Motorcross marketing

[Grant]

My family is a cross over family.We have been racing mx/sx for over 10 years.My oldest son is now 15 and my youngest is 10.This summer we ran over 80 motos,spent a week in Powell,and put 75 hours on our Tige at home here in Colorado.We were on the go every day it seemed. We also had some down time due to a broken arm(the youngest and a broken collar bone (the oldest)That is a huge commitment to having fun.
I also have a 40 hour a week job.
The race season is over as of last week end and I am winterizing the Tige this weekend.Next week end I am going into hibernation until the Denver Boat Show.

I did not plan this crazy summer this way.I was trying to to shift my boys interest from racing to boating .It did not work.As you can tell we just did both.

My point is mx/sx people will do any thing in the name of thrill seeking .If you can tap into that and get their interest hold on for the ride.

[Jason B]

Agreed JB but it seems there is far more potential exposure (frequency and overall reach advantages) associating with an organization (X-Games) over a single sport/team.

Now if Kawi wanted to agree to make visible the mean green Tige at all events where they are a marquee manufacturer.... that would perhaps be a different story.

I was under the impression this was the case where possible (SX is a no-go since Natiques is a sponsor)

The problem with event/organization sponsorship is the cost, limited schedule and geographically small area of viewers. You have to remember the Xgames are only 1 week long. Furthermore, the only people seeing the product are the attendees. In order to have a presenting position on any signage the cost would be ENORMOUS and only for 1 week. Not many companies can dig that deep into the wallet.
Most series (like AMA SX) will charge huge money to have a presenting position. While this makes much more sense than a single event sponsorship it still has many drawbacks.
Sponsoring a team is much cheaper and still gets your name out there. Also, team green has a huge presence in the amatuer scene, so the "family friendly" choice is an added bonus for Tige.

Motorsports sponsorships are typically used as an adjunct to the primary marketing campaign. The involvement allows Tige to cross-promote and use the images and connections from the SX/MX as additional arrows in their marketing quiver at a very reasonable cost. It also allows them to try to pull some strings with the major magazines covering the sport to try and get some free press for themselves. A team sponsorship is basically just a foot in the door to an industry. The sponsorship is just the beginning of the work--the REAL work comes later in trying to figure out how to maximize the investment in homologating into the current/future marketing efforts.


(sorry for the long post, I've been through this exact topic in countless meetings, it's sort of hard to sum up pros/cons in 2 sentences)

[jwanck11]

No fair!!!!!!!!!! I've cut my hair since then

[chpthril]

Roller or in-line?

[da.bell]

Roller or in-line?

Skate boarding.

[jwanck11]

Agreed JB but it seems there is far more potential exposure (frequency and overall reach advantages) associating with an organization (X-Games) over a single sport/team.

Now if Kawi wanted to agree to make visible the mean green Tige at all events where they are a marquee manufacturer.... that would perhaps be a different story.

[Jason B]

The goal is impressions, impressions, impressions. The more times you see soemething, the more likely you are to purchase it. Period.

What they did with the team wasn't for the purpose of aligning themselves with a specific manufacturer. Every team is committed to a brand. In this instance "Team Green" is the biggest, most recognizable, most successful amatuer program in the world. They're a great team to be linked with--they just happen to be a Kawasaki team.

[tigesinaus]

in aus tige sponsors the V8 supercars. they give some of the divers a boat for the year just to have a sticker on the car or something rather small like that..

[dogbert]

I would like to see Tige focus some of their efforts on protecting the sport of wakesurfing from legislative intrusions. Wake surfing is a safe sport that is getting a "bad rap" in some areas of the country. To have a manufacturer step up and be involved in making sure that it stays legal in areas where it is and that laws against it are repealed would be really good.

For an example of what I'm talking about see this thread:

http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6789

Unfortunately, they will only be one voice and, unless they have the deep pockets of a major corporation, they won't even make a dent. None of the inboard manufacturers are that big. They'll need to band together to keep this from happening.

In reality, it's going to take people to get organized.

[LovinPowell]

I think cross marketing is great, but I also think there are opportunities without cross marketing. For instance, wakesurfing. I think it is still a very untapped opportunity that only Centurion has really jumped on, and now sanger. Tige makes a great wake on both sides, and if you are reading ww lately, you can see a lot of frustration with centurion owners over this issue. Tige with a few mods to ballast, and maybe a specially designed surfing swimstep option, could be very marketable as a great wakesurf boat. It would seem at less expense than maybe cross marketing. Just a thought.

I would like to see Tige focus some of their efforts on protecting the sport of wakesurfing from legislative intrusions. Wake surfing is a safe sport that is getting a "bad rap" in some areas of the country. To have a manufacturer step up and be involved in making sure that it stays legal in areas where it is and that laws against it are repealed would be really good.

For an example of what I'm talking about see this thread:

http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6789

[Lucky 275]

You guys make me feel like my carbon footprint is too small I'm going to start my riding and push mower and let them run all night. Gotta keep up with the Tige Jones'

[lee]

^^^ Skating would be a great place to do some advertising. There are tons of kids that skate and it definitely worked out for Tony Hawk.

Roller or in-line?

[ragboy]

We also ride. I own 9 ATVs, need to sell one. We all ride together as a family and camp and ride. I also own 2 street bikes, but have only been to 1 supercross event many moons ago also. For me, and it may be just me, I don't think aligning with a mx manufacturer would influence my purchase at all, but it may with some hard core fans. Then again, it could turn away just as many hard core fans. Hard core fans of say kawasaki may want a tige due to the promotion, but it may cause hard core yamaha and suzuki fans to stay away.

I will say, I have been influenced in my purchasing by sponsoring of local events. Like INT wakebaording, surf contests, etc. For instance, I specifically bought hyperlite wakeboards due to the podium payback program. I really want to support manufacturers that support those types of events and such.

[SPOLK69]

Not me I went to 2001 new boat show (Austin tx) and bought a racing 4 wheeler that was at the sea doo booth. It worked on me.

[Surfdad]

We currently own six motorcycles. Since high school, I've probably owned 20 different bikes, everything from an old 441 Victor to a 70's era Kawasaki 900 Z1. My current stable includes a KX250, 2 Honda XR400's, a chopper, an original sand cast 1969 Honda CB750 K0, plus a pit bike.

I've never attended a supercross in all the years I've owned motorcycles. I've watched one or two moto x's at hangtown, but that's over the course of 30 years. Personally, I'd rather ride than watch someone else do it.

I've attended other sporting events, like a Kings game. I've looked at the "no name pickup truck" in the lobby of the auditorium and mostly I've thought - I wish they hadn't put that there, it makes getting to the snack bar a hassle. I cannot recal,l at this point, the make or the model or if it was even a truck.

I don't believe I have ever purchased any durable good, or for that matter, remembered the name of a durable good from seeing it at an unrelated sporting event. While I have purchased directly related products, such as goggles, tear-offs and I did purchase the KX250, after some research, after first seeing it on display at a hillclimb, while we were out riding that day.

My