C I Host Launches World's First 'Human Billboard' - Illinois Man to Tattoo Company Logo on Head [31st March 2003]

Unique marketing strategy part of company's ongoing aggressive strategy; seen as way to cut through the clutter

BEDFORD, Texas, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- C I Host, known for its attention-getting marketing strategies, has hired a 22-year-old Illinois man to tattoo a 25- square inch, full color C I Host logo on the back of his head and keep it visible for five years.
"This will be a trial and if it goes as well as I think it will, we will have walking, talking 'human billboards' in every major city and country worldwide," said Christopher Faulkner, 26, CEO of C I Host. "In this economy and industry, you have to be constantly looking for ways to break through the clutter and be noticed. This idea certainly fills the bill."

The 'human billboard,' Jim Nelson, 22, who lives in Moline, Illinois, said he and his business partner need money to fund their enterprise, a collectibles store for swords and knives.

Nelson said he expects to benefit two ways from the stunt: ready capital and a lot of publicity for his own business as well as for C I Host. His "day job" in a union that supplies part-time workers to nuclear plants takes him all over the world.

C I Host recently won a bid on eBay for Nelson's services.

"Everybody will see it, and I'm more than happy to do this for C I Host," Nelson said. "I'm glad that they won the bid because they seem like such nice people. Christopher has been great and I'm glad it's them that's going to get the publicity."

The logo is five inches square and is orange, blue and black.

In the highly competitive and crowded field of Web hosting industry, it's tough to get noticed, Faulkner said.

"This starts an era of new, break-through and stand out marketing ideas for C I Host," he said. "We can't wait to see what kind of reactions Jeff receives."

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.

"Whatever we can do to reach our target market and get the word out about C I Host, we will do," Faulkner said. "It's similar to the extra mile we go to bring our customers the most up to date technology and give them the best service."

About C I Host

C I Host (www.cihost.com), is a Web hosting and Internet solutions provider, domain name registrar and application service provider serving 185,000 individual consumers and businesses in 179 countries worldwide.

C I Host creates business-class Web hosting solutions for the small- and medium-enterprise (SME) market.

C I Host has been consistently ranked among the Top 5 Web hosting companies out of 16,000 around the globe by c|net's Ultimate Web Host List, HostPulse, WebHostsOnline.com and HostChart.com. C I Host offers turn-key services ranging from initial domain name registration to custom dedicated servers for e-commerce on today's Web.

C I Host operates three diverse data centers across the United States, with its main facility and Network Operations Center in Bedford, Texas. C I Host also has offices in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Chicago and London.