Sponsor the Shirt - Student has great idea up his sleeve

by Startacus Admin

It is probably stating the obvious, but here at Startacus we love it when determined self-starters put their imagination and creativity to good use...it’s kind of our thing.

That`s why when we came across a young man named Chris MacRae who is doing just that, we leapt at the chance to get on board and lend a helping hand. 

You see, young Chris is a student of psychology at St Andrew's University and, not content with just working hard at his studies, he has hatched an ingenious little plan to make a bit of extra cash and flex his entrepreneurial muscles. His devilishly clever scheme is called Sponsor the Shirt and will give businesses a unique opportunity to get valuable advertising wherever he goes for an entire year! Intrigued? We caught up with Chris last week and he let us in on the details of his plan...

So to start off why don't you tell us a little about the project - how it will work and where did the idea came from?

Basically, I plan to sell off advertising space on a single shirt, which I will wear every day for the next year of my life (washing it in between of course!).

I was actually inspired by a couple of very similar projects, BuyMyFace.com and IWearYourShirt.com, both of which were done by students and young people, like myself. I looked at those concepts and decided to add my own unique twist.

Like a lot of people we imagine, we have lots of questions about the logistics of the project. For example, how many shirts will there be in total? How will the logos be printed? What happens if you have to go somewhere with a dress code - like a wedding for example?

There will only be one shirt, and I will get the logos printed or embroidered on request with a company in Edinburgh. If I have to go to a special event with a dress code, then what better occasion to wear the shirt and get the names out there?! I will take each event on a circumstantial basis, but chances are, I'll be wearing the shirt and drawing a lot of questions in the process! I'm even going to wear the shirt the whole way as I do a charity hitchhike to Berlin in January, so there'll even be a bit of advertising on the continent for those interested!

How are you getting on so far in selling the space on the shirt?  What kinds of companies/brands have you been getting interest from?

The most interest I've had so far has been from startup companies like Startacus and student marketing businesses. A little more surprisingly, I've also had a fair bit of interest from bookmakers and web designers, and a few partnership offers.

 Are there any particular types of company that you would like to make an appearance?

I think any company that deals with young people and students (as I do every day), will benefit most from the advertising space.

How are you making sure that you get as much media coverage as possible?

By doing things like this! I'm taking every opportunity I can get to speak with websites and newspapers, both local and national, in order to find ways to get the name out. Feedback on the idea has been really positive so far and people have often been more than happy to spread the idea further however they can.

What do you plan to do with the money you raise?

I plan to pay my way through the rest of university and pay off any debts I've built up by being a typically poorly budgeted student!

Finally, have you got a message for anyone who might be considering sponsoring your shirt?

Just give it a go! It's a unique idea, I want to create a real buzz about this, and I think you could benefit from being an early part of this project.

Thanks Chris you've given us plenty to think about!  As well as giving the Startacus logo pride of place we are delighted to announce that Chris has kindly agreed to keep Startacus and its members up to date with regular diary posts about his experience of undertaking this most unusual and exciting project!  We will have the first of those in just a few weeks so be sure to keep your eyes peeled.

If you fancy chatting to Chris about featuring your company logo on his shirt then email him at sponsortheshirt@gmail.com and also congrats to Chris who is our latest Self Starter of the Week! 

If you love hearing about the experiences of exciting self-starters check out the diary posts the fab new music platform Rormix have been writing for us weekly.  

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Published on: 1st December 2013