If You Need Me I'll Be In Bali Playing Golf

Welcome to World Golf Tour, one of Battery Ventures most recent and exciting newly funded companies. Today at work, I logged on and played at the Bali Hai Golf Club while I sat at my phone listening to another misable sales call. I've seen pool, chess, sudoku and even scrabble, but is high quality online golf the next casual game? World Golf Tour has taken computer games to the next level to offer the most photo realistic golf experience for its users. The game developers have put the time in to capture every ounce of the course with their high quality photography to give the users the most realistic and enriching golf experience. Now, people can play the most renowned courses in the world from the comfort of their homes or offices.

You might be asking yourself how this game is any different from the high quality games we see on Playstation and XBOX. This is where the Digital Sensei bows to the people who developed this amazing idea, because they've made this entire game a branded experience. Players can buy the exact outfit that they have when the go golfing in real life. They can buy the clothes, accesories and even the clubs. You can enter PGA sponsored golf tournaments to win real prizes. At every opportunity to make the game more realistic, they have. Even the actual real time weather at each live course plays a role in the courses of the game.

You'd think that people would be pissed to have to pay for the newest and coolest digital equipment, but what an amazine opportunity to completely customize your digital golfer the way you want. What an amazing way to REALLY connect with the golf enthusiasts personal style and preferences. What a way for Taylor Made to connect with an engaged golfer who wants their digital player to be equiped with the best new equipment. What a way for Cadillac to sponsor the 18th hole of the PGA Charity Golf Tournament. What a way for golfers and wanna be golfers to enjoy what they love from the comfort of wherever they wanna be. World Golf Tour is an amazing new game and marketing vehicle that I hope spawns into a variety of different sports. I urge you to endulge, but beware, it's addicting!!! Click here to check them out.

Battle at Kruger: Ad Networks vs The Powerhouses

Some of you may have seen YouTube's "Best Eye Witness" Award Winning Video, "Battle At Kruger." This heroic video shows a poor baby Buffalo's struggle to survive an attach from two of Africa's most powerful predators; the Lion and Crocodile. Oddly enough, this battle ends with a convincing victory for the Buffalo because of the power of strenght in numbers.

At the completion of this incredible video, I sat there applauding the audacity that this herd of Buffalo had to challenge two of the most lethal animals in Africa. Then all of a sudden, it dawned on me that this concept of strength in numbers is the same strategy that Ad Networks use to combat the powerhouses of the Ad World.

Let's use the obvisous example of Kid's Marketing. As an Advertiser, I know that if I was doing the buy for a brand like Matel, I'd immediately reach out to the people at Disney and Nickelodeon. This is the obvious route knowing that they have an established and credible network of properties that reach children of all ages. However, that's precisely where every other Marketer is trying to reach this audience. Is there another source that has just as much power?

Let's take a look at GoFish, a very intriguing Kid's Ad Network that I've been lucky enough to learn about just recently, and that has some of the most popular kid's websites in their repertoire. Some of these sites include Miniclip, Piczo, WeeWorld and Whyville. Like the Buffalo, GoFish cannot compete with just one of their sites against Disney and Nick. However, when you combine all of the sites in the network, GoFish accounts for a monthly reach of 18.2 Million uniques, which is just behind Nick's 25.4 Million and Disney's 27.5 Million. Suddenly, we find that the Buffalo, although modest and sometimes unnoticed, can also fight with the most powerful of all.

I don't know about you, but when I watched this video I found myself routing for the Buffalo. This is what I like to call the case of the underdog. Although it may be odd to relate a Kid's Ad Network to an battle of animals at a watering hole in Africa, I think the same underdog priciples apply with GoFish. They're a true underdog in the sense that they work that much harder to compete with the powerhouses of Nick and Disney. Their impressive reach and customized solutions for advertisers are truly worthy of admiration and placement alongside the likes of Nick and Disney. At the very least, they're worth of a mention in The Digital Dojo as a company that embodies the characteristics of an innovative and well managed Digital Corporation. If you'd like to check them out you can click here.