Rochdale Hornets Rugby League Head Coach and Sporting Director, and former Super League champion John Stankevitch has enlisted the support of JDG Media and Love Rugby League for a number of projects in 2012.

Stankevitch has combined his coaching roles with the growth of his own brand, which includes delivering workshops to school students and prisoners across the country, based around motivation, discipline and goal setting.

He has now hooked up with JDG Media to work on a number of exciting ideas for 2012.

Stankevitch will be contributing exclusive content to LoveRugbyLeague in 2012, courtesy of his wide range of contacts within the game and will continue to provide his own unique insight into Rugby League through his own website.

JDG MD James Gordon said: “We’re delighted to be working with John on what we see as a number of exciting projects in partnership with JDG Media.

“John is a rugby league man through and through, and he fits in well with one of our leading brands, and his enthusiasm and contacts, combined with our skills and knowledge, are a perfect match.”

Stankevitch already publishes a popular blog on his website, www.johnstankevitch.com, and will begin a regular feature on Love Rugby League shortly.

Stankevitch said: “The opportunity to work with James at Love Rugby League is an exciting one, which I see as being an integral part of my own business growth. The last 18 months have been fantastic for me personally, as my work in the Media has become more and more recognisable, and I see a partnership with Love Rugby League as a concept that will be hugely beneficial to both parties.

“I am currently working on numerous projects that are likely to create real interest from the sporting public, with two programmes in particular, likely to create a huge amount of publicity.

“I expect 2012 to be a year of creating new visions and seeing them through and the benefits to those involved in Rugby League at all levels are likely to be substantial. James and Love Rugby League will play an important part in that vision”

With its new website, improved PR and additional sponsorship, the league has kicked on massively in the past 12 months, and they took a delivery of their new promotional pull-ups last week, proudly carrying our logo.

Keep up the good work!

Radlinksi is a former Wigan full-back and a Great Britain international, and a much-loved rugby league personality.

Back in 2008, Kris sent an email through to myself through the then www.lasttackle.com website, and it is something that has stuck with me since. Over the years, developing the website (and ultimately the business) has been a struggle and hard work, and often unappreciated, so to receive such a positive, kind-hearted message out of the blue was a huge boost to myself.

The message read: “Just a quick message to say your site is great. You must be a very dedicated individual to do this all out of love for the game, good for you. Hope you have continued success.”

It acted as an inspiration to me, and helped to drive me forward to where we are today. Thanks Kris!

DavidAliu.com documents Aliu’s successful career on the basketball court, as well as providing information on his off court projects.

The idea of the site is to maximise Aliu’s potential as a professional sports man in the spotlight, and use this to help give exposure to the projects he holds close to his heart, and what will become his career once he has finished playing the sport he loves.

Aliu, 30, was part of the Tigers’ treble-winning squad in 2011, and recently became the club’s all-time leading points scorer.

The website will include all mentions of Aliu in the press, as well as his popular column on basketball website BBLFans.com. It takes a look back at some of the highlights of his career, and features testimonials from a host of coaches.

There will be exclusive content in the shape of a blog, while there will be regular updates surrounding Aliu’s main off-court project, Fitter Genes.

JDG MD, James Gordon, said: “I am fortunate to count David as a close friend, and having heard his career story countless times during his successful tour of schools in Merseyside last summer, it was a no brainer to document this on an official website.

“David is a role model to any aspiring sportsman, and hopefully this new platform will allow him to kick-start a successful career once he has finished playing the game.”

David Aliu said: “I have been working with JDG Media for about 18 months now on various projects. Not only have they helped me with my projects but they have also given me ideas that have really helped me along the way.

“Over that time I have built up a personal relationship with the company and not only am I extremely grateful for all their help and ideas but I consider them to be really good friends.

“Their professionalism and work ethic I admire and am truly grateful for everything they have done for me and I’m excited about working in the future with such a great team.”

To check out David Aliu’s new official website, visit www.davidaliu.com.

JDG Media would like to pass its best wishes on to client Bracknell Bees Ice Hockey club, who are celebrating their 25th year in 2012.

Founded in 1987 under the ownership of John Nike, the Bees have played at the very highest level of hockey in the UK, although currently play in the English Premier League, effectively the second tier of hockey at the moment.

When the new Ice Hockey Super League was founded in 1996, the first fully professional league in the UK for nearly half a century, Bracknell were expected to be a club that merely made up the numbers, but they won the title against all the odds in the league’s fourth season under coach Dave Whistle.

Since then, the Bees dropped down to the British National League, which they won in 2004/05, before the switch to the EPL, where they enjoyed some success in the first few seasons.

In 2005/06, the Bees won the EPL Cup, and finished runner-up in the play-offs. They went one better in the play-offs the following season, and also managed to top the league table and become EPL champions.

In 2007/08, Bracknell regained the EPL Cup and were runner-up in the play-offs once again.

