You’re Wearing What?

Today we’re being visited by our friend Jason from iwearyourshirt.com. Ever seen the site? In a nutshell, companies pay Jason (and now his partner as well) to wear a t-shirt sporting their logo for the day. They shoot videos and take pictures that are posted on the site, and maintain active accounts on Twitter and Facebook.

This isn’t a blog that happens to have banner ads (though they have that too… and indeed, why wouldn’t they?). It’s one big mechanism designed to deliver advertising to viewers. They make it very clear. This is a site that people knowingly visit so they can be an ad target. And yes, he has eyeballs–enough to sell out the calendar year for 2009, and he’s well on his way in 2010.

Now isn’t this the marketer’s dream? Outside of the Super Bowl, when else do people deliberately tune in to receive advertising? Of course, in this case it’s a little different. Jason has carved out a compelling personal brand. He’s funny, creative, and good on camera. People tune in and see what crazy video he’s going to shoot next. Usually it will be directly relevant to the brand emblazoned on his chest, but somehow it doesn’t feel like advertising. Now and then he’ll run a contest with specific copy, but for the most part he maintains the creative freedom regarding the content. And people come back.

I happened to be wearing Jason’s shirt this weekend (here’s me sporting it in a dailybooth shot from a while back), and a friend asked me what the site was all about. After my explanation he asked, “When are we going to reach the limit of crazy Internet ideas that make money?” All I can say is, “not yet.”