when the stream was so bad that it was nicer to wait for the results to be posted through websites.
Quiksliver have nailed it
Quiksilver were always better at the web streams, in my experience anyway, and with their help the sport has moved on leaps-and-bounds, and this year is even being shown live on FuelTV in Australia and other countries.
Its no surprise then that the iPhone app was right on the money. I watched the first five heats of Round 1, before having to go charge my phone, and the quality of the experience was every-bit as good as the web stream I usually watch. The video size appears to be the same as the web, so all that changes really is the proximity you are to the phone. I was sat horizontal on the sofa, resting the iPhone on my chest, watching Slater rip the shit out of his heat. Superb.
Its really not fair to measure the app against a TV show or surf DVD, all we really have is the web-feed to compare with, and it totally stands up to that. Whats more this is a FREE iPhone app, no money down – nothing paid, and it doesn’t get any better than that, especially with the ASP iPhone app costing £2.99 (though this does give you access to all the ASP events, not just Quiksilver ones… but thats a different review.).
Bring on France – the next Quiksilver sponsored event – and lets hope Rip Curl and Billabong jump on the bandwagon…
Some other points
I did try and send a message to Peter Mel and Martin Potter via the form facility, but this appeared to hang, no great loss really. The live scores, accessible from the ‘Live Scores’ button on the Live page worked with a quick refresh, allowing you to see the waves scores for each surfer in the heat. The only other speed-bump was ‘Results’ page, which took till the Round was over before the results filtered in, meaning you couldn’t quickly check the scores in the heat previous. All said though, not a bad show.
Disclosure
As with all web-streamed media, the quality of stream will depend on your connection. I was sat at home using a 2MB WIFI connection with only one other person sharing the bandwidth. Im sure on a 3G connection the feed and app would work very differently, if at-all.
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It appears that the Triple Crown of Surfing, more directly, the Pipeline Masters, has been the most viewed online contest to date, an approx. 27% growth on previous highs, according to ratings calculated via online data analysis using Alexa.
A world title on the line, massive swells throughout the series of events, and an ever growing world wide audience has spiked at an all time high. Exact numbers are still not a widely publicized thing, but these charts look positive.
THE NEXT BEST THING….
They say winning the Triple Crown is the next best thing from winning the World Title, well the numbers would agree. Online interest in not only the WCT Pipeline Masters was of significant notice, but the WQS events at Haliewa and Sunset brought a significant girth to the chart above compared to other top ranking events.
JOINING THE DOTS
So word is there will be a new common domain / platform / website in which we view online surfing next year. What will it look like? And how can they join the dots with these peaks in traffic? …To maintain this audience between the topline events, and a casual browsing audiences, who are online every day. Less than 3 months now until the Quiksilver Pro kicks off, I wonder who has been commissioned to develop such a project?
Can’t wait to see it.
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Wanna buy some boardies?
Seems the race between the big boys to be first with their online stores up and running has been taken out by Quiksilver. You can now buy a full range of QS gear via their website til your wallet is empty or until your card bounces..
I just went thru the process of buying something in the store, be prepared for multiple steps (5 steps) before you give your CC info and then you have another three steps before the process is finished. Thats a long time, patience will be key… There’s nothing on the site yet that is hyping the online store so if your keen looking, be sure to hit the Products button on the menu below to get to the shop area…
The Quiksilver Home Page. A lot of flash elements, not much navigational direction. Looks pretty, but whats more important to display; Julians cool board spray, or all that content hiden out back?
First range getting the online treatment is the second summer offering, or high summer as its more affectionately known. We took a quick sniff on what’s available in the store right now, heard there is more to be added, but at the moment you can grab Diamond Dobby Boardshorts, Tees, Accessories, and some other stuff..
Word on the street is that Jetty Surf/SDS is about to drop their online store. City Beach, if you shop there, already has. And I’m sure it won’t be long until the other brands all get their acts happening and enter the online sales realm…
surfstich.com : These guys know how to run an online store. I recently bought a t-shirt from them, the overall service was great.
It’s certainly leading a new era for the surf industry, in many ways it’s creating a whole new playing field. Be interesting to see how it all unfolds..
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Results from Alexa.com
The Rip Curl Pro Portugal 2009 looks to have set a new high of online traffic, according to results published via online monitoring tool Alexa. Comparisons of the primary events URL’s used by the major event broadcasters, billabongpro.com, quiksilverlive.com, hurley.com, aspworltour.com and ripcurl.com, shows a significant spike in traffic to the now famed Search event.
