Advertising on Man’s Head Works

Offline advertising has a new medium, the tattoo. Jim Nelson auctioned off the “ad space” available on his head to promote the highest bidding company.

Web hosting firm C I Host took the offer and as part of the contract Nelson signed, he must travel around the country promoting C I Host and keep the 5-inch-square, blue, black and orange tattoo visible for five years. He must also hand out business cards and flyers and learn a 10-second C I Host sales pitch.

In the 6 months that a 22-year-old Illinois man has had “C I Host” and “Managed Web Hosting” tattooed on the back his head, the company has counted 500 new customers who bought C I Host’s services because they saw the tattoo.

“This has been a tremendous success,” said Christopher Faulkner, CEO of C I Host. “Jim Nelson is a great salesman and we are happy to have the 500 new customers who have come from his marketing efforts and the publicity generated by the tattoo.”

“He is the best sales person I have - he passes out flyers, talks to people and does not ask for a salary or commission,” Faulkner stated.

After C I Host won the auction on eBay for Nelson’s services, other companies copied the marketing strategy, but with temporary tattoos. Nelson auctioned off the back of his head to get cash to start his own business.

C I Host, with more than 200,000 customers in 182 countries, is well-known for its unique and effective marketing strategies.

In the past, C I Host has brought Howard Stern back to Dallas radio, put its name on the back of Evander Holyfield’s boxing trunks, sponsored a NASCAR race car, held a contest to send the winner to the edge of space in a jet and put a 25-foot high Santa on the roof of its headquarters.

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