PRESS RELEASE: “Beat me on my turf and I’ll quintuple the prize pot” from Wanaka elite Triathlete Tony Dodds

New Zealand Elite Triathlete Tony Dodds wants to attract more world class international triathletes to Wanaka for the elite leg of the Contact Tri Series on Friday 20th January 2012 and he is putting up to ten grand of money where his mouth is.

Nicknamed the ‘Doddsy International’, Dodds is hoping to raise enough funds to quintuple the prize pot, so far he has more than tripled the $2,000 1st place prize money to $7,000, an athlete inspired move believed to be unique in the world of triathlon and just as rare in any professional sport – the athlete finding the money and putting it all on the line for all-comers to take away.

“On the international triathlon circuit prize money is the biggest draw-card for a professional athlete. I’m gambling that a few of my international rivals will take the bait, $7k will guarantee a few, but $10k would dig up a whole lot!” says Dodds.

Most recently Nelson berry company Sujon have very generously approached Dodds and offered $1,000 towards the pot.

Several local businesses, a very generous anonymous fan, Lake Wanaka Tourism and Tony’s sponsors have all helped to contribute towards the prize. Plus local tourism operators have donated some adventurous extra-curricular activities including helicopter sight-seeing, hunting and water-sports.

And his hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed, with over half a dozen extra elites registered as a result of Tony’s efforts, including:

•    Kris Gemmell – Olympian, winner of multiple world cups and fellow NZ elite squad member. Winner of the recent Barfoot & Thompson ITU World Cup in Auckland.
•    Laurent Vidal – French Olympian, winner of last year’s race, and number 7 in the world.
•    Ryan Sissons – fellow NZ elite squad member from Auckland, ranked 18 in the world in 2011.
•    Simon Whitfield - Canada, gold medal Sydney Olympics, Bronze medal Athens Olympics
Adding further incentive for sponsors to part with their money, should Tony win, he has advised that all the additional prize money will be donated to Cystic Fibrosis research.

About Contact Tri Series Wanaka
All events take place on Friday 20th January, preceding Challenge Wanaka which follows on Saturday 21st January. There are events for everyone from children to beginners to elites in a festival atmosphere with large crowds on a flat and easy course.    

Registration & Late Entries        Challange Wanaka Marque    12:00pm - 2:00pm   
Contact 1:2:1                                Boys & Girls  2:15pm
Contact 3:9:3                                Men 2:40pm            
                                                       Women & Teams  2:41pm
Contact Trophy                             Women & Womens/Mixed Teams 3:40pm
                                                       Men & Men’s Teams 5:20pm
Contact Cup Elite                         Women  7:00pm   
                                                       Men  8:10pm
Prize-Giving                                  Finish Line upon completion of elite men’s event 


About Tony Dodds
Tony Dodds is one to watch. Since becoming a competitive triathlete in 2005 he has quickly made his way to the top, securing the title of New Zealand Under 23 Champion three times and winning the New Zealand Sprint Championships in both 2010 and 2011, as well as achieving a number of top placings on the world stage. With the ultimate goal of competing in future Olympic Games, at only 23 he is no small player and most definitely has the potential to achieve this.


Photo opportunities and interviews with Tony Dodds onsite at the Wanaka Snow Farm, along with fellow national and international elite triathletes, can be arranged via Sarah Girvan 021 552 240 or through Tony Dodds directly 027 810 4440.

Please find free for use images attached, higher resolution shots are available on request. Also a newly released profile of Tony Dodds filmed by Cinematographer Tim Pierce is available here.

END

Going a bit Square in Wellington - Lambton Square Shopping Centre Redevelopment

Immersion pitched for and won the branding and signage contract for the multi-million dollar re-development of Lambton Square Shopping Centre. The new site will become the flagship for the retailing landscape around Lambton Quay. Competition was fierce, and a few eyebrows were raised when a Dunedin based company beat out the ‘Capital City’ marketing teams.