Locals Always Rule The Line Up
The Portuguese have not only showed up in numbers at the event site, but more so online, jumping to the second highest geographic logging in to watch the live action. Usually ranking in the later part of the top 10, Portuguese traffic to ripcurl.com has muscled it’s way into the 2nd top spot, accounting 12.8% of total traffic, second only to the mighty stars and stripes.
Notable mention must go to Brazil, moving into 3rd place. Adriano is certainly flying that flag high.
Learning To Let Go.
We’ve heard quite a bit about the ownership of the media rights as of late, the sponsors own it. ASP doesn’t. So it’s understandable the sponsors have been reluctant to let go of their baby. So it’s been interesting / long over due / refreshing to have the addition of media partners such as FuelTV (TV and Web), and Hurley’s flirtation with Facebook (which was a real winner as they have more friends than all of us combined). Web rankings will be diluted with the extra fingers in the pie, but as long as they start getting the numbers to attract more viewers, then who’s complaining. As long the extra numbers don’t turn up in the line up.
The Only Way Is Up
The webcasts and viewing options are slowly getting better, the online viewers is growing, everything is moving in the right direction. Let’s see this new website. The numbers are starting to add up.
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So the ASP have announced fairly radical changes to the structure of the ‘Dream Tour’, a single tier ranking system, and atlast, a few extra bucks for the boys. Great news! But for the 95% of us who watch contests on the net, I’m a little disappointed that there was no official announcement with regards to the next step of the webcast. But I’m not surprised.
Mick Fanning gave us a sniff of what’s on the horizon with a little slip of the tongue during his interview on insurfnews.com stating that “there will be one website for the 2010 tour”. Great news! Or is it?
ASP 2.0 Breakdown With Mick Fanning and Kieren Perrow from Andrew Oliver on Vimeo.
Stop Thinking Website, Starting Thinking Online Community.
It’s not that hard to create a website; and it’s even harder to make any money out of one. But an active online community where registered users actively engage with content, generate their own, share content, debate / bitch / complain in forums and create their online persona is addictive. And addiction = money. And we know if we want better broadcast options, stronger commentary teams, and professional surfers outside the top 10 actually making a decent living, there needs to be a wider revenue stream. This community starts with these top surfers, and works its way across to you and me. It doesn’t need to be complicated, but it does need to be interactive and engaging.
Communities Exist Outside Facebook
Did you notice a few months ago the ASP pretty much converted half their website to a massive big Facebook widget? WTF? Don’t get me wrong, Facebook is in this day and age an essential tool in the communication process, but putting all your eggs in someone else’s basket? #fail. And look how big Hurley’s is compared to the ASP.
Does Size Matter?
Ofcourse it does. But let’s face it, surfing doesn’t attract the number of viewers that’s going to set any records. But its strength is an extremely strong global community. We know it’s there, we know they’re online, but it’s yet to be brought inhouse. If there was a central online community platform where we could interact, communicate and share, then that core community could fuel the fire to create something much stronger than the current system. Size does matter, but the motion of the ocean can be something much more powerful.
Bring In The Nerds
When I was a teenager, I was either at school, or surfing. Generally the later. Nothing else mattered. My younger brother sat in a dark room at home rebuilding his computer, hanging out in online forums, sharing tips, tricks and geeky content. He called himself ‘ViRaL’, 10 years before every brand who enters the digital space wanted to create one. I laughed at his name. Now he earns 4 times more than me, owns property, drives flash cars, and yeah, is pretty well known in his online communities.
I could go on, but to cut to the point, bring in the nerds. Proper ones. They could build this online community better, faster, stronger and smarter. And that’s not a dis to the current sponsors who have done a great job with the current system, but it’s time to take it to the next level.
Though the big question is, who’s going to pay for it?
…to be continued…
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Results from alexa.com show the spike in traffic to billabongpro.com, plus aspworldtour.com
Online traffic to the Billabong Pro at Jeffreys Bay, South Africa looks to have set a whole new level of viewers, higher then that of any other ASP Event in 2009, according to analysis of online reach using Alexa. Using the online traffic monitoring tool, the graph above shows the worldwide users peaking over the final 2 days of competition at a new level not seen all year.
