Monday, June 8, 2009

ActivSkin on TV

Steve Newman with Gail Hogan: ActivSkin on Daytime Columbus, NBCActivSkin's debut on the talk show circuit went very well today! I was the final guest of Gail Hogan, the host of Daytime Columbus. Produced locally by the NBC affilliate, WCMH-TV, the show takes a lighter look at events of the day and the entertaining side of the Central Ohio community. Gail does an excellent job of preparing her guests and providing engaging interview questions. It was a very friendly and comfortable experience.

You can watch the video on the NBC4 website at: http://www.nbc4i.com/cmh/online/daytime/daytime/#guestvideo. When you go to the website, scroll down through the 'NBC4i Video' until you see, "Leg Relief for Men" which you can click to view the segment on ActivSkin. This should be available for one week, after which they will move it to another section of their website for the next 3 weeks (go to http://www.nbc4i.com/cmh/online/daytime/daytime_links/) Also, don't forget that we are scheduled for two more appearances on Daytime Columbus: June 22nd and July 23rd at 11:00 am EDT.

Steve Newman, in the Green Room at NBCAs I said above, the discussion was very engaging. Gail made the point that despite the fact that there are very few options available to men who have problems with leg circulation, they are just about as likely to suffer from it as women. We talked about how men can wear ActivSkin legwear with shorts if they so choose, it is certainly not necessary that they do. Since I'm somewhat of the 'Poster Boy' for men's legwear, I can be seen just about everywhere wearing dark colored legwear. But if men aren't yet comfortable with the concept of this being a men's product, they can just wear them under their long pants.

Gail wasn't just blowing smoke when she said she didn't know I had them on until I said something about it. When I arrived at the studio and was talking with one of the producers about arranging the product packages, she commented that she had been told to leave the coffee table out, because I would be wearing the legwear, "but she could see that I wasn't" so she was going to leave it in--until I tugged at the material on my knee and demonstrated that I was wearing ActivSkin right then. I think next time I may go with black, just to shake things up a bit.

Getting prepped on the set (ActivSkin TV appearance)Here's a thought for my non-legwear, or newly-initiated-to-legwear, readers: I'm open to suggestions as to the content of the upcoming appearances. What would you, the person who's just been initiated to the men's legwear concept--and doesn't quite know what to make of it, like to see discussed in one of the upcoming appearances on the show? I'm not saying we'll definitely act on suggestions received here, but I am interested to hear what you would like to hear about? Any constructive criticism is welcome also.

We'll probably tend to repeat some of the information on subsequent appearances, as there will be many people who did not see the first one. But, I'm giving thought right now as to what would be good to cover the next time, too. Of course, we only have about five minutes or so--so we have to keep it somewhat simple.

12 comments:

  1. Great video congratulations steve.

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  2. Steve,

    Great Job on the interview, mainstream is right around the corner!

    Pete

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  3. Nice Job! I'm glad this went over so well and was treated seriously.

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  4. Hi Steve,
    first of all congratulations!
    Then, if you're going to wear black hose next time, I suggest you to wear opaque rather than sheer hosiery, because in my little experience of wearing in public/around strangers, I've seen that opaque legwear cause less negative reactions. Non-wearers maybe think that opaque is more masculine, or simply they see opaque hosiery as some kind of "sporty" garment.

    Just my 2 cents (and I hope they're understandable, cause my bad english...)

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  5. post the link of where to email them at nbc so we can say kudos. please..

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  6. I felt the interview went great. I wouldn't change or add anything in my opinion. I think if you must have constructive criticism I would like to hear more how the tights are comparable to sportswear.
    Since you mentioned going in a different color next time I would say picking a sheer tan, or an opaque black would be your best choices for maintaing an "average" look, but honestly you looked fine wearing what you had, and made the point of not being noticeable, which can definately be a selling point.

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  7. I couldn't help but be amused that in the picture of the interview, Gail was wearing the trousers/pants, which might have been unthinkable two generations ago! So it does go to show that attitudes can change, although I can't imagine any man wanting to wear that particular colour.
    Talking of which, this also may mean that men in tights should consider more masculine colours such as black would avoid the accusation that they are trying to look in any way feminine.