Sarah Girvan will now be out of the office every Wednesday and putting her knowledge of international shopping centre marketing to good use. As part of the project Development Team she will be working with representatives from AMP Capital, Jasmax Architects (the same architects that designed Forsyth Barr Stadium), and Demografik Design. Another, ‘watch this space’ project, that is going to be BIG!

View the redevelopment photos here...

Going a bit Square in Wellington - Lambton Square Shopping Centre Redevelopment

 Foodhall

 Foodhall

 Upstairs

Downstairs

Redevelopment designs by Jasmax Architects. 

How Hot Are You? Ethos Woodfires

Ethos Woodfires are based in Christchurch and their patented wood fires are sold nation-wide. Ethos approached Immersion Marketing wanting assistance to develop a marketing strategy and refreshed brand that would help them to increase sales and distribution nationwide.

Immersion’s first task was to determine Ethos’s value proposition and appropriate positioning strategy. The team became engrossed in the Ethos brand, statistics were analysed, retailers interviewed, customers surveyed and a focus groups held. As a company, Ethos Woodfires began the process of reflecting on what they have achieved so far and rejuvenating their brand for the future.

We partnered with Christchurch based Demografik Design to create a new logo and simplified colour palette that presents a consumer facing brand.

We identified that Ethos has the hottest lowest emission fireplace on the market, and Demografik created a brand identity that focused on people rather than fires, and the emotional decisions tied to a wood fire purchase. With the black and white photographs, a strong logo and an emotive play on words, Ethos Woodfires has claimed their market position as an expert in clean heat. ‘What’s your Ethos?’

The importance of supporting retailers was also identified during the brand positioning phase. Co-branded marketing packages have been developed, along with in-store information packs, technical specifications and digital displays. To enable effective consumer decisions, this information is also available online and backed up by the Ethos sales support team.

Client feedback: – “Love it, Immersion Marketing nailed it!”

Pacific Edge Limited - Saving Lives Worldwide from Dunedin

Cancer is a pandemic disease; as a Dunedin based company that is developing cancer diagnostic technologies, Pacific Edge is saving lives on a world scale. By combining exacting scientific research and analytical software, Pacific Edge has created easy to use early cancer detection tests that allows for better cancer management.

Sarah Girvan says, “It’s easy to admire what Pacific Edge has achieved, and they back their own creations. They haven’t sold their technologies to a manufacturer, they have patented their products, and are overseeing their delivery to markets around the world. They are producing exceptionally innovative products and it has been a priviledge to work with such a forward thinking company.”

Spot Bob! - How do you market a bladder cancer detection test?

Cxbladder® is a non-invasive, simple-to-use urine test that detects bladder cancer.

The Challenge: To develop a marketing campaign that would connect with two distinct audiences: medical professionals and their patients. Finding the balance between medical ‘tech speak’ and ‘do this because it could save your life’ was a challenge in itself.

The Creation: Immersion partnered with Strategy Design & Advertising, from Christchurch, to reposition the brand and develop an innovative information pack for medical professionals (predominately urologists) and patients.

Read more and check out the collateral...

Spot Bob! - How do you market a bladder cancer detection test?

Cxbladder® is a non-invasive, simple-to-use urine test that detects bladder cancer.  

The Challenge: To develop a marketing campaign that would connect with two distinct audiences: medical professionals and their patients. Finding the balance between medical ‘tech speak’ and ‘do this because it could save your life’ was a challenge in itself.

The Creation: Immersion partnered with Strategy Design & Advertising, from Christchurch, to reposition the brand and develop an innovative information pack for medical professionals (predominately urologists) and patients.

Whilst Immersion was instrumental in identifying the appropriate positioning strategy and translating technical content into plain language, Strategy Design & Advertising introduced a fresh new professional look, with a fun twist - a challenge to ‘Spot the bladder cancer patient’, on the front cover!

Thanks to Dunedin based Taieri Print, the design became a reality, a challenging print job, it's finished to the highest possible quality (Sarah spent 3.5 hours press checking the job onsite, thanks for your patience Taieri Print!).

