update: feature coverage added 12/12/12
News from the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) last month raised eyebrows across the motorsports racing landscape. Not only would the Performance Racing Industry show, just purchased from event founder Steve Lewis in March, merge with upstart competitor International Motorsports Industry Show (IMIS) but rather than remain in Orlando Continue reading
For much needed insight into the confounding world of paid digital media I staked out a seat at American Advertising Federation’s Tampa chapter Doing Digital Media Right meeting when they imported Goodway Group’s COO Jay Friedman from Dallas to talk shop. Thanks to a small class size, comfortable venue, and a generous with advice accessible speaker I got plenty of big data answers to my small data questions. (Also see online spending: search vs. display)
At Goodway, the emphasis is on holistic planning. Just like the health philosophy of the same name, holistic planning encourages Continue reading
Start with a number: nearly 1.5 billion. While most – but surprisingly not all – powersports B2B media and distributors and B2C retailers have staked out claims on the most popular social media channels, actual engagement of this valuable real estate lags far behind potential. This infographic measures the reach and user engagement of the most popular trade event, distributor, and online retail vendors on Facebook and twitter. Click here for more on how powersports uses social media.
Cycle World’s introduction of their subscribed free mobile app signals the first major move of parent Bonnier since the 2011 buyout via Hearst via HFM.
This is one of a handful of titles in the powersports community and the first among major enthusiast consumer magazines to tap the growing popularity of mobile/tablet platform publishing coupled with a digital subscription rollout that may or may not gain traction. Issues run within the app, and aren’t viewable as a browser interpretation.
The app, available only via iTunes, adds to Bonnier’s growing portfolio of tablet targeted digital publishing efforts which now includes Field & Stream, Popular Photography, Flying, Popular Science, and their high-end gourmet glossy, Saveur.
What’s significant is that unlike a Flash based publishing solution, the app is easily viewed on Apple iOS devices, which represent a major and growing portion of interactive mobile publishing. Can you see a cross-link marketing connection in the works? Ad reps are standing by – CW’s going to make mighty attractive bait for Bonnier’s other mainstream enthusiast brands.
Optimized for page view on tablets and scaleable as an adaptive/responsive layout for smaller screens, I’m guessing the digital porting is positioned to take full advantage of Apple’s latest Retina displays – and that translates into photography so lavish you can just about dip your hands in.
Tablet publishing is the new frontier of print journalism, and depending on acceptance by the public will determine in large part how profitable titles will become as newstand and subscription sales continue to tumble into the abyss. Will it work? Wired and Sports Illustrated were early entrants in what can be a hugely expensive and time consuming technical task. SI recently laid off another busload of staffers, but kept photogs in place.
Interested? You’ll need an iTunes account (free) to download, but the app’s free and promises a couple of gratis teaser pubs as incentive for a full-fledged subscription. Which is why the first link attached to the eBlast ended up a clunker. Here’s a link that works.
If you think Google docs equals digital publishing, time to catch up. For more insight on the wide range of available digital formats, click here.
One thing the troubled world of powersports trade events can’t survive and still maintain a credible industry presence is the abandonment of anchored floor space by major distributors.
The increasingly anemic dealer turnout that’s plagued Expo in recent years takes another hit as the persistent rumor of Parts Unlimited and Drag Specialties departing Indy in favor of building their own corporate footprint apparently has legs.
LeMans is expected to announce a budget reallocation that shifts marketing funds from Dealer Expo to expand their own self-hosted Showcase dealer show to include bi-coastal (CA and PA) additions, each with up to 200 vendor slots, in a move that further suppresses aftermarket manufacturer participation in traditional venues.
This month’s announcement by Advanstar that the International Motorcycle Show added Indianapolis to their circuit to coincide with the annual Dealernews Dealer Expo trade only show offers a buffet of engagement oriented marketing opportunities from which to pick and choose. Here’s a short list to get the ideas flowing.
The list of resources to leverage both the existing customer base and a brand new Indy market is long, while budgets to carry out event activities can be contentious. The trick is figuring out which are affordable and offer the best opportunity for continuing the conversation.
Answering the challenge posed by upstart promoter American International Motorcycle Expo’s rival show launch, scheduled for Orlando in 2013, Advanstar’s Dealernews Dealer Expo threw down on the new kids by dropping a bombshell that goes a long way towards restoring lost luster to the long-running event.
Dealernews announced today that the co-promoted International Motorcycle Show has added Indianapolis to their popular coast-to-coast tour. The public event, to run concurrently during February’s Dealer Expo, elegantly solves the thorny question of whether or not troubled trade-only industry events should host separate consumer access to the same exhibits as a survival strategy in the face of dwindling attendance.
IMS, backed by the considerable resources of Progressive Insurance in the role as title sponsor, has long been a popular destination for tens of thousands of consumers during 12 stops annually. Next year, with top of the line venues Lucas Oil Stadium and the freshly expanded Indianapolis Convention Center hosting their respective events, the opportunities for powersports marketeers are substantial, with both B2B and B2C reach available at the same time, in non-competing, comfortable, and convenient environments. For both established lines and just out of the gate startups, it’s a golden moment to engage and promote.
Even as the ink on SEMA’s (Specialty Equipment Marketing Association) takeover of PRI (Performance Racing Industry) is still drying, that event’s tepid courtship of the two-wheeled trade has so far failed to make hearts beat faster. Meanwhile the Easyriders branded V-Twin Expo mostly Harley weekend get-together in Cincinnati two weeks pre-Indy limps along to shrinking attendance and mixed reviews.