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  8. That's the best public display of men's hosiery Ive seen. Gail seems like a great person to be interviewed by and I get the impression she is not trying to be a sensational-type journalist.

    My favorite part was her comment at the very end about how "men deserve their fair share of attention - at least in legwear." (paraphrasing).
    I especially appreciate how you are factual, confident and make yourself availible for anyone to get in touch with you. You're doing a great job at slowly disarming any stigma that some people may associate with men wearing hosiery WHILE also being transparent about your main objective. I also think your choice of hosiery to wear on the set was perfect, a nice polished look all around and I think any person watching wouldn't be turned off by you wearing hose; A great ice-breaker!

    One thing I am not too fond of, despite it being factual and informative, is the intro to the segment. All the talk about vericose veins, "leg troubles" and medical grade compression was, to be brutally honest, over the top. I understand how hosiery can help with such health issues, but such issues aren't the main justification for ActivSkin, right?
    The segue into performance wear was bit of a relief. The personal examples you give and discussion from here on out are pragmatic and more universal, subjectively speaking.

    The performance / athletic aspect is a great starting point for a converstion. I think if you can start there and work your way down to leisurely activities, or even better, sitting at an office desk all day, or if you're flying from JFK to LAX, etc. Just keep it pragmatic and something every guy can relate to.

    Overall segment is great. The most effective part of the whole thing however isn't all the information given and the display of a man wearing sheer hosiery, but how the two of you really have a totally natural, organic conversation that any viewer would be automatically engaged in.
    Well done. Keep up the great work!

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  9. Dennis,
    Good point! One of the things I would've probably said if there had been time, is that while tights were strictly a male garment until a little more than 150 years ago, since then they became strongly associated with women's wear--but THINGS CHANGE--and sometimes change again, too.

    The other thing you said, brings me to something I've wrestled back and forth with for some time: Which colors of hose are likely to project the most masculine image--black or skintone?

    On the one hand, black or other dark colors have always had a fairly masculine connotation, yet those are at the same time about as noticeable as you can get. Meaning the wearer has to be completely ready to be 'out there' with respect to wearing sheer legwear (or opaque, as it were). And, those who see the guy wearing black tights or sheer hose have to be open to at least consider this drastically new concept as masculine.

    On the other hand, skintones keep the look pretty close to what is already generally accepted as male attire, and the wearer can do so without committing himself to publicizing the fact he's wearing the new legwear for men. Of course, some would label this mindset as not being very bold, or confident--both traits we usually want to associate with masculinity.

    I had to put a good deal of thought into whether to go on with skintone legwear (as I wound up doing), or black hose. Part of it came down to the mundane fact that I didn't have a good pair of black shorts that wouldn't look sloppy on camera. The other part was that I thought it would be beneficial to introduce men's legwear as something that guys, a). didn't have to wear with shorts in the first place, but b). could wear with shorts without the worry of everyone immediately pointing out the fact that they were wearing legwear.

    In the end, I figured it's a good way to introduce the concept of legwear to men in little baby steps. As this trend spreads further and more 'early adopters' take it up, fewer and fewer men will feel any need to disguise what they're wearing in any way. But, for now, they do not have to give up wearing shorts just because they have a problem that ActivSkin can help with.

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  10. Jonathan,
    One thing to remember is that leg health is probably the most viable anvenue with which to establish the viability of nylon legwear as a men's, or unisex, garment. So many men can identify with sore, achy legs--with no decent alternative besides wearing women's pantyhose. We believe that is one of our more important target markets. Thus the initial focus on that area.

    That being said, we fully recognize the added importance of athletics and other recreational acitivities as well. These may wind up being as big a component as leg health in the long run, and we won't ignore it. In fact, the next appearance will be more focused on sporting/recreational activities, with some repetition of the earlier discussion points, as well. (Remember, not everyone who's watching the next time was watching the first appearance).

    Finally, for the third appearance we will most likely focus on some of the occupational aspects of men's legwear. That's the beauty of having three opportunities. It allows some repetition of the message, but also allows us to cover new and different areas, too.

    Thanks for some very thoughtful commentary!

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  11. Great interview, and next time go with sheer black.

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  12. I'm leaning toward that. We're going to switch the order, with occupational aspects of legwear next time, followed by sports/recreational on July 23rd.

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