If you’ve ever wanted to hurl after being ambushed by one American Chopper promo too many on the seriously misleading Discovery Channel, relief is at hand. Definitely at hand. On March 25, Discovery International airs Birth of a Racer, chronicling the Portland, Oregon based Team Motoczysz’ shoestring and a prayer entry into the extremely high altitude world of GP racing.
Monthly Archives: February 2008
indy – brave expectations amid challenges
We’re off to Indy tomorrow, where the forecast includes single-digit lows. Hmmmm, guess I’ll pack an extra sweater.
News of White Brothers closing their doors is just one of many news ripples we’re expecting in what’s shaping up to be a bellwether year. I’m anxious to find out how the Asian tsunami of anything other than full sized bikes is playing out. ATVs, SXSs, scooters, pit bikes – all flooding our shores in record numbers, with identical undecipherable logo plays, ridiculous brand labels and a parts and service problem that paints all imports with the same brush.
Marketing’s all about perception and regardless of how efficient the back end manufacturing processes, it’s the sell that wins the day. Will there be any interest in delivering messages that connect, or business as usual as defined by those who don’t shop trying to connect with those who do? We’ll see.
brand? or category?
Think of chocolate, think of Hershey. Buy chocolate, buy M&Ms. Own the brand, lose the category. As a powersports industry that’s already feeling the approaching recession wonders what to do, one approach might be to consider what’s more important – brand, or category? Is there a difference? You bet. And how you define your marketing approach may determine whether your product lives or dies.
want fries with that?
Harley’s Hog Club notwithstanding, snorting pig brains might cause, among other things, numbness and weakness in the extremities.
According to a story in the Washington Post, some of the folks working at Quality Pork Processor’s “head table” reported the symptoms after, um, using compressed air to remove the deceased porker’s former thought processor, a process referred to as “blowing brains” which researchers now think may have atomized some of the material that was subsequently inhaled.
Everything but the oink? You betcha. The product is shipped to, among other recipients, Korea and China.
late braking
Google tapped Troy Lee for a mc race calendar widget as part of their new iGoogle home page customization tools package. Whew! Part of iGoogle themes, readers will be able to pick and choose the modules they want displayed – I guess Googler’s don’t let their friends drive Yahoos.
branding iron update
With all the talk these days about branding this and extending that I thought I’d take a look at what used to be called positioning. For powersports marketers, the implications are clear. Get an overview here or an indepth look at how one successful chain achieved their marketplace makeover here.
a really super bowl
I’m still enjoying the aftermath of LSU’s whuppin’ of Ohio State so the lure of the Giants finishing a come from behind season to topple the Pats wasn’t that much on my radar. Until I heard who the halftime entertainment was.
Over 20 years ago I got a gig shooting Tom Petty in the most unlikely setting; a penthouse balcony overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. You can read about it over on the web.