Thuzio co-Founder and former NFLer Tiki Barber said that he is "having more success" marketing the company, which connects people with celebrities, as a "business-to-business play to corporate America than with sports consumers," according to Michael McCarthy of AD AGE. A "growing number of ad agencies and corporate clients (including PepsiCo, Barclays, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Yahoo and Conde Nast) have booked its athletes, coaches and sports figures to make corporate appearances, host golf outings, sign autographs, deliver speeches or just tell tall tales of their playing days." Among the "most popular new personalities" working with Thuzio are former MLBer Roger Clemens; Basketball HOFer Bernard King; Pro Football HOFer Tony Dorsett; and Fox' Brian Billick. For example, Clemens "costs $45,000 for a one-hour speaking engagement or $20,000 for a round of golf." About 75% of Thuzio's clients are "retired jocks; 25% are current athletes." But Thuzio CEO Jared Augustine said that it is "often the forgotten players from the 1970s, 80's and 90's who can be the 'bread and butter.'" Augustine: "Nostalgia is very important, perhaps under-rated, as it relates to brands and experiences in general. We think Thuzio gives you a cost-effective way of tapping into that nostalgia for those heroes you had growing up." Barber: "We realize there's a huge market for tapping into your client's passion. And finding a way to engage them in a way they've never been engaged before. ... We found out very quickly that 65% of our clients are corporations, not individuals." Barber said the company retains "over 1,000" former athletes, coaches and entertainers. He added, "We're on our way to being the largest aggregation of talent in the world." Barber said of advertising, "We haven't done any traditional advertising yet. But we do a lot of PR. ... We're getting our talent on-air" (AD AGE, 12/2 issue).
