Commentary by blog and social media consultant Josh Hallett on the use of blogs for public relations, media, marketing, communication & branding and from time-to-time the unsolicited opinion.
The Paceline points to a new LIVESTRONG Rides 2006 web site. Details are scarce, but the new site says that there will be a series of rides across the U.S. in 2006. The locations of the rides are:
- Austin, Tx
- Denver, Co
- New England
- Portland, Or
- Southern California
I guess the Southeast U.S. gets left out :-(
There are no dates listed yet, but you can sign-up to receive more information. There is also nothing posted at the Lance Armstrong Foundation site.
The Paceline has photos of Lance Armstrong in rehearsals for Saturday Night Live. You must register to view member items at The Paceline.
According to ThePaceline.com Lance Armstrong will host Saturday Night Live on October 29, 2005 with Sheryl Crow as the musical guest.
I would hope that since Lance has some experience in front of the camera (mostly commercials) that he'll be a much better 'Athlete-host' than the infamous Wayne Gretzky episode.
If I lived anywhere near Dallas I'd go to this lunch. PRSA Dallas will feature Michelle Milford, assistant director of public relations, The Lance Armstrong Foundation. Michelle will talk about the LiveSTRONG campaign at the August 11th meeting.
The presentation will include a discussion of the strategy, the tactics and the unforeseen hurdles of the Wear Yellow Live Strong wristband campaign, as well as a view from inside a media frenzy. The discussion will also briefly examine the changing brand of the LAF and the challenges and opportunities a PR person faces when your famous namesake breaks a world record.
Plenty of other LiveSTRONG posts here.
CyclingNews.com has posted an interview with Lenny Futura. Who is Lenny Futura? He's the artist that created the unique icon set for Lance Armstrong's Time Trial Bike.
The cool icon set received quite a bit of press when Lance rode the bike to second place in Stage 1 of Le Tour. Nike has had some details of the bike at WearYellow and NikeCycling.com. (See also TDF Blog post)
The article points out that Lenny also created some of the graphics for Lance's 10//2 clothing line.
Lance Armstrong's Bike Blog is back in action. The first post of 2005 came yesterday in advance of this year's Tour:
Here we go again, Lance and I rolling through France, for the final time. In 24 days, I'm hanging up my spokes from competitive cycling. From then on, I'll be relegated to being Sheryl's personal bike. Not that having Lance's sweaty behind on my saddle hasn't been great, but I'd much rather ride into the sunset with Sheryl. That's something to crow about.
The blog is part of the Austin American-Statesman newspaper web site and was run last year as well. There is no RSS for the blog, but I did leave a comment asking Mr. Madone if he was planning on adding a feed.
This blog did get some mention during the famous 'Character/Fake Blog Meme' of 2005.
The Tour de France is only a few days away. It sort of crept up on me this year. One of those, "oh man the Tour starts next week." I try to catch the live coverage every day. That means scheduling life around the Tour. If I am travelling or staying in a hotel I need to know if they get OLN ahead of time.
The TDF Blog, the Paceline and CyclingNews will become daily reading (often repeated stops). CyclingNews' live coverage page becomes the homepage on my Blackberry browser.
Frank Steele sends word that Sirius will be doing a daily podcast from le Tour. Frank also linked to this graphic this morning.
It was an insert in the The Oregonian newspaper in Portland, OR. The graphic was designed by Mark Friesen. You can get the full details here.
I don't plan on 'blogging' the Tour unless there is something I really need to say. Once things get going I will put up some links to the other sites/blogs I have been reading.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation now has a LiveSTRONG ad banner campaign running on the New York Times. (click the image for a larger version)
The new campaign is probably tied to the Tour build-up and Lance Armstrong's SI cover & associated feature story. Frank Steel has more on Lance's pre-Tour media blitz.
The LAF site also recevied a face-lift in the past week.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation has launched a new set of LiveSTRONG gear including cycling jerseys, socks, caps, T-shirts and more.
All items can be ordered from the LAF Store. Prices are reasonable and there is international shipping available.
HP will soon be releasing a LiveSTRONG Laptop. Of course the laptop uses an AMD chip (one of Discovery Channel's sponsors)
The laptop will feature the LiveSTRONG logo on the top and Lance's signature etched on the palm rest. The base model is scheduled to retail for $999.00. It will be available from hpshopping.com on June 22 and from retailers nationwide in mid July.
