So yesterday morning jumping stilts were on TV twice, On the ITV on "This Morning" with Becky helping someone learn how to bock and on STV's "The Hour" which is the Scotland's equivalent to ITV.
I didn't get to see this morning but I watched the Scottish piece just now on
http://video.stv.tv/bc/catchup-thehour-part1-20090922-1700/ Both places contacted me and this is how the convo went...
ITV This Morning, called sometime yesterday..
"Hi, we have this priest coming in tomorrow on this morning, his seen some people on Pro-Jumps, wants to master them and we are looking for a Pro-Jump expert to come in and teach him how its done, you will be given credit on the show and on the website... and we need confirmation within the hour" I asked them if they needed to be provided projumps and safety and if they could use the term "Pro-Jump" when referring to the stilts. So I got told Nope they ordered from the Pro-Jump website and have their stilts already, Yep they would need safety gear and No they couldn't mention any brand name or they would be in hot water but Yes we would get a link on the website.
So I thought that fair enough, I knew Becky was in London already so she was my first choice and she said she could do it so all done and dusted.
My thinking was even if there is a few seconds of TV without brand names mentioned exposure is great for Bocking in general and if we are getting a link on their site its excellent in terms of seo.
I haven't watched it but the feedback I've received, its wasn't as good if it could have been, another brand name was mentioned, the stilts used were not Pro-Jumps, Becky wasn't given much exposure at all, they didn't really say much about the product, the plus point is the new bocker was a very quick learner and gave a more accurate indication of how quickly Bocking can be learnt...
Now going onto the The Hour.. Colin to me a couple of days ago, he wanted a pair of pro-jumps sent in to review, I remember telling him the bare essentials were the knee & wrist pads followed, touched on how you could be walking unaided in 10 mins, very low rate of serious injury, told him theres a revised manual in there that gives you a wealth of info, link to forum and I concentrated more on the health side of and the benefits it brings and definitely did not mention France lol
Which brings me to the following questions:
Do we (as a company) need to be more selective about who we provide resources to?
Do Bocking groups need to do the same?
Is there a consistent message that needs to be put in place by us & established groups as well, if so what should it be?
Example: as a company the message we want the media to portray is the following.... Pro-Jump Jumping stilts are the equipment used in the new
sport of Power Bocking which not only has
huge health benefits but are great
fun Although they look daunting, injury rates are extremely low and once you strap yourself in the majority of people are walking on them
unaided within 10 mins and can learn basic tricks within the hour. Prices start at £115 for junior models and £135 for adult directly from Pro-Jump.
99% of the time the only thing we ask is that the jumping stilts are referred to as "Pro-Jump Jumping Stilts" and if they can not use the brand name then they are simply referred to as "Jumping Stilts.
If Pro-Jump 101 are attending the they are referred to as "Pro-Jump 101" and that they are allowed to wear their PJ tops.
However I'd say only 1 out of 10 places will stick by what they have promised or even get the key information correct. This is despite imho a very good manual, the wealth of info on the forum and also us giving them time to throw any questions at us about the product!
Some of you may be aware that Pro-Jump's sister company GhostBikes use to sell Mini Moto's and every time a negative piece went out in the media about them which was very often we saw an instant increase in sales, however that was a type of product which we could only sell for a limited period. Now with Pro-Jump the difference is that if at this stage even before clubs are established, before it is recognised as a sport it is going to be branded as dangerous, a toy, just something you're likely to use and get some broken bones... Do you think with Pro-Jumps not all publicity is good publicity?
btw please excuse typos I'm so tired lol