Hamilton is the story heard around baseball — drafted number one overall in 1999 by the Tampa Bay Rays, a golden boy that idolized The Natural, a fictional character played by Robert Redford in one of the greatest sports movies ever.  But, like you see in many cases, young adults with access to all the money and fame in the world never seem to turn out well. Seduced by drugs, alcohol, tattoos, Hamilton was headed down a bad road. When young sports superstars get involved with money and the wrong crowd, the media has a field day and never seems to let it go.

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We are in an industry and era where digital success equals company greatness. The hard part is proving it to the old fashioned. I just got an email from my good friend who decided to pack up and travel the world before settling down with his life. Staying in touch with someone who is traveling the world can be very tough or expensive if you dare to make an international phone call. My friend created his own RSS feed so his friends and family could keep in touch and witness his adventure through maps, pictures, and exciting stories.

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Blog written by Thomas Short

According to Rob the Bouncer, author of Clublife, New York City is experiencing a new drug on the streets. Yes I couldn’t believe my own eyes while reading about the news coverage lately on the abuse of Preparation H. There is only one thing that comes to mind when I think of the medical treatment and that’s that the cream goes where the sun doesn’t shine. Guys that don’t have time to go home and lather up after work instead are rubbing Preparation H all over their torsos to allow them to seem ripped for the ladies in the club. Now I am no expert, but doesn’t Preparation H smell? The treatment soaks up water from the body and swollen areas to allow the muscles to be more defined and visual to the human eye. Body builders, actors, and actresses all have been known to use the treatment for given reasons in their professions for emergencies and touch-ups.
 
I agree this is a fascinating story and very out of the ordinary, but how many teens or club hoppers are going to try this out with the increased media coverage  lately; talk show, Mike & Juliet, Fox News, ABC News, YouTube, and the list doesn’t stop there. You name it and the new use of Preparation H is on there. There has yet to be any major side effects, but if you grew up in the 90’s and caught the episode of Save By The Bell where the characters came up with their own acne cream, yeah their faces turned maroon. Is Preparation H using the mass amount of coverage to their advantage? It’s almost like a PR campaign that they never asked for or is it?

Media outlets need to take an opportunity now that they have had their fun exploiting how kids are using the medical cream, and concentrate on how this is not the intended use for Preparation H. Losing mass amounts of water, pouring in alcohol, dancing, sweating, do you see where I am going with this sentence? Yeah, I see bar stars passing out on the dance floor, not because of drugs, but Preparation H.
 
Crisis communication for Preparation H!!!

Video sharing is a very popular way of creating awareness for consumer products and one of the granddaddy media outlets of them all is YouTube. Recently placed on YouTube was a video of NBA superstar Kobe Bryant displaying his brand new shoe,  Nike Zoom Kobe III’s, in an event that would be heard around the world. Continue Reading »

Blog written Thomas Short

Every year, the same month and day we are supposed to give thanks to our planet. April 22 marks the official “Earth Day” that dates back to 1970 where Senator Gaylord Nelson, a native of Wisconsin, is given credit for the idea of Earth Day. Typically this is a time for environmental groups, organizations, and schools, all over the globe to participate in saving the planet by putting a stop to pollution, global warming, endangered species, and of course, continuing to recycle.

While all these activities are taking place throughout the later part of the month of April, the students at the University of Colorado at Boulder seem to go about their three “R’s” in a different direction. Rather than giving our planet a big hug, 2,500 students have spun Earth Day by combining it with national marijuana day, a.k.a. 4/20. The students gather in a common area and count down the minutes until they can indulge in a left-handed cigarette with their follow classmates.

 
I’m no environmentalist, but usually by the end of a massive college gathering, students are not walking around picking up recyclables or in this case, empty Oreo or pizza containers. Instead of students cleaning up their university, or volunteering to clean up the surrounding communities, they polluted their university in more than one way. Several students were interviewed as to why they were attending the Earth Day celebration and replied while laughing and attempting to sustain conscience, “I don’t know.” I can only image if kids get a hold of the video or pictures online. There will be a new meaning to them of what Earth Day is.

However, there was one positive outcome form the event; several students did register to vote.

Blog written by Liz Pope

As certain retailers would like us to believe, the way you dress dictates status. As a result, consumers spend thousands on wardrobe and accessories to reach this lofty, in vogue, standing. Nevertheless, why buy a $400 purse when you could spend $20? Through the sale of knockoffs, have-nots dress in what passes as Citizen, Gucci, and Tiffany & Co.

To combat knockoffs, the Coach Corporation “educated” Hunter College students in Manhattan about the dangers of knock-off imitations, according to PRWatch.com. Using considerable monetary contributions, Coach prompted the university to host a course in “stealth marketing” and recruited an untenured faculty member to teach the class under the direct supervision of a Coach lawyer.  As part of the curriculum, students created and distributed campus flyers about a fictional student named “Heidi Cee,” who claimed to have been conned into buying a counterfeit Coach handbag. The teacher, in addition, was given explicit instructions to not mention Coach’s involvement in the scheme.

While Coach’s Web site preaches “Integrity is Our Way of Life,” apparently their marketing strategies are not in tune with their corporate messaging.

To resolve Coach’s knockoff competitor problem and avoid spin, perhaps Coach could consider trying to improve their product to provide consumers with something that cannot be duplicated. For example, you don’t see iPhone knockoffs. Why?  It’s too difficult to duplicate. The iPhone’s technology is too advanced, too unique and too precise to be easily duplicated. Coach, on the other hand, takes a normal purse, adds a dozen or so Cs, a label, and a price tag.