The Press Cometh

Once the Secret Keeper DRTV experiment was declared a non-starter (sounds SO much nicer than “failure”), we could finally get back to what we do best -- getting press for The Racktrap.

So now that our media moratorium was over, we got down to business. Fast. First up, NYC-based WPIX Morning News, where our friend, the lovely Ms. Tamsen Fadal took to the streets with Karen and I to stop unsuspecting women, ask them if they ever keep stuff in their bra and ask them about The Racktrap. All of the women (and some men) thought it was a great idea and happily accepted our samples. 

Then our patron saint of boobage, Miss Wendy Williams featured The Racktrap on her talk show and began her “Hot Topics” segment by pulling it out of her bra!

Sales went way up after each segment aired and Marla took that as a challenge to go after TV morning shows in the Midwest, especially since we were told that The Racktrap name would “offend” the sensibilities of Midwestern women. Marla worked the phone like a pro, calling markets all across the country as we sent out package after package of samples.

And the media segments started rolling in: WZZM in Grand Rapids MI; WJBK in Detroit MI; WDFW in Dallas TX; KDVR in Denver CO; KMSP in Minneapolis MN; and AZTV in Phoenix AZ. So much for Midwestern women “not getting” it. The segments universally praised The Racktrap as a brilliant invention and women in those markets showed their support by ordering online. We even got an order from a group of 10 women who worked on the same farm who saw it on TV, and just had to have it for their jobs of baling hay and going to the feed store afterwards (say what?). Now, I’m a city girl and they needed to explain exactly what that meant, but it just proved our tagline was true – If You Wear a Bra or Know Someone Who Does, You Need The Racktrap.

In early November we found out that the Associated Press (the holy grail of outlets – syndicating content to over 500 newspapers, one of them being NYTimes.com) had selected The Racktrap as one of the best holiday gifts under $25. That story hit newspapers and related websites and sales jumped exponentially. All of a sudden, there were Racktrap customers in all 50 states, plus England, Sweden and Japan. We were internationally known.

Marla had worked on a number of stories with the gregarious Gayle Anderson of KTLA in Los Angeles and she loved The Racktrap. She pitched it to her executive producer and we got the call that they wanted to feature The Racktrap in a segment about reworking your existing wardrobe with stylist Jenn Falik. The trifecta was capped off when CNBC.com had a contest for picking coolest holiday gifts and The Racktrap won. We were getting lots of coverage and orders.  And The Racktrap took on a life of its own.

Marla, Karen and I became Racktrap evangelists, taking them everywhere and whipping them out everywhere ‑ at the coffee shop, the diner, bars, meetings, airports. Pretty soon, people were stopping us mid-whip and asking us “is that The Racktrap? I saw it on (insert name of TV show here). Where can I buy one?”

Marla preyed upon unsuspecting celebrities in LA, giving out Racktraps to Carey Mulligan, Dolly Parton, Cindy Crawford, Elizabeth Berkley, Howie Mandel (for his wife) and Reese Witherspoon. In NY, we gave Racktraps to Academy Award winner Mo’Nique, SNL’s Kristen Wiig, Kathie Lee Gifford (again) and Queen Latifah. I hit up Susie Essman at a coffee shop in Miami and she even asked for a second one as a gift for Joy Behar.

As the word continued to spread, we were asked to provide Racktraps for the Miss America contestants (YES!), Uptown Magazine’s 5th Anniversary (YES!) and a tattooed stripper competition (umm…..NO).

But all the great press and consumer acceptance just fueled our belief that we had a winning product on our hands.

So we just needed to figure out how to generate sales beyond our website. What path would be venture down next? We realized any successful venture needs a tremendous amount of energy behind it so we drew up a list and decided we must “divide and conquer” everything with the same chutzpah and determination we exhibited in getting press. Private label, retail stores, the college market, DRTV again?