Hat tip to Jonathan Maus
Looking over my past LiveStrong posts I put together this timeline:
May 6, 2004: Pre-Orders Start
May 17, 2004: Official Launch
July 28, 2004: 8 Million Bands Sold
Sept 3, 2004: 17 Million Bands Sold
Oct 27, 2004: 20 Million Bands Sold
Feb 11, 2005: Lance Appears on Oprah - 900,000 Bands Sold in 1 Day
Feb 15, 2005: 33 Million Bands Sold
Mar 31, 2005: 40 Million Bands Sold
May 13, 2005: Sales Approach 50 Million
USAToday has an article today about sales of the LiveStrong bands approaching 50 million units.
This Tuesday (May 17th) will be the one year anniversary of when the LiveStrong campaign launched. You can read my post from May 17, 2004, the day the bands 'officialy' lauched. Pre-orders for the yellow bands were being taken starting on May 6th of 2004.
The USAToday article puts the sales numbers in perspective. 50 million?
That's one for every six Americans or the entire populations of New York, Florida and Illinois.
Update: I put together a LiveStrong sales timeline
Reuters reports that Nike has told Sears that effective October 25 they will no longer sell Sears their shoes. The real reason is K-mart. Sears recently bought K-Mart and Nike is reluctant to see their shoes turn up at K-mart stores.
Sears recently began putting its exclusive Kenmore appliances and Craftsman tools in a handful of Kmart stores. Bringing those brand names to the discount stores was part of the rationale for Kmart's purchase of Sears in March.But for a company like Nike that is notoriously protective of its brand image, the prospect of its name-brand shoes showing up at Kmart would be unacceptable, analysts said.
It's an interesting move. From a branding standpoint it makes a great deal of sense, although on the revenue side it might pinch them a bit. I've always been a big Nike fan, except for their running shoes. I like the design of their running shoes, but the fit is not optimal for my foot.
Of course Nike was one of the few firms that stuck with Lance Armstrong during his bought wih cancer.
You would think that Nike would make sure the the Atlanta Niketown would have a good supply of Lance's new 10//2 clothing line?
You know the Niketown store in the state that is hosting perhaps Lance's last race on U.S. soil, the Tour de Georgia? You know the U.S. race Lance won last year?
Nope.
According to the manager the Atlanta Niketown was the only one in the U.S. not to receive the clothing line. How clueless can Nike be?
I told the manager I had just flown up from Orlando, hopped on MARTA and headed over here to pick up some gear. She told me I should have flown to Miami.
What shocks me is that Nike is usually pretty on the money with product launches and marketing. How could they miss this one?
Next week I will be following the 2005 Tour de Georgia. For the past two years I have followed the race all over the peach state.
The first race in 2003 was exciting because it was the first major cycling stage-race I attended. The finish in downtown Atlanta was a blast, although a logistical nightmare for the city. 2004 brought Lance Armstrong and Mario Cipollini plus a host of other major Division I teams. 2005 looks to be even better with Lance, Floyd Landis, Levi and many more.
I plan to post a series of TdG specific content over the next 10 days. To keep the main page of the blog focused on my normal content, all the Tour de Georgia content will be over at a special Tour de Georgia page (similar to what I did with the Super Bowl Commercials)
I have even created a special Tour de Georgia RSS feed that also splices in Flickr photos.
Leave it to Nike to do a cool integrated product launch.
10//2 is Lance Armstrong's new casual clothing line. 10//2 stands for October, 2 1996. "The day I was diagnosed with cancer was the day I started to live."
The collection which can be bought at Nike Town features apparel, shoes and other equipment. More details about the collection can be found at Wear Yellow and The Paceline. As the official fan site of Lance, The Paceline features some 'behind-the-scenes' information about the collection.
Perhaps the coolest piece of the collection is the Lance Banner Bag. Only 600 will be made. A portion of the bag's material is taken from the giant LiveStrong banner that hung at 7th Ave. and 34th St. in New York City during last year's Tour.
That is defintely on my shopping list.
Update 7.17.05: Interview with Lenny Futura, the graphic designer for the clothing line.
Yesterday's USAToday featured the LiveSTRONG campaign in one of their infographics. The graphic (shown below) details that over 40 million bands have been sold worldwide and that there are only 10 million American with cancer.
