Coming of ageAustralian rugby star and Octagon client, James O’Connor, enjoyed his bestSuper Rugby season so far and finished the year as the leading point scorer

WELCOME TO THE LATESTEDITION OF

GAME FACEOCTAGON’S ATHLETES &

PERSONALITIES NEWSLETTER

Ben Hartman - Director A+Pe: ben.hartman@octagon.com

t: +61 (2) 9994 4076

Matt Syms - Director of Surfinge: matt.syms@octagon.comt: +61 432 070 544

for the Emirates Western Force. His great season was rewarded by the fansas he was voted the Members MVP for the Force and he added this awardto his third place finish in the Australian Super 15 Player of the Year. Afterfour fantastic years with the Western Force, James will be heading over to

the east coast to play for the RaboDirect Melbourne Rebels for the next twoseasons - hopefully off the back of a victorious Tri Nations and Rugby WorldCup campaign with the Qantas Wallabies.

With less than 400 days to the 2012 LondonOlympics, Octagon held an Insight Seriesfocusing on consumers' emotionalengagement with the Olympic Games. TheInsight Series sessions took place inMelbourne on 6th June and in Sydney on 9thJune and featured key speakers; Olympiclegends, Duncan Armstrong and AndrewGaze, Octagon’s General Manager Marketing,Garry Dods and Octagon’s Director of Athletesand Personalities, Ben Hartman.

This Insight Series was created in the lead-upto the 2012 Olympics to share new insights

into fan’s emotional connections around theOlympic Games, the Australian team and itsathletes. Its purpose was to inspire brands tothink differently about engaging their

consumers and produce more effectivemarketing, as a result of a betterunderstanding of the relationship betweenfans and the Olympics. A white paper hasbeen produced, so if you would like a copy orhave any questions, please be in touch.

In his downtime from the rugby field, James has been busy working with the Australian vitamin and naturalhealth company, Swisse, in trying to make all Australians healthier and happier. James has the honour of beingSwisse’s first rugby ambassador and recently filmed a television commercial with the team in Melbourne. Theinspiration for the shoot came from the hard work that James puts in every day on the training field (read abouthis efforts here) and if you haven’t seen this ad on TV yet, make sure you check it out here. We think he hasalmost mastered the ‘blue steel’ look...

It has been a fast and furious start to theFormula One season thus far and afternine rounds, Mark Webber finds himselfin second place in the Driver’sChampionship after a series of podiumfinishes. Following his third place on theweekend at the British Grand Prix atSilverstone, Mark collected the25th

podium finish of his career, breakingAlan Jones’ record of podiums inFormula One- an impressive

achievement and a credit to Mark’sconsistency, congrats Mark!

This year, to complement his exhaustivetraining regime, Mark has partneredwith Swisse to help his body be in thebest possible condition to cope with theintense travel and training requirements.

Swisse have created a series of commercials bringing to life Mark’s training regime off the track and thededication and determination it takes to reach the top. You can check out Mark and his dogs training here and thework he does in the gym here - I bet not many of you will have seen some of the apparatus that Mark uses in thegym...

On Safari...

Octagon are proud to announce that Australian cricket legend, Allan Border will be hosting one of DestinationAfrica’s famous safaris from the 8th - 22nd August 2012. The Safari will cover fourteen days of exploring some ofthe finest game lodges in South Africa and Botswana, as well as, a visit to the famous Victoria Falls in Zimbawe.

Guests will enjoy the most exciting game viewing experience whilst be treated to the very best accommodation,service and transport. On top of this, it is a unique opportunity to get to know ‘AB’ as you share this once of alifetimeopportunity.

For more details on the Safari click here and if you believe this would make a great staff incentive offer, cliententertainment opportunity, even just a brilliant holiday or you just want to know a little more, please get intouch ASAP with John Mitchell-Adams (email: jma@destinationsafrica.com.au or phone: +61 2 4984 9747/+61411749627) as places are strictly limited and sure to be full soon.