The health professional information packs feature a high quality, custom three panel folder that reveals an information guide, supporting research papers, and sample wire bound patient case studies in a clean, uncluttered format. A leaflet with its own free-standing display will also be displayed in waiting rooms as an educational aid for patients.

The Result: Feedback from the Pacific Edge team, stakeholders and prospects in New Zealand and internationally has been excellent. The direct mail launch to urologists and GPs will will be happening early in 2012, whilst the re-branded design has also appeared in KiaOra magazine advertising, on the Cxbladder® website, trade displays in North America and Australia, and will soon feature in a nationwide advertising campaign.  

EVENT: The Doddsy International

Lake Wanaka Contact Tri Series – Elite Race, 20^th January 2012

Late last year in an effort to increase the number of elite competitors and support the Contact Tri’s continued presence in Wanaka, local Wanaka triathlete and Olympic hopeful Doddsy (Tony Dodds) laid down the ‘Doddsy International’ challenge.

In a quest to bring more world class athletes to the race, Doddsy announced he would double the prize money from his own pocket if anyone could beat him. This generated a huge amount of media coverage, increased local spectator turnout with thousands showing up chanting ‘Doddsy, Doddsy’ and attracted several international triathletes including World Number 5 Frenchman Laurent Vidal who ended up narrowly beating Doddsy for first place in a nail biting race!

This year the event is recognised as an official ITU World Series race, meaning valuable points are on the board for international triathletes. Creating added incentive to come, but there’s more.....

Read more here...

EVENT: The Doddsy International

Lake Wanaka Contact Tri Series – Elite Race, 20^th January 2012 

Late last year in an effort to increase the number of elite competitors and support the Contact Tri’s continued presence in Wanaka, local Wanaka triathlete and Olympic hopeful Doddsy (Tony Dodds) laid down the ‘Doddsy International’ challenge.

In a quest to bring more world class athletes to the race, Doddsy announced he would double the prize money from his own pocket if anyone could beat him. This generated a huge amount of media coverage, increased local spectator turnout with thousands showing up chanting ‘Doddsy, Doddsy’ and attracted several international triathletes including World Number 5 Frenchman Laurent Vidal who ended up narrowly beating Doddsy for first place in a nail biting race!

This year the event is recognised as an official ITU World Series race, meaning valuable points are on the board for international triathletes. Creating added incentive to come, but there’s more.....

$10,000 for first place! 

In 2012 the stakes are increased, to attract the big boys, we also need the big prize pot.

Our audacious Doddsy International mission is to Quintruple the prize pot and raise $10,000!  The first place prize has been set at $2k, one anonymous sponsor has already contributed $2k and we have another $1k pledged, so only $5k to go!

That’s your bit. We are asking sponsors, fans and local businesses to get involved. The bigger the prize, the bigger the turnout and the bigger the flow-on benefit for Wanaka’s community.

What we need from you

We are looking for contributions towards the prize pot, all businesses and fans that put forward prize money will be mentioned on Doddsy’s website and via Doddsy’s Facebook and Twitter profiles (over 1,300 fans).  

We are asking businesses for minimum contributions of only $200 each.

If cash isn’t something that you can offer we are also on the lookout for some ‘uniquely Wanaka’ prizes. Something that showcases Wanaka and attracts athletes not just for the $$ but for the awesome time they can have in Wanaka afterwards.

For any businesses interested in a major contribution ($500+) we would definitely be interested in discussing a way Doddsy could work with you to maximise your marketing exposure.

What happens if Doddsy wins? 

Doddsy is a man of his word and doesn’t think it would be fair if he took the additional prize money himself should he win – which he is aiming for!

He has pledged that should he win, he will donate all the prize money raised to Cystic Fibrosis.

What’s planned? 

