Sponsor Bluhalo's Spencer Gallagher - running 2010 miles for charity!

Some say he must be mad! But not quite as crazy as Eddie Izzard? Maybe, maybe not!

But what is indisputable is that Spencer's challenge for 2010, to run 2010 miles to raise £2010 for ten charities (that's over £20k in total), is nothing short of admirable!

At the beginning of 2010 Spencer asked some friends to recommend ten great charities to run 2,010 miles for. He set a target for each charity of £2,010 and aims to culminate the 2,010 miles by taking on the big finale - the Mont Blanc Ultra Marathon in 2011.

This weekend, he takes on the Jurassic Coast Challenge - it takes place on the Dorset coast path with a 26.2 mile marathon each day for 3 days where he will be running, jogging, walking or maybe even crawling from Lyme Regis to Poole along beautiful but brutal coastal terrain.

Some serious willpower is going to be needed to get through those three days this weekend, so please, please, help Spencer by donating. Visit his fundraising website where you can find out about the ten charities he's supporting.

You can also follow his progress (and pain) on Twitter @2010miles...

Thanks for your support!

Jocelyn Kirby
Marketing & Business Development Manager

Sports Focus - if anyone deserves sponsorship...

As a reader of Bluhalo's blog, you may well already know that we are part of the GyroHSR network - a global marketing communications organisation operating across Europe, the Middle East and the US.

Richard Glasson, CEO of GyroHSR, has a great passion for sports, and when he's not travelling the world on business or spending time with his family, he manages to find the time to fit in a great deal of sporting activities.

This year, Richard will be taking part in five major sporting endurance races to raise £10k for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of his Mum, who passed away last year.

Richard's 6 months of misery will begin on Monday with the l'Etape du Tour, the toughest of the Tour de France stages, taken on a few days before the pros arrive. It's the toughest stage of them all covering 170kms in the Alps, with 4 hard climbs in the first 150kms, acting as a 'warm-up' for the 'Giant of Provence' - Mont Ventoux. Ventoux is a 22km climb at an average gradient of 8%, giving Richard over 2 hours of pain, after having ridden for 5 or 6 hours already just to get to that point!

As if that wasn't more than enough for most of us average mortals, Richard will then move on to a variety of other events including the NY marathon and HellRunner, which whilst looking great fun, also appears to live up to its name!

So, if you're impressed and would like to support Richard in his quest, then do please consider making a donation to his chosen cause. You can see more at his website http://www.runglassonrun.com/.

Jocelyn Kirby
Marketing & Business Development Manager
Twitter @JocelynKirby

Sports Focus - NFL

In what is proving to be a common trend in the NFL, this past season, like many before it, has had its share of controversy and intrigue. Brett Favre doing his very best to keep things interesting, popping out of retirement to sign for the New York Jets in a shocking move, going on to help their run at the post season...at least...right up until it really mattered when an unfortunate series of bad throws leading to the inevitable interceptions in the last few games of the season, meant that the 1 win Dolphins from the previous season, took the playoff berth in a dramatic turnaround, engineered by the firey Tony Sparano, utilising the versatile "Wildcat" offense to absolute perfection to record an 11-5 regular season record.

As it turned out though, the surprise package of the year had to be the Arizona Cardinals with inspired play from star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and veteran QB Kurt Warner, the Cards proved that a trip to the Super Bowl is not out of reach for any of the teams in NFL, even without much of a running game! Sadly for them the dream was ended by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who proved once again that defense wins championships and theirs, quite frankly, was scary at times. This was epitomised by stellar Linebacker James Harrison, known all season for blitzing the opposing QB into the turf, he appeared as if from nowhere inside his own endzone to pick off Warner and then run the ball the length of the field to score a touchdown, which some may argue was the significant turning point in the contest. Not to take anything away from Santonio Holmes magnificent diving catch which sealed the victory, but I think Steelers fans would be the first to admit that their defense came to the fore again, just when it was needed.