The Challenge of a Lifetime

After a three year break, the Swisse MarkWebber Tasmania Challenge will be returning in

2011 bigger and better than ever. The SwisseMark Webber Tasmania Challenge is a premium,multi-discipline event taking in over350km ofterrain across some of Tasmania’s most stunningscenic locations. Competitors will be required to

mountain bike, kayak and trek a different,challenging course each day of the event in eithera one, three or five day format. Along the way,

competitors will be challenged to other activitiesdesigned to push themselves outside of theircomfort zone. This year, the event will be heldbetween Wednesday 7th December and Sunday11th December2011. You can hear Mark’sthoughts and highlights of the event here.

For more information head towww.markwebbertasmaniachallenge.com and be sure

to keep your eye out for the latest copy of Men’sHealth magazine to win the chance for you and your

mates to compete thanks to Swisse (in store July 18).

Earning his wings

For most of us, driving at over 300km/h would be extreme enough, but not for Mark Webber, as he looks to findhis way behind the controls of another type of machine. At London’s Heathrow airport, Mark recently made theannouncement that he is keen to realise another life ambition of becoming a pilot and as a proud supporter ofMark, Qantas are going to help him on this journey.

Earlier this year, Mark had the chance to fly over the Albert Park Formula One circuit in a Qantas B737 simulatorand as part of this journey, Qantas will be providing Mark with mentoring, training and access to their simulatorsto help him achieve his dream. Check out the highlights from the announcement and exclusive interview withMark here.

Setting world records

As the highest point scorer in Olympic basketballhistory and winning every possible accolade inAustralian basketball, legend Andrew Gaze is nostranger to breaking records. Earlier this year,however, Andrew helped break a new World

Record of a different kind in his role asambassador for Voltaren.

To celebrate the launch of Australia’s firstVoltaren Pain Management week in May, Andrewand Voltaren teamed up to set a Guinness WorldRecord for the largest exercise ball fitness class’.Despite the weather, 305 eager participants filledFederation Square in Melbourne to join in the funand succeeded in their attempts to enter therecord books.

Takes lead in Australasia Pro

Octagon client, Garrett Parkes has recently finished second in the Chill Pro Junior event in Perth. This resultputs Garrett into the number one position on the Australasian Pro Junior Series, heading into the final round ofthe season. There is no shortage of hot, young surfing talent in Australia and these results are testament to thehard work that Garrett has been putting in this year. We wish Garrett the best of luck in the Fantastic NoodlesPro Junior in South Australia as he aims to become win the championship for 2011.

With the Rugby World Cup 2011 less than 60 days away, excitement iscertainly building for rugby fans across the globe. As part of their globalsponsorship, MasterCard are giving fans the chance to relive some oftheir greatest ever World Cup moments online - can you rememberwhere you were during these great moments?

As part of their campaign, MasterCard will be checking in with legendsof the game and MasterCard Rugby ambassadors Buck Shelford, BobbySkinstad and Octagon client, David Campese. Make sure you follow thisjourney through the Rugby World Cup 2011 as you are sure to getsome brilliant insights from some of these guys - some of the greatestplayers and biggest personalities to have played the game.

Some of you may have also seen the recent TV ads produced byMasterCard (if not, check them out here) to promote their WitnessingHistory campaign - these are certainly very emotional and bring to lifesome of the stories of the Rugby World Cup that have yet to be told.

Octagon played a role in sourcing the talent for the ads that feature Samoan hero, To’o Vaega, South Africa’sWorld Cup legend, Chester Williams and the only New Zealand coach to win a World Cup, Sir Brian Lochore.Here’s to hoping that Robbie Deans will become the second Kiwi coach to win the Rugby World Cup with the

Qantas Wallabies this year!

Surfing Prodigy

Regarded by many as the best young surfer onthe planet, West Australian grommet JackRobinson continues to make a huge splash inthe world of surfing and has redefined what iscapable from a 13-year-old with a surfboard.After taking out the title of ‘King of the Groms’back in February, Jack was re-signed byQuiksilver on their international surf team. Thesnowy-haired Margaret River prodigy is “reallystoked to be with Quiksilver - I’ve had such agreat time travelling to all these amazingplaces and surfing with all their best surfers.

I’m really lucky, I reckon. Now I can do a lotmore surfing with the guys I look up to andlearn a few things from them while I do it.”Make sure you keepone eye peeled for thenext big thing in the world of surfing.

James O’Connor - Inside Sport

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