‘busa blastoff

it’s a bold new world of marketing mix and tech savvy

It’s not news that 40% of Suzuki Hyabusa buyers are black or Latino. What is news is Adweek’s confirmation of an emerging strategy that sucks more resources from traditional – read print – outlays and retargets budget to digital using a combination of focused local media driving new online content.

In this case, the manufacturer’s latest moves can be interpreted as a thorough reseeding of the urban source of those sales, in an effort crafted by their digital agency Questus to capitalize on established brand id by using localized rappers to hype the bike in eleven selected markets.

Local media will then link back to an online music and graffiti site, as this hybrid rolls out over the months ahead. It’s an interesting concept which brings to mind the reopening of underproducing oil wells as the per barrel price perpares to leave our galaxy. It’s not so much mining new market as it is refining the old. At $12K for an ’08, it’s worth it to dig a little deeper in those markets that already produce 30% of sales.