The international series game at Wembley Stadium was played out between the New Orleans Saints and the San Diego Chargers, with the Saints coming out victorious in a highly entertaining affair. In a game that featured two of the best offenses in the league, it was a Jonathan Vilma interception as the Chargers had been driving down the field which essentially sealed the win for the black and gold. Hopefully English NFL fans will be treated to an equally entertaining game in October this year, when the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccanneers come to town.....roll on next season...with a little less Brett Favre please!

Simon Evans
Account Director

Sports Focus - Spurs

At first glance you may be wondering exactly why a digital agency is writing about sports. But look again and you will see that not only are we a digital agency, we are huge sports fans too, which is great, because we’re also the digital agency of choice for some of the biggest names in the sporting world. So along with our digital expertise, marketing opinions and forward thinking technical posts, we also like to pay homage to our sporting pedigree. As our first in the series, this month’s Sports Focus looks at the season for Spurs…

To describe this past season as being turbulent for Tottenham Hotspur would be an understatement of the highest order. Spurs fans are probably used to riding that emotional roller coaster more than many other sets of fans around the league but with the way things played out over the past 10 months, you'd have been forgiven for thinking that it was something straight out of the Hollyoaks school of script writing! Thankfully for the club and its fans, Daniel Levy seems to have finally got it right with the appointment of Harry Redknapp from Portsmouth.

After kicking things off back in August under Juande Ramos, a return of only 2 points from the first 8 games proved to be the proverbial straw that broke the Spaniard's back and swift changes were made including back room staff, coaches and even the tea lady......although that's still a rumor! As with many new managerial appointments, the impact was swift with a 2-0 victory coming against Bolton at home, before Harry had even taken a full training session. A memorable 4-4 draw with bitter rivals Arsenal at the Emirates stadium followed, featuring a 40-yard David Bentley volley (eventually proving to be his only significant contribution of the season) against his old club and a 2 goal comeback from 4-2 down with 89 minutes on the clock...that Hollyoaks bunch had been at it again! Despite a small blip of form away from home around the turn of the year with somewhat undeserved losses to Newcastle, West Brom, Wigan and Bolton, Spurs fantastic home form, 1 loss under Harry, with a club record of only 10 goals conceded ALL season, they found themselves pushing hard for 7th place and European qualification on the final day, when at one stage relegation had been a very real possibility. Arguably, the January transfer window re-signings of former lillywhite heroes Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane being one of the key factors in what was a remarkable campaign.

Throw into the mix a Carling Cup final lost on penalties to Man Utd after out playing the champions for large parts of the game, rubber stamped by the fact that young keeper Ben Foster won man of the match; Harry Redknapp can be truly proud of the work he has done so far and more importantly be hugely optimistic that with a few key additions in the summer (and maybe a few under-achievers on their way out) building a side around the likes of Luka Modric, Aaron Lennon and the always inspiring Wilson Palacios, challenging for the top 4 next season alongside teams such as Everton, Man City and Aston Villa is almost a given.

Simon Evans
Account Director

NFL UK launches new website

We are pleased to announce the launch of NFL’s official UK website, NFLUK.com.

The new launch sees NFL UK’s five year old website receive a complete redesign, with focus on fan engagement through the creation of a strong community offering and social media focus which includes a forum, ‘locker room’, blogs and fan profiles.

Bluhalo was chosen to develop the site following a competitive pitch between a final short list of three agencies. The new website sits alongside our other high profile sporting clients which include Liverpool F.C., Tottenham Hotspur, Premier League, Andy Murray, Hi-Tec, SWRT and Prodrive.

Bluhalo’s Managing Director Spencer Gallagher commented: “I am delighted that NFL UK selected us to work with them on this exciting project and am incredibly pleased with the end result – a website that exudes the true spirit of NFL. When it comes to engaging fans digitally, Bluhalo has an impressive track record and I’m looking forward to seeing the site evolve with additional features over the coming months.”