Indepth statistics from official sources for all contests are not widely available, but a search using the Alexa tool, cross-referencing the ASP, Billabong, Rip Curl, Quiksilver and Boost Mobile Pro events would suggest that the amount of traffic to billabongpro.com could be an all time high for the webcast productions of professional surfing.
Alexa analysis of the major webcast platforms over past 2 years. The red line against the right hand side of the graph represents the Billabong Pro J-Bay. The Boost Mobile Pro and Rip Curl Search are right up there too.
The large spike in traffic is an extremely positive result for Billabong and all the sponsors, the ASP, the surfers and the wider surfing community; a well earnt justification that the time, money and effort invested into the webcasts continue to reach new levels and set new benchmarks in online sports broadcasting.
The J-Bay Cocktail
The combination of the Clash Of The Icons social experiementation, the best swell we’ve seen on tour all year, a giant slaying local hero, a resurgent world champion and a new king in the making, gelled together by Billabong’s interactive media prowess, were all the ingredients required in setting a new benchmark for the webcasts. As I mentioned in a previous post, it’s no longer just a webcast, it’s an interactive experience. And it continues to get better each contest.
South African’s Come Out To Play
In the biggest result of the contest, more surprising than the early eliminations of Kelly, Mick, Adriano and Taj, is that online traffic from South Africa was greater than any other country, making up 29% off all traffic, 6% more than the might of the USA, and more than 3 times that of Australian traffic. The results below show a healthy mix of the top surfing nations logging in to watch the action take place.
Demographic Analysis of Worldwide Users
I can’t wait for Trestles…
Explosive, yet maybe not that unsurprising news hit this week that a renegade-super-fantasy-surfing-tour was being formed between a loose consortium including Kelly Slater and his management, private equity firms and the media powerhouse, ESPN. Whilst the surfing media have all been treading carefully with how they report the matter, mostly because details are still unclear, comments circulating online by various unidentified characters within the darker pockets of the industry have been scathing, to say the least.
The most constructive piece I’ve read on the matter, and one of the few to go beyond just copying what they read from the Noosa Journal whom broke the story, is by long time surf journo Point Grinder aka Chris Mauro at Grind.tv. Read it here. Addressing the heart of the problem, the fact that the ASP doesn’t own their greatest asset, ownership of the media rights, and the need for a unified common platform in which we watch surfing. Most of the comments I’ve seen on various websites have all made reference to the potential internal implosion of the ASP and core surfing, the online assassination of Kelly Slater and every piece of mud slinging possible inbetween. Call me naive, uninformed, or maybe I’m on to something here, but I for one, think the 2 tours can live side by side, as long as they have their unique differences. Here’s my 5 cents:
Rumble In the Jungle Exhbition, Surfing Style
The ‘New Tour’ Absolutely Cannot Be A New Tour, It Has To Be An Exhibition Series
We don’t need anther world tour, we already have one; but if the Occy V Curren match up was anything to go by, then the thought of more of these match ups are very tasty indeed. And that’s what the masses want, entertainment. If the new tour proposal was to go ahead, a series of must see, one-offs, would be in my opinion the most dramatic, entertaining and constructive integration with the current system.
It also raises the question, if Surfing is finally coming to prime time TV via ESPN, how will they produce the content for a whole contest, live, on TV?
We’ve seen a sniff of this via Billabong with Island Time in Tahiti, and Lakka Fire Cracka in South Africa, with the hour long live show. Next step in my book, turn that 1 hour live show into a 24/7 broadcast, which will require a depth of content, but that’s something surfing is rich in, content, one of the strongest assets in online trading right now. Add panel of surf experts, promote the broadcast as happening 24/7 around the clock for the entire waiting period and I’d like to see what that does for audience viewing figures.
What would an ESPN broadcast be like? They better use real ex-pro surfers!
Is It Time The ASP & The Event Sponsors Form A Broadcast Alliance?
The root of both the problem and the solution is that there are 10 events, and 10 very different webcasts. If they worked as one, with less competition, then would have this situation arisen?
A recent interview with Kelly Slater on ESPN, the writing was on the wall: “The new governing body should own and run the events, own the media, do the marketing, bring in sponsors. Right now, the ASP doesn’t own any of those things, because it didn’t do the groundwork in the beginning. Sponsors own, run and market the events. That needs to change.” Read this interview with Kelly on ESPN here.