Fast forward to 2011/12, and Bracknell find themselves in 8th position in the ever competitive EPL.

JDG Media has provided them with an official website for the past few seasons, and it is ably maintained by John Slater. The club has added a 25-year commemorative logo to the header of their website, situated at www.bracknell-bees.org.

A signed Bees shirt from the current season also adorns the walls of the JDG Media office in Warrington.

The NEPL issued the following press release:

Plans by the ECB North East Premier Cricket League (NEPL) to form a Second Division are due to take a major step forward with the staging of a presentation evening at Chester-le-Street Cricket Club on Tuesday 17 January.

This presentation will be delivered by key members of the NEPL Management Committee to the fifteen clubs that have expressed an interest in being part of the NEPL Second Division, scheduled to commence in April 2013.

The evening will also give those clubs the opportunity to ask questions and gain further clarification about the NEPL’s proposals prior to them making a formal application to join the League.

The proposal by the NEPL to form a Second Division emerged as a result of the demise of the previous pyramid system.

Keith Robson, NEPL Chairman, who will take a lead role in the presentation, said: “I am delighted to have my confidence confirmed that there are more than sufficient clubs in the north east region with the confidence and ambition to participate in this exciting development.”

The current England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) strategy is to establish a pathway “from the school playing field to the Test arena.” The NEPL as the regional pinnacle for recreational cricket is a key component of the pathway.

The previously established pyramid system was never wholly satisfactory because it did not allow for effective promotion and relegation.

NEPL Chairman Robson added: “There will be lot of information given to the clubs, so after the meeting there will be a period for clubs to digest what they have heard and discuss it with their own club committees.

“It is envisaged that there will be another meeting of clubs at the end of January where further discussions can take place before formal application forms will be issued.

“We remain confident that the North East Premier League’s Second Division will begin in April 2013.”

As you may be aware, 2011 was JDG Media’s first full year in business, having been set up in October 2010.

The year started with a bang as we hosted a media day on behalf of one of our first clients, the Mersey Tigers basketball team, in the build up to their BBL Cup Final clash against Sheffield. Camera crews from SKY Sports, BBC and ITV came down to give Tigers unprecedented exposure. We were there too covering the game in Birmingham, which the Tigers unfortunately lost. They did, however, go on to win a treble of league, trophy and play-offs later in the season, all covered by JDG Media!

January also saw a firm link established with 9gc, a group of various companies of which we have involvement with, ranging from ice hockey clubs to the 9management player agency. The managing director of 9gc, Gareth Chalmers, was a key contact in the business’ formation, and it was a positive step for our young company to forge this partnership.

As our business evolved, new partnerships were made and new services were put on offer, we were able to sign up a non-sport client in the shape of Cartridge People, and they were soon joined by Connex Education, who were impressed by our work in PR with Mersey Tigers. Both remain clients of the business.

We continued to operate the ice hockey website, British Ice Hockey, and that led us to enjoying a weekend at the Elite Play-off finals at Nottingham in April. Later on in the year, the website re-launched with a new look and a new logo.

In May, Jersey Swap and the North East Premier Cricket League came on board, and July saw our first venture in to music with the launch of the new Ark Preston magazine website.

July saw the return to these shores of JDG Media Director of Content, Jonathan Bell, who returned home following a 12 month stint working and developing skills in Peru.

His arrival was soon followed by more positive news, when JDG Media was shortlised for the Warrington Business Awards. The awards night, held at the Park Royal Hotel on September 14th, saw JDG Media highly commended in three categories – Small Business of the Year, Start-up Business of the Year and James Gordon for Business Person of the Year.

The team continued to grow with the appointment of a Business Development Manager, and then at the beginning of November, Nick Woodward joined the team as Content Producer.

In October, JDG Media became JDG Media Ltd, and James’ achievements were recognised further when he was asked to speak at the annual Great Sankey High School presentation evening.

November proved to be a hectic month as we moved to a bigger office inside the Warrington Business Centre, accommodating more staff and creating more space for the business to grow. This was followed by our best campaign to date – the Lego Rugby League season review which went viral, appearing in the national press, and receiving more than 50,000 views on YouTube.

It coincided with a trip to Twickenham for the Rugby Expo, where we rubbed shoulders with some important contacts from both rugby league and rugby union, helping us raise awareness of our business and brands, as well as meeting new people.

With the London 2012 Olympics coming up in the not too distant future, we’ve recently signed up the Great Britain basketball captain, Drew Sullivan, providing him with a brand new website and a host of other services to help improve his exposure ahead of the games.

So it’s been a pretty hectic one, and that’s not even covered everything! Here’s to a successful 2012!

JDG Media was there to shoot the event and provide content for the Warrington Wolves website, combining our extensive knowledge of rugby league with our experience in covering basketball.

Click here to read the story.

You can find the video here.

