The higher visibility and youthful appeal of off-road motorsports is enticing OEM sponsorship at unprecedented levels. Volkswagen
used the recent Baja 500 to demonstrate the toughness (Photo Courtesy of Volkswagen)
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As we here at Off-Road Business never tire of pointing out, off-roading has grown to represent a $4 billion-plus industry, well on its way to an estimated
$5.5 billion by 2010. Obviously, this reflects dramatic economic progress since its beginnings in the 1950s and "commercialization"
in the 1970s. But behind the dollar figures, there's an even more dynamic story taking shape: off-road marketing is evolving
in new and exciting ways.
Little more than a decade ago, off-roading was considered a small, subset niche of the greater aftermarket. Its marketing
communications were confined to flyers, brochures, catalogs and minimalist print ads in a handful of motoring publications.
By contrast, today's off-road marketing is an increasingly sophisticated multi-media affair commanding fresh attention from
an ever-broadening range of interests.
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE
Fuel efficiency and turbo-diesel prowess of its Touareg line. Chryslers Mopar division pinned similar hopes on its first-ever
official foray into the Baja 1000 (Photo Courtesy of Mopar)
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"Off-roading in the minds of some marketing managers has become a trend to attach to, much like trends and influencers from
earlier decades," observes Don Fall, president and CEO, Fall Advertising, whose agency has been instrumental in developing
ad campaigns for some of the industry's heaviest-hitters since the 1970s. "The psychology of finding and linking with trends
appears to be what's happening in the off-road world as major brands are tie-wrapping their names to off-road-associated products.
Product companies like energy drinks and other non-automotive companies are doing exactly what they should be doing–attaching
themselves to events that reflect lifestyle shifts."
Fall notes that in the early days marketing plans for off-road companies concentrated on a core circle of enthusiasts, built
on word-of-mouth to reach their friends, and ultimately targeted "linked markets" such as hunting, fishing and construction
for expansion. He says those principles haven't changed but "improved perhaps because marketers today use more sophisticated
methods to target their messages."
Transamerican Auto Parts Director of Marketing Rob Forman agrees: "If anything's changed, there's been a shift to not just
online advertising but online informational systems. You've also seen a big shift toward electronic media like television
and radio."