Bring In The Peacekeepers To Unite As One
Bringing Together The Best Features For A Common Ground
If you combined all the best aspects from the current platforms, brought them under one umbrella to form one large consistant platform, as apposed to many platforms with inconsistant features and erratic traffic levels; would that not form a stronger communication model to grow as one?
Billabong have set the benchmark that it’s no longer just a webcast, it’s an interactive experience. They’re making watching 6 – 8 hours of a contest pleasurable. And it’s all down to the depth of their content. This is something ESPN doesn’t have.
Rip Curl set new ground last year partnering with HD streaming outfit Vivadas, and it’s a damn shame Vivadas went under, as watching in full screen was great.
Quiksilver also dabbled in HD in France last year, have been on top of their game with backstage content and commentary teams.
And then there was the Hang Loose Pro in Brazil. The Brazilian leg should not be penalised and ridiculed because their country has a poorer economy and the sponsor cannot afford to spend as much as everyone else. This is a big reason why there should be one platform, to ensure all webcasts are consistant, not a competition. Online traffic from Brazil ranks as the 3rd highest traffic source to ASP events (According to my analysis via Alexa), and they should be assisted with their broadcast. Not demoralised because they don’t have as much money as the rest of the sponsors.
If these big brands worked together to have a common online platform in which we viewed events, then they can collectivally grow the sport for the good of all involved. What we need is one portal, one URL, one channel. dreamtour.tv? The sponsors can have everything you’ve already got; a branded / skinned wire frame, sponsorship opportunities, banner ads for product, commercials, video on demand, database collection, etc. But as one the communication methods can be strengthened and grown to further increase the online traffic to events, and surfing as a full time spectators sport.
I believe they should form a media company which they can all have shares in, collect further revenue from banner advertising, work together as one to have a common way in which we watch the contents. They haven’t done this, so it looks like ESPN will.
Coke & Pepsi became friends just the other week, so anything is possible.
mmmm, statistics!
Who’s Counting?
Most sporting codes have a whole range of metrics in which they monitor their reach, primarily through TV ratings and live attendance, add media coverage & PR, and you can start putting a dollar value on your key sponsorship packages.
Doing a little research through the right channels, it’s not hard to find out how many people follow sporting leagues and races via TV, radio & online. I know how many people watched the NRL, AFL, Basket Ball, Cricket, and frankly, anything on TV over the weekend because of the TV ratings made available. OK, surfing isn’t quite at that level, but does anyone outside the major sponsors know how many people are logging into the webcast? It’s a question I often ask industry types if I happen to meet them, but it’s usually met with a furrowed brow. It doesn’t seem like many people know, nor do they want us know.
With the birth of the webcast, and the sport of surfing officially going digital, the available metrics of audience reach and engagement have never been better. No longer is surfing judged by how many people are on the beach watching; there is a digitally savvy, global audience logged in, clicked on and more than happy to engage and communicate the surfing gospel. There are a highly accurate range of analysis tools are available to measure this, and it’s about time we see some stats. Oh what I would do with a few hours in Google Analytics crunching stats from each contest.
It Takes 2 To Tango
Slater has been the prime target of forum critics with regards to ‘the new tour’. Never have we had a better ambassador for the sport, and nor will we in the near future. A surfer who can get through a whole interview without saying “awww, it was sic mate, I’m just stoked”. Dane, Jordy, Julian and co., these guys are all setting new boundaries, but will they compete for 15 – 20 years or do a few, then spend the rest doing boat trips? Without Kelly Slater, surfing will never make it on TV, and that would be an opportunity lost if not taken now.
I highly doubt for a second that Kelly’s intensions, or that of ESPN, are to kill the ASP, and the foundations they have set. Everyone out there has their own opinion, and Kelly definitely has his, it’s just that he’s in a better position than most to actually do something about it. Even his major sponsor Quiksilver are struggling at the moment, many brands are, and if this new competition was to happen, it will help inject more money into the industry, and that can only be a good thing. More people will buy product, buy magazines, log into your website, jobs will be created, etc. The whole food chain will be fed.
Sure, that may mean more surfers in the water, but do you think a person from ‘whoop whoop or where ever’ whose taken a newly found interest in surfing is likely to out the back and snaking you on the next 6 foot day down the beach? Well, I can’t see that happening. They’ll be enrolling in the local surf school, buying a new wetsuit, some boardies, a t-shirt, etc… which will hopefully keep both you and me in a job (well, if I had one).