I am not sure if USAToday was trying to say that the bands are a fad since there have been more sold than there are Americans with cancer. I will agree that there are a few people wearing the bands more for a fashion statement then a true support for the casue. The worst offenders are those wearing a LiveSTRONG band and smoking.
In a bit of defense (if needed) though I will breakdown USAToday's numbers. The graphic states the total sales are worldwide, but they only list American cancer cases. It's very safe to assume that there are many more cancer victims worldwide. Also the bands are often worn as a sign of support for friends and family members with cancer. So take that 10 million Americans and figure that the majority of them have two parents, that's a possible 30 million people. Factor in children and friends and you can quickly hit 40 million, if not more.
It is approaching one year since I put on my LiveSTRONG band and have not taken it off.
Nike has launched a new band, similar to the LiveSTRONG band. The STAND UP SPEAK UP band is actually two bands, one white, one black, interlocked.
Lance Armstrong has announced his race schedule for 2005. It includes the Tour de France and the Tour de Georgia.
I have been to the Tour de Georgia every year it has been run, and plan on being there this year. It's a great event.
Right now I am the only one using the tag 'tourdegeorgia' at Flickr so you can check out a few photos from the past two years.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation announced that the single-day sales record for LiveSTRONG bands was broken this past Friday. The original record was 382,000 bands, the new mark of 900,000 bands sold was a result of Lance Armstongs' appearance on the Orpah Winfrey show. Plus an additional 300,000 more bands were sold on Saturday.
The current sales total for LiveSTRONG is around 33 million bands!
Lance Armstrong will appear on the Oprah Winfrey show this Friday, Feb 11. You can check out the details here.
I found my next bicycle. Trek will produce 600 special edition LiveSTRONG bikes.
From The Paceline:
"We all saw Lance ride into Paris in July on a snazzy looking Madone SL. Decked out in his now-familar yellow jersey, his ride was equally as spectacular. Gold leaf graced the tubes to spell out LiveSTRONG on the top tube, and to outline the TREK and OCLV 110 Carbon graphics on the seat and down tubes. Resplendant with the yellow spoked Bontrager XXX Lite Carbon wheels, it immediately spurred the question - "Can I get one!?!"
And the answer is: Yes, That is, so long as you are one of the lucky 600 to get their $10,000 on the table (a portion of which will be donated to the LAF)
So send me some money :-)
Straight from the Paceline:
Looking for somewhere to acquire official LiveSTRONG™ Yellow Wristbands? Check out this list of stores where you can get your bands ASAP, and thanks for your support of the Lance Armstrong Foundation!
Over 120 Discovery Channel Stores
Over 120 Build-a-Bear stores
100 Niketown, Nike Outlets, and Nike Woman Stores
Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly's column in the next issue, titled 'Banding Together' talks about the recent ban on LiveStrong bands in Virginia.
As metioned earlier the high school system in the Virginia Beach, VA area had banned LiveStrong bands in cross-country meets, then reversed that decision.
Well the ban is back. Make up your mind folks.
Austin news outlets are reporting that the Lance Armstrong Foundation has reached 20 million bands sold.
Traffic to the blog has been high the past few weeks. The number one request? This post about the LiveStrong Chopper built by the Orange County Chopper guys.
If you do a search on Google for LiveStrong Chopper my site is the first link that comes up.
I've search around quite a bit and the only photos I can find of the bike are on The Paceline, the official fan site of Lance and the USPS cycling team. You will need to sign up to see the pictures, but it is free.
Remember if you need to get some LiveStrong bands, buy them from the source.
Here is a quick round-up of recent articles about the LiveStrong Bands. If you spot any others, post them in the comments.
I first read this story on VeloNews (Scroll down halfway). ESPN also picked it up. You can view all the articles on the subject here.
"More than two dozen high school track athletes were disqualified from an Oct. 6 event in Virginia Beach, Va., after an administrator ruled Lance Armstrong's popular "LiveStrong" wristbands amounted to jewelry, banned under district rules."
Further research turned up this article which says the school district has reversed the decision because, because "adequate prior notice had not been given to the participants."
Or perhaps, as the article notes, "A flood of e-mails protesting the decision followed a story Saturday in The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk detailing the Beach District's action."