We’ve already managed to secure lot’s of interest in the lead-up to the event and hope the following will help to maximise attendance, thanks very very much to everyone who has helped us get this far:

- Doddsy International Video Challenge, to be filmed and released late November. Thanks to Lake Wanaka Tourism. 
- Doddsy International Media Release, to be distributed via national and international sports media with the assistance of Triathlon NZ and SportConnect.
- Doddsy profile in the Otago Daily Times, profiling both Doddsy and the upcoming race.
- New Doddsy website launching early November, thanks to NV Interactive.
- A triathlete dinner at the Lake Hawea Tavern the night before. The Tavern will be putting on a feed for all of the elite competitors, this is open to the public to come and meet and mingle with the athletes.
- We are also working on a ‘Wanaka Day Out’ for athletes, showing off the sights and activities in Wanaka, including helicopter rides, claybird shooting and hopefully lots more.

This year the race will again be broadcast LIVE on TV1. The day before TV1 also run interviews featuring Doddsy and fellow triathletes taking in the sites and activities Wanaka has on offer.

Contact

Tony Dodds – tony.dodds@gmail.com

Sarah Girvan, Publicist – 021 552 240 or sarah@immersionmarketing.co.nz

Follow Doddsy
Website: www.tonydodds.com    -    Facebook: ‘Tony Dodds aka Doddsy’    -    Twitter: @doddsy_nz

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Shhhhh it’s Secret Squirrel! – An Eye on Market Research

WHK Dunedin has been Immersion Marketing’s company accountant right from the start. They understand the importance of a professional marketing team; have used Immersion’s services, and recommended Immersion to their clients.

Accurate market research is essential for any new venture, and we have just completed a feasibility study investigating market potential for one of WHK’s largest clients. There is nothing like being part of a brand new idea and working with an Australasian company listed on the NZX, so thanks WHK for recommending us.

Introducing... Cannon Hill Gourmet Foods!

Conducting product testing for our new client, Cannon Hill Gourmet Foods proved to be just another hard day at the Immersion Marketing office... It was a unanimous decision that the aioli, and the saffron, dill and mustard mayonnaise are to die for!

Cannon Hill creators, Tony Elliott (a practising chef) and his wife Karen have created a range of deli-quality fine foods. By delivering products to supermarkets that would normally be found in quality restaurants, their goal is to spark everyone’s culinary creativity so everyone can go on gastronomic adventures in their own kitchen.

Immersion has completed their marketing strategy,  and is in the process of rolling it out so keep an eye out for them in a supermarket near you soon! 

Check out Cannon Hill's fantastic products here. 

TracMap Website: GPS Made Easy

Colin Brown and Grant Gibson from TracMap are on Immersion Marketing’s AAA+ client list. According to Sarah, “They are great to work with, know exactly what they want, give direct instructions, and they’ve got an innovative product.” Immersion Marketing took a strategic approach to the site development, undertaking research and extensive website architecture and planning.

We gathered data from clients and prospects, and began to understand exactly what the market wanted. We then made the important distinction that prospects and clients search by industry first, and application of the product is also of equal importance. This became the basis for the new TracMap website.

In collaboration with NV Interactive, Immersion Marketing has recently re-launched TracMap’s website. The critical aspect to developing the website has been usability. The product range have been re-organised by function into clearly defined channels. Each landing page is clear and uncluttered with detailed information just a few clicks away.

TracMap's innovative products do have extensive technical specifications, and it is up to the client to choose how much information they need to see.

The website is also reactive to the needs of each international market. The customers IP address determines their landing page and graphics. In North America, the Rescue and Emergency Services products pop up first, while Aerial Agriculture take the lead in Australia.

Of course, the results are commercially sensitive, but let us just say that the reconfigured website has not only authenticated TracMap’s brand identity, it has also increased product sales from around the world.

Check out the new site here.

It's all on at Lambton Square!

The Challenge:

Create an engaging Rugby World Cup installation that would increase the foot traffic and retail sales in Lambton Square Shopping Centre. With their experience in Shopping Centre marketing, of course Immersion Marketing was up for the challenge! The concept needed to be approved by the twenty-four retailers, the property manager, CB Richard Ellis, and meet the Rugby World Cup strict marketing specifications. On the practical side, it needed to be portable, durable and stand-alone so it would not hinder customer sight lines within the centre and could be rolled inside the centre barriers outside of hours to prevent vandalism.

