Hello everyone! My name is Zach Redman and I am a senior at Western Kentucky University. I am a marketing major and absolutely love it. I like to think that marketing is basically in my blood. Both my mom and dad are involved in marketing, advertising, and PR, so by the age of 8, I already knew what I wanted to do when I grew up (that is if a pro ballplayer didn't come to fruition). I am a person who loves being busy, I love changes and challenges and I believe marketing has both.

For my first blog I'd like to talk about a personal success story I recently encountered with my summer job involving Twitter. This summer I worked as a tour guide at the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory. My dad works there and he was gracious enough to set me up with the job. As a huge baseball fan, this was a great opportunity for me to hone my public speaking skills by publically speaking in front of thousands of people about something I knew a lot about. As the Communications part of me was enjoying every bit of the summer, the marketing side of me was uneasy due to the lack of usage of simple marketing tools such Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

It was the night of the mid-summer classic, the MLB All-Star game when I finally spoke up. I was watching the game with my father with a keen interest in which players were using Louisville Slugger bats and which players were not. True to suggested data, about 60% of the players were using a Louisville Slugger. However, the All-Star game was one of tremendous pitching this year and base hits were hard to come by. The game was eventually won by Atlanta Braves All-Star Brian McCann's base knock down the right field line which gave the National League their first win in over a decade. The base hit was done with a genuine Louisville Slugger.

I was so excited that the game winning hit, like numerous other things in baseball history, was done with a Louisville Slugger. I immediately told my dad that they should spread the word, Congratulating Brian McCann on the hit and MVP award through social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook as well as notifying media outlets of the accomplishment. Initially he did not think much of it. My father, like many others older than myself, had not yet grasped on to the new social media wave. I explained to him that Louisville Slugger has a Twitter page and Facebook page with thousands of followers. As arguably the most recognizable brand in sports, they must utilize their social media outlets that connect them directly to their fans. Many baseball fans do not watch the game like me, watching the players bat to see if it's a Slugger or not. So, by congratulating Brian McCann on the hit with his Louisville Slugger, baseball fans can easily know that Louisville Slugger is still on top of the baseball world and had a huge part in the win for the National League.

I convinced my dad to tweet Congratulations to Atlanta Braves Brian McCann on this game winning hit with his genuine Louisville Slugger as well as his MVP award. The Tweet went out early the next morning. By that afternoon, local news stations were walking through the front doors of the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory to get footage of Brian McCann’s bats. My dad later thanked me. It was amazing to him how easy it was to spread the word. Instead of making phone calls and telling media outlets about a possible story they may be interested in, the media outlets were calling him telling him they would be stopping by. Louisville Slugger is now using this tool to their advantage and gaining a lot of free and positive PR because of it. The company has also started to utilize social media outlets such as Twitter more with their other products such as their Powerbilt Golf division.

Check out Louisville Slugger's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1082743179&ref=ts

And Twitter Page: http://twitter.com/sluggernation