Close to home, a Florida Today article says they will be banned at Florida cross country meets, but that the athletes will be warned well in advance.
Received my shipment of LiveStrong Bands today. I guess I should place another order now (rather than wait till I run out) to avoid another dry spell.
The 2004 Tour of Hope kicks off tomorrow. Chris Brewer of The Paceline and LanceArmstrong.com will be keeping a journal of the trip. Check it out.
Checked the AMEX bill online yesterday and I have been charged for my most recent LiveStrong band order, but it looks like it has not shipped yet. I know theLAF store has been overwhelmed with orders and had to convert to a new server. I wish they would follow the standard practice of most e-commerce sites, and not charge you till your order ships.
Sports Illustrated's Tim Layden has an article online: Armstrong's yellow wrist bands have become cultural phenomenon.
The article discusses the popularity of the bands at the Olympics. He also provides some insight to the financials. The LAF pays $0.23 per band for manufacturing and shipping, so $0.77 per unit is donated.
He also mentions the poplarity of the bands on Ebay. Remember folks, don't buy your LiveStrong Bands from Ebay. Buy them from the LAF, that way your $1 goes to the source.
I would say that the LiveStrong Bands have definitely benefited from Nike’s know-how of materials, specifically rubber compounds. You would figure that Nike would know something about creating rubber compounds that can last.
Continue reading "LiveStrong Bands Benefit from Nike Materials Know-How" »
This morning the LiveStrong Band product pictures at the LAF Store have changed from 'Backordered' to 'Ships in 3-4 Weeks'.
One the Tonight Show with Jay Leno the other night Lance stated that they had sold 12 million LiveStrong bands, and that 5 million more were on the way. It seems that just as the last batch sold out the general population clued in on things.
Now more than ever, when I go out people ask me, "is that one of those bands" and "how can I get one"
I have been seeing many athletes wearing the LiveStrong bands at the Olympics, probably most notable was Justin Gatlin, the winner of the Men's 100M. Of course many of the Nike athletes have been wearing them.
John Moffitt who finished second in the long jump wore two! The latest issue of Sports Illustrated has a close up shot (page 53) of one on the wrist of Greek Softball player Lindsay James.
Looking for a LiveStrong band? They're currently on backorder at the Lance Armstong Foundation store, but word is they will be shipping again sometime in the first part of September.
If you have not seen the pictures of the special LiveStrong Chopper the boys at Orange County Choppers built take a look here. There are a total of seven pictures.
Note You will need to sign up to the Paceline to see the pictures, but it's free.
Remember if you need to get some LiveStrong bands, buy them from the source.
According to a recent article (After Six Wins, the Plate Might Just be Full) by Sally Jenkins (she helped Lance write his books), Nike has sold over 8 million LiveStrong brands.
The story also contains this little note:
Lance has made his second Sports Illustrated cover this year. The August 2, 2004 issues features him on the cover.
Lance was also on the June 28, 2004 cover prior to the Tour. Not only did Lance win his 6th Tour de France, he beat SI's cover jinx.
In the past few days I have started seeing more LiveStrong bands on people.
At the sprint triathlon this weekend quite a number of athletes and fans wore them, and most of the staff at the local Gold's Gym are wearing them.
In this recent CyclingNews interview, Lance talks about some of the other Nike athletes wearing them, anybody have any photos of these athletes with the bands on?
Unfortunately some people are trying to auction LiveStrong bands on eBay for well above the $1.00 cost. Luckily, somebody has posted this auction to let people know the truth.
Today was the official launch of the LiveStrong band, an awareness/fund-raising campaign for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Nike has posted a slick new site www.wearyellow.com (don't they always). You can also read the details on lancearmstrong.com.
Lance and a few others have been wearing the bands for some time now, and building a bit of buzz. I have heard that many of the Nike athletes (Tiger, Agassi, Lebron, Serena, Vick) will begin wearing them to show support.
Recently at the Tour de Georgia I had a few minutes to talk with Lance and asked him if he had any extra bands. He apologized that he didn't. He said he had given the one he wore that day to Mario Cipolini, and had to borrow the one we was wearing from somebody else. Oh well, no harm in asking. But I did get a picture with him.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation is now taking advance orders for the LiveStrong bracelets.
You can see Lance wearing one in this recent photo from the Tour de Georgia. It's on his right wrist.
I ordered mine today!
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