The Concept: 

We created a 3m x 4 ½m scale photo backdrop of a rugby crowd. Passersby could dress up in their favourite rugby colours and have a ‘crowd shot’ taken.

Each participant received a card with directions to www.lambton-square.co.nz, where they could view their photo, and a $5 gift voucher that could be used at any of the Centre’s retailers. The stand is being managed by a promotional staff member/photographer from Friday to Sunday throughout the RWC programme.

The Results:

To ensure transparency and evaluate the return on investment each retailer is returning the redeemed vouchers and purchase receipt. The foot and website traffic generated will not be quantified until the end of the RWC; however, the response to date has been excellent - website traffic is up significantly, we have lots of fun content on the website and one of Centre retailers has given the project the ultimate compliment - ‘Can you do something like it for my other down town store?’

Check out some of the fantastic shots here.

Extreme Makeover: Office Edition!

The blank canvas that was our office has recently been treated to an extreme makeover as part of the first stage in transforming Immersion's office into a funky creative space!



A painter was called in, furniture was covered and within minutes the the once white walls were blasted with some colour, (correction: A LOT of colour). Our office now sports a bright green on the lower level, a blackboard covering the entire meeting area and of course we couldn't resist adding a splash of "Immersion Red" to the space.

The installation of a new heat pump also saw us able to quit huddling around our heaters, coffees and hotties; a welcome addition to the team!

We feel the space now suits our personality much better, and will assist in letting the creative juices flow...

With more transformations to come, watch this space...















Check out more images of the transformation in progress here.

Extreme Makeover: Office Edition!

Steve, the painter, gets stuck in!

The fresh blackboard gets it's first scribbles... 

Our fresh faced office! 

Venture Partners: An innovative branding strategy, for an innovative client.

Venture Partners are exactly the type of client we love working with - we love getting our teeth into new markets, and the carbon market is certainly that!

An innovative new business concept, with a focus on the rapidly growing carbon trading market, they came to us in June to assist with developing a branding strategy. The brief was to develop a flexible and scalable branding structure, one that could grow and adapt as their business also inevitably will. 

We worked with them to develop the parent brand and underlying sub-brands, using a logo device and creative that's flexible, scalable and importantly, recognisable both in isolation and clustered together.

View the final website here.


"We engaged Immersion Marketing to deliver a versatile brand, website design and marketing collateral, all in a tight frame. We're delighted with the results. Immersion delivered a first class job, on time and within budget. It's been a pleasure working with Sarah and the team and I'd be happy to recommend them." - Greg Fahey, Managing Director

True Grit Photography

True Grit hair spa bounce back with ultra stylish photoshoot...

Jacqui and her super styling team of stylists at True Grit hair spa have had a pretty rough ride over the past year.

First their Manchester St salon was damaged in September's quake, so they located to temporary premises in Tuam St, then the February quake demolished what was left of 'Old Grit'. 

Much of True Grit's original branding creative focused on the unique and plush decor of Manchester St. Our brief was to develop a new positioning strategy for 2011/2012 that reflected 'New Grit'. 

Although the décor in True Grit's Tuam St salon is just as plush, we beleived that the real brand lay within the heart, passion and skills of team True Grit. So, our first step was to arrange a photoshoot with Dunedin photographer Emily Hlavac-Green - and wow, does the real 'True Grit' really show through!

Here's a sneak peak of some of the fantastic photography...

A huge thank you also to Donna Tulloch of Mild Red, for providing the clothing for the shoot. Donna’s ‘Black Knight’ Collection was perfect for the ‘Gritty’ Christchurch backdrop.

Testimonial - Venture Partners

We engaged Immersion Marketing to deliver a versatile brand, website design and marketing collateral, all in a tight frame. We're delighted with the results. Immersion delivered a first class job, on time and within budget. It's been a pleasure working with Sarah and the team and I'd be happy to recommend them.


Greg Fahey, Managing Director - Venture Parters