Media Advisory

Aero-Box to host a reveal party of their first footwear line FootPrint

What: Aero-Box will host a party for their first shoe line, FootPrint. The party will be the inaugural event the public has seen Aero-Box’s first shoe line. The line will go on sale in January 2017.

When: Saturday, November 6, 2016. 9:30 p.m.- 11:30 p.m.

Where: Kathryn Lee Event Center, Ballroom 23 on Clover Lane

Who:

• Chelsea Jones, CEO and founder of Aero-Box
• Andrew Kite, Vice President of Aero-Box
• Lori Thomas, Chief designer of the FootPrint line

 Why: Aero-Box will host the event to feature their first shoes line, FootPrint. FootPrint has six different shoes for running, cycling, ballet, yoga, rock climbing and barre. The event will have individual stations with each shoe and highlight the material the shoe was made from, where it was made and what makes the shoe exemplary in its sport. Before the line was created, designers from Aero-Box met with professional athletes in order to learn what they considered a high performance shoe. Thus, each station will have a professional athlete host that will go over the shoe and answer any questions people have about it.

 Media Info: Press and videographers are welcome. Badge pick up will be on Friday at 12 p.m. at the Kathryn Lee Event Center in Ballroom 23. On the day of the event, please arrive two hours early to set up. Parking for the event will be reserved in parking lot B.

 Background: Aero-Box is a workout apparel company that strives to create trendy and affordable clothing for active woman of all shapes and sizes. The company is a monthly subscription service that delivers packages of both workout apparel and                                     products that are specific to certain workouts. Whether you are just starting your physical journey or starting your third triathlon, Aero-Box has all the tools needed to feel confident and cute. Aero-Box’s goal is to take the stress out of shopping for workout clothes while still offering products made from all natural materials.

Memo

On Nov. 6 at the Kathryn Lee event center, Aero-Box hosted a reveal party for their first athletic shoe line, FootPrint. At the event, each shoe was individually displayed and featured by a professional athlete who answered any questions regarding that particular shoe. Each of the athlete hosts highlighted the material the shoe was made from, where it was made and how the shoe was exemplary in its sport.

The purpose of the event was to promote and give exposure to the upcoming shoe line. By doing so, the goal for the organization was to get as many media outlets publishing material about FootPrint in order to have consumers pre-order the line.

The week after the event, these media outlets and publications covered the event and featured the Footprint line,

• Shape
• Women’s Health
• InStyle
• Seventeen.

During the event, attendees were given the opportunity to pre-order FootPrint. Official pre-ordering in North American, Europe and Asia began the day after the event on Nov. 7. Pre-order sales during the first week reached a total of $304,789, surpassing the goal of $250,000.

Donations were also taken for The Child Labor Coalition, a nonprofit organization that focuses on spreading awareness and eliminating child labor around the world. Aero-Box raised over $20,000 for the nonprofit organization and plans of giving half of their profit during the first week of pre-order sales.

In addition, attendance for the event was by invitation only. Six months before the event, Aero-Box delivered roughly 400 invitations to celebrities, athletes, donors, media publications and long-time Aero-Box customers. Of the 400 invitations sent, the total head-count during the event was 367 guests.

Due to the success of the reveal party, we recommend that Aero-Box continue hosting events like such. For more information on how to host large scale events, please contact Jude Smith with Santa Monica Event Planning at santamonicaevents@gmail.com.

Feature

Chelsea Jones: Goes from small town writer to owning a multi-million-dollar company

 SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Oct. 20, 2016)- After giving birth to twins in January 2009, Chelsea Jones, 32, decided to quit her job to start a company that sold workout clothes and accessories in monthly box subscriptions. Her goal was to create and deliver stylish and affordable workout clothes to women who didn’t have the time to go out and buy it themselves.

The idea for Aero-Box bloomed after Jones gained 30 pounds during her pregnancy with twins Colby and Jax. Always having been active herself, Jones ran into a problem after realizing none of her old workout clothes fit. Between the responsibility of caring for two newborns and going back to work as a writer, she simply did not have the time to go buy new workout clothes.