Can Dealer Expo slam the brakes on their downward trend by convincing a reticent powersports aftermarket manufacturing community to reinvest in what has become an auction and Pan-Asian agri-scooter free trade zone? At a time when industry trade shows in general continue to time out, thanks mainly to a sluggish economy and the power of the internet, the proof may well lie in imaginative promotion. This is a great start.
See past coverage of Dealer Expo, SEMA, V-Twin Expo and PRI here.
Who says job boards have to look like crap? Alex Baylon’s popular Motorcycle Industry Jobs web site gets a fresh coat of paint and polish with a relaunch that features simpler, faster search and an easy-on-the-eyes UI overhaul.
Improvements include the ability of registered (free – woot!) job seekers to create and manage their resumes online, with the added convenience of accessing their social media channels, specifically LinkedIn, for content.
Interested? Scoot on over to motorcycleindustryjobs.com and plant your flag.
by David McMullan, International Editor of China Motor Magazine
Last Christmas I hosted the Chongqing motorcycle industry. The meeting, at my house, was a success, as most attendees agreed that they were facing the same problems when considering the future direction of the industry.
Inspired by this I started the Chongqing Motorcycle Industry Council, members of which would convene on a monthly basis in an informal fashion to discuss future export market development and technical upgrading. The council includes export clerks and managers, technical and research and development staff and of course journalists. All are agreed on an industry future through merger.
Back in 2009 Chinese motorcycle heavyweight Loncin bought out fellow manufacturers Kinlon, adding their weight to a company which already boasted a technical working relationship with BMW. This merger propelled Loncin to the status as biggest motorcycle exporter in China and was thought to be a sign of the shape of things to come. Although the motorcycle giants are safe enough in their autonomy, the smaller sized companies are busily vacuuming each other up. Continue reading
barnett backs shiny new bike magWith a masthead that reads like a Who’s Who of popular consumer oriented bike books from the last 30 years (give or take), Barnett’s BikeCraft officially stepped into the deep end this month with the print version of their previously announced custom moto mag. At a time when print’s hold on the American psyche is under intense pressure, the decision to assemble a team of high-profile displaced editorial and creative types seems counter-intuitive. But it works.
Publisher Mike Barnett’s appreciation for print extends back to when the El Paso based Harley dealer popped the cork in the late ’90s on their first vanity press project, the no-cavier-for-me beer and bbq crowd Barnett’s Magazine. Originally styled as a new and used classifieds pub pushing dealer inventory in times of scarcity, the glossier than rival Motorcycle Trader dealt mainly in V-Twin pedigrees. This lasted until the economics of sustaining a print model against a global glut no longer made sense and the move to a dot-com online edition was finalized.
At about the same time, the moto journalism talent pool was suddenly bursting at the seams, courtesy mainly of HFM’s decision to scale back – way back – on most of their North American titles before ultimately putting them on the block. With staffs at all the genre pubs slashed razor-thin, competent, experienced, premium print skill was suddenly on the market. Serendipity knocked, and a new print publishing venture featuring a fair number of Cycle World alums shepherded by long time former editor-in-chief Dave Edwards, along with notables from CW competitors, was suddenly viable.
How important is it to have experienced pros in your corner, especially for a startup? Take the treatment of all the product announcements, career snippets, random ricochets, and anecdotal memos that accumulate like dog hair under the living room sofa. Notice the runacross header with the catch-all title “Goggles”? Lacking the equivalent of refrigerator magnets, it serves as a frame for the collected odds and ends ranging from Post-Its to short essays. This took thought and skilled graphic design to arrive at a clever solution done well that looks easy yet escapes so many others.
Just eight pages in finds So-Cal designer-builder Denny Berg (left, above) profiled for his unique body of work designed and built during his tenure with aftermarket parts manufacturer Cobra. For nearly 20 years this graduate of Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design has created one innovative custom after another, each an exercise in form following function. Denny’s long been one of my favorites, widely regarded for his effortless style and laid back demeanor. Will the affable, accessible N. Dakota native ever get his own “reality” show? Uh, no. Which only means he’ll continue to inspire serious devotees of the craft with his dignity intact and his intellect secure.
Barnett’s BikeCraft features art direction courtesy of CW expat Elaine Anderson, whose signature style after nearly three decades at the helm of America’s most popular bike book is unmistakable. The inaugural (No. 1, Summer 2012) issue of the seasonal quarterly takes advantage of plenty of editorial elbow room to hilite over a dozen richly illustrated features – bobbers, trackers, cafe racers – with inspired photography. There’s plenty of room for white space friendly, easy on the eyes, open leading type design that actually encourages rather than challenging readership.
With editorial, design, and content of this caliber and the small luxury of publishing as a quarterly, I’d have liked more attention to repro specs. Stepping up to a premium paper would add an extra dimension of crispness and detail this level of creative deserves. And the glaring lack of a robust supporting web site that’s less ’90s archival and more contemporary – I’d settle for a look that’s anything this side of 2006: Rolling Stone, anyone? – means an inexplicable squandered opportunity to connect, engage, and convert. Not porting the print concept online means turning one’s back on a market the size of, well, the planet. Not to mention the whole ePub thing going on these days.
Otherwise, it’s a worthy effort for a seasoned crew embarking on a challenging voyage. Here’s hoping they can stay the course.