I personally want Kelly to win that 10th World Title so we can claim that we have the most successful athlete ever. Just do it next year, because I’m already working on the best marketing campaign ever. Kelly Slater : 10 World Titles in 2010. I’m already drowning in a pool of puns. Surfing and it’s sponsors have worked long and hard at loosing the image of bong smoking, beer swilling hippies, and Kelly Slater is a major part of that.
Apparently Bede had to mortgage his house the other year just to cover travel expenses. These guys deserve a proper pay day
We The Spectators And The Surfers Have The Most To Gain
Let’s face it, pro surfers get paid peanuts. OK, Kelly, Andy, Parko, Mick, Taj, Jordy, Dane and a few others do well, but for the most of them, they’ve got next to nothing. And what will they have to show for it when then come off tour? Probably not much. If they’ve got a good sponsor, hopefully they’ll give them a job as Team Manager, or something like that. Kelly’s been doing the tour for almost 20 years, and he’s made a grand total prize money of $1.9million dollars. That’s under a hundred grand a year. If this is to be a professional sport, let them get paid like professionals.
The ‘new tour’ will mean more surfing contests with some of the best surfers in the world, both old and new, at some of the best locations. I can handle that. And I’m sure the surfers can do with the extra coin. But please, work with the ASP on the schedule, don’t turn this into a competition of who has the most cash. Position this ‘tour’ as a series of fully glorified exhibition matches, entertainment, the ultimate clash of 16 icons. We don’t need another tour, it doesn’t need to be do or die, with some good open communication, two tours need not collide.
ASP & ESPN Unite To Televise Both Tours?
Alot of the discussion has been either one way or the other. What if the ASP and ESPN were to unite, making all ASP events available on ESPN? It comes back to my point above, how would ESPN go about broadcasting a surfing contest? And with this new tour being a limited amount of contests over a 6 month period, it doesn’t quite warrant it’s own Surfing Channel on ESPN. But what if ALL ASP events were televised? WCT, WQS, Pro Juniors, plus the new super tour, all stitched together by re-runs of older content and a healthy dash of branded content from the major event sponsors. It could almost work. It’ll all come down to how all the major parties involved play their cards.
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According To Professor Frink's Calculations, Occy Should Win The Clash Of The Icons
Internet forums, websites and Twitter have been alight the past week as one of surfing’s greatest rivalries go toe to toe at one of surfing’s greatest locations, Jeffreys Bay, South Africa. With both Occy and Curren at 8 wins each, it’s harder to pick than a broken nose as to who would come out on top. At time of wirting, Tom Curren has taken 1st blood in the 2 heat series, but with swell on the increase, the ball is back in Occy’s court for the second match up.
Since announcing the rematch, tongues have been wagging left right and centre as to further rematches between some of the sports’ greatest – it’s all starting to remind me of the latest Rocky movie.
Over the past few months, I’ve been testing a number of social media monitoring tools that analyse conversations online, identify key tastemakers and influencers, and generally act as an eye in the sky across multiple platforms. Brisbane agency Dialogix have been leading the charge in this field in Australia, I quite enjoyed testing their system. Shout out to @mattgranfield
Viral Heat is another good tool, and for this experiment, I’ve been using their system for the past few weeks to monitor the online activity of Occy and Tom Curren. Who is the favourite when it comes to most mentions in social media? Computer Says… Occy.
Rumble In the Jungle, Surfing Style
According to Viral Heat, Tom Curren has had 323 mentions, whilst Occy manages to edge him out with 342 mentions this week. Pretty damn close. Now I have to say, these results are not 100% accurate. The spiders that track these results are tracking individual characters, so for example, with Tom Curren, you also get words like ‘currency’, etc… This is my biggest ‘beef’ with social monitoring tools; unless you have an extremely unique key word, you are likely to also get alot of unwanted junk in your results. But having said that, they are an extremely valuable tool for any brand; as not knowing what consumers are saying about you, is like sticking your head in the sand.
But for the fun of it, here are the results of the tracking of Occy Vs Tom Curren, Clash Of The Icons, social media style.
Social media mentions of the term 'Occy'. Source: Viral Heat.
Social media mentions of the term 'Tom Curren'. Source: Viral Heat.
Conversation monitoring of the term 'Occy', just after the Clash Of The Icons heat. Source: Viral Heat
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