Hip hop fashion designer Marc Ecko is the confirmed buyer ($752,467.20) of Barry Bonds' record-breaking 756th home run ball. He decided to buy it in a moment of inspiration when he and friends were arguing about whether the record was tainted by steroid use. It was then that Ecko knew he had to have it and let the public decide how to honor it, so he has opened a website for a vote, vote756.com, for one of three options:
- Bestow it, give the ball to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York
- Brand it, burn an asterisk into the ball adding a permanent footnote to the record, before sending it to Cooperstown
- Banish it, put the ball on a rocket and launch it into orbit
What Makes This Trend Stand Out
- Fan-voted Memorabilia Destinies
- Businesses can create opportunities for customers to vote on the fate of iconic memorabilia, thereby increasing customer engagement.
- Controversial Memorabilia Sales
- Companies can attract publicity and attention by purchasing controversial memorabilia items and promoting them in innovative ways.
- Personalized Collection Raffles
- Companies can increase customer interaction by allowing them to enter contests to win ownership of personalized collections of particularly valuable items.
Sectors Adopting This
- Sports Memorabilia Retail
- Companies can increase sales and attract publicity by purchasing and promoting controversial items of sports memorabilia.
- Museums and Cultural Heritage Institutions
- Museums and heritage institutions can collaborate with businesses to acquire culturally significant items and exhibits through innovative acquisition methods.
- E-commerce Platforms
- Businesses can create new opportunities for customer engagement and increase sales by developing unique platforms where customers can bid for, purchase, and vote on historically significant items.
