Thoughts on the Berman Campaign...

[Brian Oshman]

What are your thoughts on the Berman Campaign?

Do you think it was a success?

Do you think we blew it?

Do you think we just poked a stick at a hornets nest?

Do you think we chose the wrong people to represent us in the limelight of the media?

Will you support it in the future?

Now that the season is over and we had our first "go" at it, are we wasting our time or are we just beating a dead horse?

Post some thoughts on how you feel the campaign went and if you will continue to back the current format.

[EliteMike]

Do you think it was a success? Depends, it did generate SOME positive news, but it was quickly challenged

Do you think we blew it? Big Time

Do you think we just poked a stick at a hornets nest? Yes, and we are all alergic to the stings

Do you think we chose the wrong people to represent us in the limelight of the media? OH MY GOD YES, anyone that disagrees needs to go back and watch the clips

Will you support it in the future? I'd rather support it indirectly through some proceeds going to the fund maybe from lotion purchases.

Now that the season is over and we had our first "go" at it, are we wasting our time or are we just beating a dead horse? If it's the same as it was this year, it's a waste of time. National exposure is needed without the ITA having their hands all over it.

[dcjjp1]

Well said Mike.

[Brian Oshman]

Come on people, 31 views and only 2 posts. This is your future here, what do you think? man (or woman) up and let's hear it, what do you think about the campaign and the effectiveness it has had on your business or the negative impact it has had. Everyone has an opinion on this and every view should equal a response.

[Jones]

I hated to be negative from the begining...but I personally think that it could have been done much better. But I also wonder if that thought is just because I would have done it differently. I really think that the ITA is like Big Business America...and I think we all, small business owners, do not care much for Corporate America and their BS...we are more in your face type of people that get the job done...we have somehow got sold on the fact that someone else can do this job better than we can do it ourselves and quite frankly - that mindset to my thinking is wrong.

[solman]

There's been so much already discussed about the campaign. I don't know if anyone has any new or different views. For myself, my expectations were a lot higher. The elements seem to of been in place but the execution was lacking and left much to be desired. I supported the campaign. The only way I will support future campaigns will be if I know in advance what the message will be, who will be the messenger, and where the message will be heard. It is a worthy cause for our industry and I hope someone can get it right. We need it for the health and future of our business. Last but not least, the public deserves to know the truth about the positive side of indoor tanning.

[JeffK]

I don't like the Kansas City Chiefs.

But when HBO did a series called "Hard Knocks" which took an uncensored, raw look at the Chiefs' 2007 training camp I found the first episode interesting so I watched them all.

In one episode, the team's player personnel director was in a meeting with quarterback Casey Printers. In fact, Printers was being cut from the team. Printers at first looked dumbfounded and then annoyed. He was annoyed that he didn't get a chance to take snaps with the starters - he only got to play with players who really had no chance at making the team.

Printers said: "Look at the guys I was performing with. Hell, I had to make chicken salad out of chicken s--t."

When Printers asked what he could have possibly done to make the team .. the team's player personnel employee (I don't remember his name) told him flat out: You had to find a way to make chicken salad out of chicken s--t.

This was the Berman campaign in a nutshell. He was given nothing substantial to really work with. And despite what I'm sure were his best efforts, he failed completely failed to deliver -- and he deserves to be cut.

[tuscantan]

There should be a hand clapping smiley....cause that was well said.

[RobertK]

What Berman Campaign?

Did it start yet?



...........Oh that pin prick
I think we should bill the Derms for what we contributed.

[EliteMike]

Lets hear what the cheerleaders have to say because they were the in crowd. That being said, it's exactly like big business, people inside think things are working just fine, but in reality, it never even filtered down to the low men on the pole

[John]

Lets hear from these people:

Contribution: $30,000
Darque Tan, Robbie Segler

Contribution: $25,000
Beach Bum Tanning, James Oliver
Hollywood Tans, J.J. Sorrenti
Sunshine Companies, Bill Pipp
JK North America, Brigitte Kratz

Contribution: $15,000
Future Industries, Karen Bentlage

Contribution: $10,000
At The Beach, Brian Belt
L.A. Tan, Nick Patel
Planet Tan, Tony Hartl
Heartland Tan, Greg Henson
Four Seasons Sales & Service, Ed Jerger
Cosmedico, Jerry Frank
Wolff System, Michael Stepp
Island Sun Times, Vince Lorraine
Interlectric Corp., Steve Rothenberg

[Jones]

Originally Posted by JeffK

I don't like the Kansas City Chiefs.