Taking the advice of her sister, she researched companies that delivered monthly boxes of workout clothes right to your door. The result, she found, was that these companies tailored their products to women who were already shape.

“My eyes were opened to something I never noticed before. Which is, if I wanted stylish and reasonably priced workout clothes then I needed to be below a size 12,” said Jones.

Instead of seeing this as a road block, Jones saw it as an opportunity. She immediately began to ask women at her local gym what they wanted from retail companies specializing in workout apparel. The answers Jones got was one that was similar to the one she had herself. Cute, affordable and environmentally friendly products.

Starting out locally, she began designing workout clothes for the women in her gym and would deliver the packages personally.

“Each package was so personalized, it felt like receiving a birthday or Christmas gift once a month” said Molly Sherman, one of Aero-Box’s first customers. “Anytime I would go somewhere wearing clothes from my Aero-Box, I would always get stopped and asked what brand it was or where I bought it from.”

Over the years, Aero-Box has grown into a multi-million-dollar company. In 2012, the company expanded their operations into Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Asia. Forbes listed Aero-Box as one of the fastest growing companies in 2015.

As the company continues to grow, Jones pushes her creative team to focus on innovation. In January 2017, Aero-Box will release their first ever line of shoes called FootPrint. The line features different styles that are specific to certain workouts and is available to premium and deluxe subscribers.

What once began as a small town hobby, has now revolutionized the world of fitness apparel. As facts have shown, Aero-Box is a forced to be reckoned with. Jones says that the company is here to stay and will continue to challenge the norm in the retail industry.

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News Release

New “FootPrint” shoe line from Aero-Box launches early 2017

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Sept. 12, 2016)– Aero-Box announced that their first shoe line called FootPrint will be added to their product line starting January 2017. The line includes shoes that are specific to certain workouts, such as running and track, yoga, barre and cycling.

Since Aero-Box focuses and strives to be environmentally conscious, all the shoes in the FootPrint line are made from recycled material.

Before designing the FootPrint line, Aero-Box met with professional athletes in each field to gather insight about what they considered to be a good quality and high performance shoe. Each shoe type has different design style options to choose from.

“While comfort, style and being eco-friendly were top priorities when creating the FootPrint line, we also made it our mission to really understand what athletes in different branches of fitness were looking for in a high performance shoe,” said Chelsea Jones, CEO and founder of Aero-Box.

For now, customers who sign-up for the premium and deluxe packages are subject to receive the FootPrint line in their monthly Aero-Box. Prior to the release, an email will be sent to these customers asking which style and colors they favor.

The eco-friendly line becomes available starting May 2017 online at http://www.aerobox.com/footprint.

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About Aero-Box

Founded in 2012 by Chelsea Jones, Aero-Box creates chic and sporty active wear for woman of all shapes and sizes. Whether you are into lifting, yoga, running or a combination of it all, Aero-Box’s purpose is to take the stress out of shopping for workout clothes. Trained professionals hand-pick items based on a personal survey that is filled out prior to signing up. Since Aero-Box aims to be environmentally conscious, all their merchandise is made in the United States from all natural material.

Backgrounder

Introduction

At Aero-Box, their goal is to create chic and sporty active wear for women of every shape and size. Whether you are into lifting, yoga, running or a combination of it all, Aero-Box aims to take the stress out of shopping for workout clothes. That way you can spend more time doing the activities you love. Our trained professionals hand-pick items based on a personal survey subscribers fill out prior to signing up. The box includes a variety of six items including a full outfit, water bottle and different accessories and will arrive straight to your front door-step. Not only do we want our customers to look good but to feel good also. Which is why all the clothing from Aero-Box is made from natural fibers and resources on farms within the United States.

