O2 Scrum on the Beach 2009 (UK)

With a top prize described as 'the stuff that dreams are made of', O2 UK's latest campaign, Scrum on the Beach, offers the chance to play at Twickenham. However, before you get to prove your skills with a rugby ball in front of a packet Twickenham arena, you've got to get the hard part out of the way. Turn up your style and skills to the on-looking English Rugby Team as you compete on the sand. The teams that show the most flair on the sand will be picked to play in a special tournament at Twickenham.

The roadshow will also offer the public the opportunity to compete on Batak™ Duel competition stations for chances to win rugby goodies and pick up autographs from the English Team.

Dates and Locations:

• Martello Bay, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex 4 July, 11-6pm
• Marine Parade, Great Yarmouth 11 July, 11-6:30pm
• Ainsdale Beach, Southport 18 July, 10-5:30pm
• Boscombe Beach, Bournemouth 25 July, 10-7pm
• Weymouth Beach, Dorset 1 August, 10-6:30pm
• Tynemouth Longsands Beach, Newcastle 8-9 August, 10-4pm
• Skegness Beach, Lincolnshire 15 August, 10-5pm
• Lusty Glaze Beach, Newquay 28 August, 12-7pm
• Lusty Glaze Beach, Newquay 29-30 August, 12-11pm

To register your team just email 'scrumonthebeach@therfu.com'.

Augmented Reality Shopping

I've posted about Augmented Reality numerous times now, and although I've said it before, I'll say it again; Augmented Reality rocks! This is where cutting edge is for me. This is the place that digital marketing can go to create the most interactive, most engaging, and most dynamic creatives and campaigns.

I was lucky enough sit in on a Cybercom 'Friday Session'* presented by Marty. Marty gave a fantastic run through of numerous Augmented Reality applications. Afterwards I said, in my mind it's clear that the next step is Augmented Reality shopping - being able to "try on" clothes in a virtual store before buying them. Well guess what? There' no need to wait....



How incredibly cool is that! Sure it's not 100% accurate or spot on, but it's cutting edge, it's not meant to be perfect. However, give it 6 to 12 months and as it transitions from cutting edge to leading edge, I guarantee this will be picked up by every major online clothes retailer. Consider that this technology could tell you what size clothes to buy. No more guessing as to whether an American 'M' is an English 'L'!

Augmented Reality Posts
Augmented Reality By Hand
Augmented Reality Top 10
Augmented Reality: Shopping for Glasses
Mobile Augmented Reality Game
Augmented Reality Music Video
Augmented Reality Pizza
Eminem's Relapse Augmented Reality
Papermotion
WWF Augmented Reality
What's In The Box? (ARG)

*Friday Session - every Friday 1 or 2 agency staff give a short presentation on a topic of interest to the whole agency. This could be on a new Social Media tool, new International Digital news or holiday snaps of a far off place. Either way, it's a place for everyone in the agency to get together and wind down for the weekend.

Billy Jean Moonwalk FlashMob

Last Friday at Liverpool Street Station (the same location as the T-Mobile FlashMob) an impromptu FlashMob came together to pay tribute to the late Michael Jackson. The event was sparked off earlier that morning by Rob Manuel, founder of web pranksters b3ta.com, who Tweeted "If I claimed there was a mass moonwalk being organised for 6pm at Liverpool Street Station would anyone believe me?".

This was then picked up by @Markcorrigan. The rest so they say, is history (I could have gone with a really bad pun there!)

Augmented Reality By Hand

It seems stupid but I had never even thought about doing Augmented Reality with drawn symbols. Of course it makes sense once you see it, and in my mind lends itself to something more - perhaps some sort of Augmented Reality based game where users had to discover symbols or solve problems, to see what's hidden in the code.

Google Voice: Update

Last Tuesday I posted about Google Voice, Google's phone and voicemail management system. Essentially this is Google's offering to allow you to unify all your telephones - including mobile, home, and work phones, into a single phone number. Previously the service was only on offer to existing GrandCentral customers. However, as of Thursday, Google are now rolling out invitations to everyone who requested an invite. Full details are available over on the Google Blog.