Alistair Kirkwood, Managing Director of NFL UK, said: "Deepening the connection with our fans is an important part of our activity in the UK and a vibrant, community-driven website plays a major role in that. We are delighted to be working with Bluhalo and look forward to a long and fruitful partnership."

The Key to Engaging Fans

Bluhalo's Founder and Managing Director, Spencer Gallagher, appeared at Ad:Tech today to share his in depth knowledge of engaging fans digitally.

Through many years' experience working for some of the top sporting brands in the UK that include Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool F.C., NFL UK and Subaru World Rally Team, Spencer and the Bluhalo team have developed an impressive ability to create highly successful web projects. Projects that not only deliver return on investment, but that also are a success with the fans - often the most difficult part of a sports web project.

With sports fans showing a devotion earned by no other types of brands, the approach to change within their team's website has to be a careful one. This approach has been finetuned by Spencer and the Bluhalo team, with Andy Murray's loyal fans truly embracing his new website, launched earlier this year by Bluhalo.

Spencer shares his knowledge of engaging fans in the social media and targeting theatre at Ad:Tech.

Surf's Up: The olympics are over so where can you get your sports fix now?

Like many people I watched parts of the Olympics, but not all. I mainly heard news of medal wins via news sites and the BBC had great coverage of the opening ceremony. For the sports fan, no matter what sport you enjoy, I am sure the Olympics were a great sports fix, but now it's all over what do they do?

Well if you love sport you probably already know that there are some great sites out there for fans. They cover a variety of sports. Some are news sites while others try and get you into shape.

Well I’ve searched and here are some interesting websites I’ve come across and some I have used. Enjoy your sports fix:



http://www.sportingo.com/
"Sportingo, the home for fan-generated articles, opinions and news from the world of sport. Whether you are after the latest online banter from the Premiership or you are looking for in-depth analysis of the latest test match, you have come to the right place."



http://www.ballhype.com/
"Too many sports blogs, too little time ...BallHype makes it easy for all of the sports fans out there who want to keep up but don't have all day to goof off online."



http://www.sportsnipe.com/
"Sports Snipe now finding your favorite sports news from 3976 sources and climbing. Enjoy."



http://www.sportsfanlive.com/
"Sports Fan Live is a social network for sports fan centered around what a fan wants to see."



http://www.youcastr.com/
"YouCastr is creating an interactive sports network where fans interact with each other before, during and after a game, making the experience of following their favorite sports more fun and social."



http://www.teamsnap.com/
"TeamSnap is a unique way to manage your sports team. TeamSnap takes the headache out of team sports by making it simple to manage your sports team online."



http://www.runnerplus.com/
"RunnerPlus® provides a thriving forums area, groups, challenges, run mapping, member tips & advice, videos, and more. If you use running systems such as the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit or Garmin Forerunner*, then you will benefit even more."



http://istats.com.au/
"iStats - FREE online fitness, exercise and weights journal, helps keep you motivated by viewing your progress & sharing with others."



http://www.traineo.com/
"traineo is a free and simple website that gives you the motivation and support to reach your weight loss and fitness goals."

I hope you've enjoyed looking through these great sites. Look out for future Surf's Up features where I'll be looking at other areas of the internet and what it has to offer. If you want to keep track of sites I find follow me on twitter @kunji.

Kunji

Sports Website Design - it's all about engaging fans

We’re the largest bespoke website design and build agency for the UK sports industry. And why is that?

Because we’re good at engaging fans.

So, how do we do it?

We know sport, we’re fans ourselves. We know how fans think, what they want, why and how; and when we’re not a fan, we become one. We get inside the minds of fans and we work out exactly what makes them tick.

It’s important to have a website that sets you apart from the crowd, encapsulates the essence of your brand and most importantly, excites your fans.

