“What’s your favorite product you make?”

I hear that question alot. I play alot of soccer, so to date it’s been a toss up between our futsal ball for indoor soccer, our Match ball for outdoor soccer, and our funky one-sleeve tee shirts.

Well, I officially have a new favorite just in time for a hot summer: our new performance tee shirts and tanks. They look cool, and they feel even better. Check them out here.

…that made your sports ball. That’s one of my favorite riffs on our tagline, RESPECT.

It is a great addition to the coaching points that I hear from many student-athlete leaders: RESPECT for your self as an athlete and RESPECT for your competition (whether you just won or lost).

Journalist Tom Hoffarth recently asked me about our tagline and several other topics for his LA Daily News article.

Full text of the article is in this PDF file.

While we are fighting child labor in our industry of sports balls, several other groups are fighting the good fight in their respective industries. Learn more here.

I’m convinced that by marrying the Fair Trade movement to the No Child Labor movement, we can create a lasting solution that truly does eliminate child labor from this industry. How? By focusing on the root problem: extreme poverty.

While this is a complex matter (start with reading Jeffrey Sachs’ The End of Poverty), the simple one-sentence version is this: pay the parents a fair, living wage and they will not be forced to ask their children to work. As a family unit, they will be able to survive and thrive.

While this is an enormous worldwide problem, you can help today by supporting the Fair Trade movement and getting involved.

For World Fair Trade Day, Transfair USA asked kids across the US to submit artwork expressing their thoughts on Fair Trade. Communications & Outreach Manager Jean Walsh was overjoyed by the amazing response.

They’ve narrowed down the field to 10 artists in two age categories. Please take a moment to vote on your favorite piece, and tell your friends to do the same.

Special congratulations to Ms. Kathleen Sweeney and Sara Stender of Brattleboro, Vermont, for submitting the most entries. Both teachers win one of our Fair Trade soccer balls and water bottles. Voting ends today, so head over to their site now!

“Positive word of mouth.”

That’s one of those phrases you hear marketing people talk about at parties, as in “You should have seen the positive word of mouth coming out of the product launch!”

WOM is usually claimed to be driven by a single live event or concentrated advertising push. I’ve been guilty of doing so myself in the past - with that all-knowing wave of the hand - claiming it as the reason for the success of the campaign | product launch | sales effort.

But true WOM is a guerrilla marketing activity (”guerrilla marketing” being the code phrase for “we have no marketing budget to spend”). It can and does work when fans of a product - like a Fair Trade soccer ball - get really excited and begin telling everyone they know.


The folks at PLENTY Magazine understand that as well. Check out this issue of their Green Gear Guide, title “Bend It Like Oxfam”.

Outside Magazine’s recent “Green Issue” has a useful list of everyday ways you can chip away at issues like global warming and water pollution while contributing to your family’s health.

Take a look at their list of 21 hassle-free ways to make a difference. #1 is my personal favorite.

:)