the elevator pitch

talking to the top

Usain Bolt Can Strike Even Faster

Published August 31st, 2009 in PR News, Sports and Public Relations | No Comments »

usain-boltid

August was a gigantic month for the world of Track and Field. Not only did the World Track and Field Championships take center stage in Berlin, but sprinter Usain Bolt solidified his place in history by setting records in both 100 and 200 meter races. Bolt stormed onto the track and field scene last season during the Summer Olympics in Bejing China, and in true sprinter fashion, has never looked back. His stock is at an ultimate high with exclusive endorsement deals with companies like Gatorade and Puma and after his world record performance this month, there doesn’t seem to be any sign of a finish line for the Jamaican born athlete.

This week we were able to let everything soak in from a marketing perspective and look back at what Bolt represents and how powerful his symbol is. He is currently the epitome of athleticism, considered a world icon and with his training regime and work ethic, looks to be getting even better. In an interview with sports reporters in Germany this week Bolt went on record by stating,

I think I can go faster.

Bolt’s world record time in the 100 meters is 9.58 (a record he set this month by surpassing his own record of 9.69) and his record time in the 200 meters is 9.19 (again beating his own record of 9.30). Although these times are uncanny already, it is actually his top speed in 150 meter race that is turning heads… if they can keep up. Bolt’s time in the 150 meters totaled at 14.35 but after the initial 50 meters his speed seemed to increase and he completed the final 100 meters in 8.70 seconds. It seems as though his claims to be able to run even faster are true as Usain Bolt continues to re-write the record books without looking back.

Although the champion is sometimes considered over-confident, nobody can argue with his times and his performances in front a world audience. Keep a look out if you can for Bolt’s next event set for September 4th in Brussels. His events have not yet been confirmed.

[Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post 

The Olympic Torch Needs to Fire Up an Image Makeover

Published April 20th, 2008 in PR Stunts | 2 Comments »

the-olympic-torch-needs-to-ignite-an-image-makeover

You’d think that the Olympic flame would be the one thing on our planet that could withstand the heat. These days, though, the venerable torch is sweating it.

The fire it’s facing comes from the belly of protestors who would rather witness anarchy than the Beijing Games. With the demonstrators gaining attention wherever they decide to congregate, the flame has had little chance.

“I wanted to extinguish the Olympic flame with a child’s water shooter because the idea of the flame as a symbol of harmony is not valid,” protestor Isabel Losada wrote the London Telegraph on Sunday in the latest swipe at the sacred fire. She and her associates are accusing the international community of supporting China’s controversial treatment of Tibetan monks and they are champions of a multilateral boycott of the 2008 Olympiad. (We’ll talk about the Tibet situation in the coming days.)

In recent weeks, the flame has been grasped, spat at, insulted and been pissed on figuratively if not literally during the torch relay that leads up to the opening of the Summer Olympics in August.

Elevation PR says enough already. The Olympic flame needs a campaign to help its public image and we’re here to provide it. These are five reasons why no one should ever desecrate the torch:

1. Extinguishing the flame would be like bulldozing an Egyptian pyramid or turning the Galapagos Islands into a Club Med. The Olympic flame has been part of human history for 2,785 years. Respect it!

2. Forget cavemen with sticks, the true source of fire on our earth occurred when Prometheus stole the flame from Zeus. (At least that’s what the Hellenic tradition tells us.) Are you really going to want to be known as the one who put out that light?

3. The flame is an innocent bystander in the politics of man. Really, what’s it ever done? Let it glimmer and glow in peace as it gets passed around like the rumor of some track star’s steroid habit.

4. If you really want to cause a stir, forget the flame and protest flights to China. Get on the tarmac and make like a Tiananmen Square hero in front of the next Boeing you see. Then we’ll pay attention.

5. The Olympic flame’s hot. It represents glory, strength, persistence, hard work: all positive human characteristics. Snuffing it would epitomize some of our worst.

Got something to say about how the Olympic flame’s public image should be made over? Let the Elevation team know!

[Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post