Somedays I feel the same way!!! LMAO

[Ezliving_Jim]

We need a spokesperson / advocate with an MD behind their name. We need to get away from the tanning industry vs. the medical community pi$$ing match and move towards a serious MD vs. MD debate. I had hoped that Dr. Ackerman would have carried that debate to the media. Didn't happen.

Every time there is a news article or broadcast between an MD and a tanning salon owner, we lose ground. We have always played a defensive game. Defense rarely scores. We need a new offense.

Berman's campaign was another defensive play with a new spokesperson, without an MD, who obviously didn't frequent a tanning salon. It was fundamentally flawed.

http://www.bermanco.com/ advertises, "The Power To Change The Debate." If that is the standard of measurement, then the initial campaign failed.

Is there a second act to this play?

[cfindley]

I didnt know the campaign was over
"Hence" (used illegally) the problem

[JeffK]

Originally Posted by EliteMike

Lets hear what the cheerleaders have to say because they were the in crowd.

Yeah I can't wait until after the trade show in Nashville again when people come back on here congratulating each other and talking about how great Berman is like he just got back from the moon or something...

Every time I see Berman's name on here I think about that one TanToday poster who mocked me repeatedly because he gave $1000 to the campaign and I gave nothing.. like I was the idiot..

Hopefully this time they don't put the plan into double-secret-shush mode.. hopefully this time they do as Jim said and they get a spokesman who's a shade or two tanner than Casper.. hopefully this time they get a doctor..

Most importantly -- hopefully this time the plan is good enough that when the big players evaluate it, they give more than a token amount.. that's what I'll be watching for, because that to me will be the most solid signal that things are on the right track..

[Brian Oshman]

Yeah, great responses. Too bad it is over for this campaign though. You don't get a second chance to make a first impression.

The ITA made that first impression in 1999 at Nashville with their first public meeting and it showed how much blind arrogance was up on the stage. They drooled over the attendance and ignored the very core of this Industry, The Salon Owner, happy to collect their money and second hand membership through Smart Tan giving the Org. a bloated body count but squelching the Salon Owners voice.

It was a cash cow, a money train and the primary goal was to dominate the trade show forum for the Industry instead of listening to the Salon Owners that this Industry was in trouble (yes it was in trouble for a long time) and those pleas fell upon deaf ears. The ITA began to wake up after the poor attendance in 2004 at Orlando but was interpreted as a problem with location instead of the real problem, poor management, support, and direction.

This started to become more realized when the venue was moved back to Nashville and attendance continued its downward spiral. Vendor attendance began to fall too as it was not worth the fees to exhibit to a thousand or so people. So now it’s wake up time and the ITA after eight years of ignoring the problem decides to hire an advertising firm to bail us out but then makes another arrogant blunder and sticks dim witted and ill informed in front of the camera for all of America to see how much of a heard of cats we all really are.

This Organization has always taken the self serving route and now it is time to serve them to themselves. Everyone described the last Nashville meeting as a Kumbya experience. That’s all nice and fluffy but once again they didn’t fail to disappoint. Kumbya is what everyone is going to be singing around the campfire soon when all of your businesses are legislated into closing and you are struggling to stay warm around the campfire because all you will have to live in is a tent when the bank comes in and forecloses on your mortgages and equipment leases.

It is time to boycott this Organization once and for all. We need an Organization that listens to all involved and can manage itself out of a paper bag. The day of the ego militias are over. It’s time to take control of this Industry as a whole but it may be too little too late for that now.

[navigatin1]

Whajaya do, cut-n-paste that from the other topic?

[Brian Oshman]

Jep. My words anyway. I was too lazy to type the same feelings over again.

[JeffK]

I don't think the campaign or the ITA are bad ideas.

I just don't see a whole lot of competence within them..

[navigatin1]

Originally Posted by Brian Oshman

Jep. My words anyway. I was too lazy to type the same feelings over again.

YOU HAVE FEELINGS?????