Exciting your fans isn’t just about giving them a website that has that ‘wow’ factor, although that’s important too, of course. It’s also about giving them the basics that they are going to need, such as real-time results, updates and news. The ‘wow’ factor obviously helps and gives them something to talk about too. But there also needs to be more depth, things to keep them coming back, you need to be certain that you not only have a way to talk to your fans, but that you have a way to interact with your fans.

Fan interaction is great. They love you, they want to be associated with you and they really want to be listened to by you. By creating ways for the fans to interact, not only do you get even more fan-love, but you also get a great resource for research, feedback and the halo effect – they’ll spread the love. Give them a place to belong, a place of passion and a place for community.

But it’s not all about cool features, communities and the latest downloads. There’s also a bit of theory behind engaging the fans via your website. Focus needs to be given to user experience - a clear layout, intuitive navigation and compelling calls to action; accessibility – after all, up to one in five visitors to your site will have some form of disability; keeping it simple – the less clicks to where they want to go the better; the key to a successful sports site actually makes for a pretty long list, but the long and the short of it is – we help our clients engage their fans and we do a good job of it too. Which is why we are the agency of choice for the UK sporting sector.

If you’d like to speak to us about engaging your fans, call Vimal Patel now on 07958 723427.

Engaging fans - What? Why? How?

We’re the largest bespoke website design and build agency for the UK sports industry. And why is that?

Because we’re good at engaging fans.

We know sport, we’re fans ourselves. We know how fans think, what they want, why and how; and when we’re not a fan, we become one. We get inside the minds of fans and we work out exactly what makes them tick.

We don’t just design a website to how we think it should look, and we don’t just design a website that follows the crowd, we design a website that sets you apart from the crowd, encapsulates the essence of your brand and most importantly, excites your fans.

Exciting your fans isn’t just about giving them a website that has that ‘wow’ factor, although that’s important too, of course. It’s also about giving them the basics that they are going to need, such as real-time results, updates and news. The ‘wow’ factor obviously helps and gives them something to talk about too. But there also needs to be more depth, things to keep them coming back, we don’t only give you a way to talk to your fans, we give you a way to interact with your fans.

Fan interaction is great. They love you, they want to be associated with you and they really want to be listed to by you. By creating ways for the fans to interact, not only do we get you even more fan-love, but we also get you a great resource for research, feedback and the halo effect – they’ll spread the love. We give them a place to belong, a place of passion and community.

But it’s not all about cool features, communities and the latest downloads. There’s also a bit of theory behind the way we do a great job at engaging the fans via your website. We focus on user experience - a clear layout, intuitive navigation and compelling calls to action; we ensure you are accessible – after all, up to one in five visitors to your site will have some form of disability; we keep it simple – the less clicks to where they want to go the better; the list of what we do is pretty long, but the long and the short of it is – we help our clients engage their fans and we do a good job of it too. Which is why we are the agency of choice for the UK sporting sector.

Recent pitch successes...

We're pretty pleased with the successes we've had with pitching over the last couple of weeks. We entered into some very competitive pitch processes with some great potential clients and we've come out on top every time!!

The first was for Andy Murray.com. Andy Murray is a young rising tennis star. As part of his increasing popularity and success, Bluhalo is giving his current website (http://www.andymurray.com/) a 'technical make-over' and we're going to be improving his existing online store. This is a great website to add to Bluhalo's sporting repertoire of clients and continues our strategy to be the largest provider of bespoke sports websites in Europe.

Andy Murray's current website.

The second successful pitch was for Paddy Power Plc, Ireland's largest provider of fixed odds sports betting in Ireland. We'll be redesigning and redeveloping their existing corporate website - http://www.paddypowerplc.com/. With 7-1 starting odds, we came out strides ahead of the other agencies pitching for the website!

Paddy Power's current corporate website.

Steve, Mike and Ben out for the night after pitching to Paddy Power in Ireland. (Spencer's behind the camera!)