Sullivan, 31, plays in the British Basketball League for Leicester Riders, and has previously won every BBL honour in spells with Newcastle Eagles and Mersey Tigers.

He will feature at the Olympics alongside NBA stars such as Luol Deng, as Great Britain hunt for a medal.

JDG Media has developed a new website for Drew at www.drewsullivan8.com, and will be working with him throughout 2012 and beyond to maximise the opportunities afforded to him ahead of the games. This will include community and corporate work, aimed at giving Drew a platform for after his career.

Sullivan said: “I’m extremely excited about having the opportunity to work with JDG Media. It’s clear that every one at the business is hungry and focused. These are the type of people that I enjoy working with.

“When approached by JDG Media about working together I jumped at the chance. They have already helped getting my name out there even more with the fantastic website they designed. It is definitely a company worth doing business with.”

We have previously worked with Drew during his time at Mersey Tigers, who he captained to a BBL treble last season.

James Gordon, managing director of JDG Media, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Drew in what will be the biggest year of his career. To lead your country at an Olympic games is something that dreams are made of, and we are looking forward to helping him make the most of such a fantastic opportunity.”

To find out more about our Player Websites service, click here.

With sport specific news websites, it is always a challenge to keep fans on board and interested during the off-season. But not only that, Love Rugby League needed a boost to enhance its profile amidst a raft of competitors who have threatened its place in the marketplace, some six years after it was formed (then called Last Tackle) as a gap in the market.

How We Did It

The original idea for a Lego Rugby League review video came from JDG Media MD James Gordon, inspired by the Rugby World Cup 2011 Preview video made in Lego.

We tracked down the animator responsible for that piece, Graham Love, and got him on board.

It was then a case of identifying the clips we wanted to form the video, and Graham then went about putting the scenes together, before merging them together to create the final video below.

The Product

The Animator

Graham explains his side of the story: “Following my Lego Rugby World Cup video going viral, I was contacted by JDG Media on Twitter. We got talking and James outlined his vision for the lego super league video. Following a consultation period, I began to work my way through the list of moments he’d given me. These were wide ranging and covered everything from on field moments of brilliance (Tomkins try) to off field moments of madness (Keith Senior’s twitter rant).

“The video itself was created using a technique called stop motion animation, so for every second of animation you see that’s made up of between 16 and 32 photos. The finished project is made up of over 4500 photos.

“I think the success of the video can be attributed down two main factors, firstly the right moments were chosen by James and the Team, and secondly the attention to detail that went into making the video. Such as setting up a fake Keith Senior Twitter account, creating a lego version of Wolfie the Warrington Mascot, and the wide range of facial expressions used by the lego players.”

Spreading the Word

Mail shot sent to members

The beauty of social media means that if you have a great idea, it can potentially spread very quickly. We immediately fed the video through our existing Facebook and Twitter platforms, which have almost 25,000 connections collectively.

Of course, the main focal point was the article on our own website – with all share links geared towards driving traffic to our website and brand. The original article can be found here: 2011 Season Review in Lego

We also distributed a press release to rugby league media contacts, clubs and websites, as well as a mailshot to our members database (shown right).

The Impact

The campaign went live at 6.30pm on Monday 22nd November. In the five and a half hours left of that day, the impact of the video was able to produce a record breaking day in terms of unique visits for Love Rugby League.

This pattern continued for the remainder of the week as it received countless mentions, particularly on social media channels, with players, fans and celebrities all sharing the video.

The video, as of Sunday 27th November, has more than 45,000 views on YouTube.

Within hours of the video going live, we were approached for permission to use the video on The Sun newspaper’s website.

The Sun is the most popular newspaper in the UK

The video was featured on the ITV Granada Reports news bulletin at 6.15pm on Tuesday 23rd November, and later appeared on its website too.

The video was featured on ITV's Granada Reports

Throughout the week, the video was featured on The Guardian website as their number 1 “favourite things this week”. The video was also featured separately on The Guardian’s Sport Blog.

This exposure contributed greatly to a large increase in website visits

We were then approached by SKY Sports News for a feature, in which they interview animator Graham and he explained the processes behind the creation of the video. You can view this feature here.

All of this buzz was of course created by our loyal social media followers, who immediately got involved with the video, commenting on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, as well as on the story on our website. This helped to spread the word quickly and make the video go viral.

Social media is a key component of any viral campaign

The video was also shared and featured on rugby league club websites and other news websites, to give it maximum exposure.

We even managed to go global with the campaign – featuring on the Canada Rugby League Facebook page and L’Independent, the French newspaper. To view their story on the campaign, click here.

How we can do it for you

From the initial idea, to the development and implementation of the project, we can generate something that will give your business or project the kick it needs.

Our creative thinkers can come up with out-of-the-box concepts to help you achieve your goals.

If you want to know how we can work with you, please contact us at info@jdgmedia.co.uk or call 01925 555519.