While brands hire A-list copy writers to come up with creative advertisements and rope in celebrities to promote them, little do they know that there exists a human billboard that might fetch as much promotion as any of the other options.
Jason Sadler, a former marketing professional from Florida, started his own company called iwearyourshirt.com in 2008. His vision was to wear a T-shirt by a brand and promote the firm using common social media tools like Twitter and YouTube. When Sadler wears something, it becomes a rage thanks to his 38,438 loyal followers.
What started as a small venture with Sadler charging $1 for the first day, $2 dollars for the second and $365 for 31 December, blew up into a full-fledged venture with brands vying for his attention. Now he is so popular that he charges $3000 (₹1, 91,157 approx.) for weekly sponsors.
The weekly package comes with “fun photo and video updates throughout the week on our site, as well as promotion on our social channels,” the description on the site reads. “This week of promotion is an opportunity for you to do something different and fun with your marketing dollars.”
Sadler’s team also offers monthly promotions priced at $7,500 (₹4, 77, 894 approx.) which entitles additional one or two videos each week and a space on iwearyourshirt.com’s homepage as well as its Facebook page.
Sadler is also known for selling his last name. Yes, u heard it right! Bringing yet another quirky idea to the world of sales and marketing, Sadler sold his last name to headsets.com in 2012, through an auction that fetched $45,500 (₹28, 98,301 approx). He now calls himself Jason HeadsetsDotCom.
"My legal name will be: Jason HeadsetsDotCom. Fun stuff!" he told The Huffington Post.
After Sadler changed his name, headsets.com is said to have recorded $250,000 in increased sales.
"The publicity impact was beyond belief. Our recognition factor jumped right away and still lasts now. Best $45k I have ever spent!" iwearyourshirt quoted Mike Faith, CEO of headsets.com.
However, he won’t stay Mr HeadsetsDotCom for long as the 31-year-old is gearing up to auction his last name once again. The bidding, which is called buymylastname, has now gone live and will go on till 12 December. The highest bidder as of 11:59 pm on 12 December wins the auction and Sadler will then change his last name to the name of the brand.
And Sadler is serious! He will legally register his new name in the state of Florida and it will stay that way through 2014.
A part of the proceeds from the auction will be donated to an organisation Water for Life, which pledges to provide safe and clean water to developing countries.