Child Labor

Defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO), child labor is “work that deprives a child of their childhood.” In many cases, children are separated from their families at a young age and enslaved to work in harsh and hazardous conditions (ILO). These children are left to fend of themselves and are unable to get proper nutrition and medicine. In order for it to be defined as child labor, it must depend on the child’s age, working conditions, activity being performed and the number of working hours being done.

Main Economic Sectors

According to the International Labour Organization there are five economic sectors that children ages 5 through 17 years old are forced into work (ILO 2013).

• 6% Agriculture: This sector includes agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing.
• 4% Services other than domestic work: This sector includes wholesale and retail, restaurant and hotel services, transport, finance, insurance, real-estate and business services.
• 2% Industry: This sector includes mining, manufacturing, construction and public utilities such as gas, electric and water.
• 9% Domestic work
• 9% Not defined

International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor

The International Program of Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) has worked since 1992 to eliminate child labor worldwide. Their efforts have saved thousands of children and have achieved this in many ways by:

• Establishing county-based programs that promote policy reform
• Building institutional capacity
• Raising awareness and push ratification

Statistics

The International Labour Organization conducts yearly reports on global and regional estimates focused on child labor. The reports are compared to previous years to see if there has been any improvement in the issue. From a report released in 2013, this is what the ILO was able to conclude.

• “Global number of children in child labor has declined by one third since 2000, from 246 million to 168 million children. More than half of them, 85 million, are in hazardous work (down from 171 million in 2000).
• Asia and the Pacific still has the largest numbers (almost 78 million or 9.3% of child population), but Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the region with the highest incidence of child labor (59 million, over 21%).
• There are 13 million (8.8%) of children in child labor in Latin America and the Caribbean and in the Middle East and North Africa there are 9.2 million (8.4%).
• Agriculture remains by far the most important sector where child laborers can be found (98 million, or 59%), but the problems are not negligible in services (54 million) and industry (12 million) – mostly in the informal economy.
• Child labor among girls fell by 40% since 2000, compared to 25% for boys.” (ILO 2013)

Current Situation

In 2014, Aero-Box had a lawsuit filed against them for failing to include the information about using child labor in China. The allegations brought against them by Mike and Ellis, a consumer rights law firm. In their corporate social responsibility (CSR) statement, Aero-Box openly states that their material used in their merchandise is imported locally from farms within the United State. The accusations have been denied by Aero-Box CEO Amanda Banks.

Key Players

• Amanda Banks, founder and CEO of Aero-Box, had a lawsuit filed against organization for failing to disclose their involvement with child labor in China.
• Mike and Ellis Law Firm, a firm specialized in consumer rights, filed the suit against Aero-Box for failing to disclose information about using slave labor in merchandise.
• Luke Lorio, president of IPEC
• Guy Rider, president of International Labor Organization

 

Time Line of Situation

• April 2014: CNN Article mentioned Aero-Box has participated in child labor in China.
• January 2015: Mike and Ellis file lawsuit against Aero-Box
• March 2015: Proper documentation was provided to prove that the case had no merit to go to court
• August 2015: Court saw no reason to take the charges to court as there was significant proof that allegations were false.

Conclusion

The Aero-Box CSR statement clearly identifies that the company imports all material for their merchandise within the United States. Although false rumors were shed against the organization, no such allegations proved to be true. The case has been dropped and no further action has been taken from either parties.

Sources

International Labour Organization (2013). Child Labour. Retrieved September 12, 2016 from

< http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/child-labour/lang–en/index.htm&gt;

International Labour Organization (2013). What is Child Labour. Retrieved September 12, 2016  from < http://www.ilo.org/global/topics/child-labour/lang–en/index.htm&gt;

 

International Labour Organization (2013). Action against child labour. Retrieved September 12, 2016 from < http://www.ilo.org/ipec/Action/lang–en/index.htm&gt;

 

Media

The media outlets that I would post and send this to would be the organization website and various media outlets that would be able to create press releases from it. Since our public is younger active females, I would try and push this to get released in magazines that are focused around that public.