Marc Ecko, urban apparel designer and marketing marvel, has spread his brand to an even wider audience thanks to his latest ploy: www.vote756.com. He purchased Barry Bonds’ record-breaking 756th home-run ball in an auction for $752,467, then set up the website asking America to determine the fate of the ball:
A) send it to the Hall of Fame as is
B) brand it with an asterisk to denote Bonds alleged use of performance enhancing steroids.
C) send it to points unknown in outer space on a rocket ship.
Ecko has gotten attention for marketing stunts-cum-political statements before (like graffiti tagging Air Force One). Other initiatives have tapped the hip hop community, video gamers, environmentalists, teens and foodies. Now by piggybacking on the performance-enhancing drug controversy in baseball, he has broadened his appeal to a whole new audience. The key to his success was the viral spread of his message and the simple platform he used to execute it. It didn’t take much: servers to support the traffic over 3 days and banner ads with HTML code so they could be passed around the Social Networking Site scene. To Barry Bonds’ annoyance, the initiative was mentioned multiple times to broad audiences on countless MLB broadcasts, ESPN, ESPN.com, Nightline, and the Today Show. Ecko’s campaign democratized the decision-making around a historical milestone.
With more than 10,000,000 votes cast, America chose to send the ball to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum branded with an asterisk. Brand Ecko, meanwhile, has hit an unqualified home run.
—Paul Dalessio
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