Lance Armstrong - A lesson in Marketing?

For those of you who dont know what on earth I am talking about, here is a little background. Lance Armstrong is 7-time Tour de France winner. Thats a cycling competition btw Whats amazing about this is that not only is this a record, but Lance Armstrong did it after being diagnosed with cancer (twice!).

Lance Armstrong is the embodiment of a "Never Say Die" attitude."But Koorosh, How can this athlete teach me anything about marketing."Ahhh...great question.Look around you and chances are you will see someone wearing a yellow wristband. These wristbands were the brainchild of Armstrong. He has made it his personal mission to raise awareness and money to combat cancer. These wristbands are doing that perfctly.

Lance said it best himself when he said that if it was just about raising money, he could have gone to wealthy corporations or individuals and asked for checks worth millions of dollars..... Instead, by selling these yellow wristbands, he has not only raised lots of money but also raised alot of awareness....which is the main idea.

When this campaign started around November 2004, their initial target was just to raise $5 million dollars.....but it has been so successful that they have raised over $40 million dollars so far and still going strong. The idea has been so successful that many other organisations have introduced their own wristbands, in a variety of colors.

Imagine that!