Polaris Challenges ATV Competitors to a Showdown » QUADCRAZY ATV Community Forum

admin · 01-07-2007, 08:37 PM

October 18, 2006

By Steve Miller

DETROIT -- In an unprecedented yet creative attempt to draw attention and customers to his brand, Polaris CEO Tom Tiller has challenged the CEOs of his competition in the ATV segment, including Suzuki, Honda and Arctic Cat, to a head-to-head, all-terrain vehicle driving contest to prove who really makes the toughest vehicles.

"The Duel" proposition from the Medina, Minn., company is straight up: Any of the CEOs who accept the challenge will gather in Las Vegas on Nov. 16 and compete on a track built by Pro-Motion Motorsports, which builds EnduroCross tracks. Each CEO is being asked to ride his top-of-the-line model.

There is no print element to the campaign, which is banking on its own premise as a selling point. A lone 30-second broadcast spot will show up on Versus, formerly the Outdoor Life Network, and banners showing the spot that will run through Nov 13 primarily at ATV enthusiast sites, including ATVscene.com, ATVsource.com and off-road.com.

The creative from McKinney, Durham, NC, features black-and-white posters with the 45-year-old Tiller’s mug, along with the date and place of the battle, to be handed out and posted at ATV racing events and in Polaris dealerships. Stickers with "The Duel" offer two crossed wrenches, a motorhead version of a pirates’ Jolly Roger skull and crossbones.

A Web site, www.polarisduel.com, chronicles any news on the event and features the track design, the vehicles that will be involved and a blog site, as well as an online game, Declare-a-Duel, which allows users to engage in an online ATV riding challenge against each other. Winners receive a certificate in PDF form that claims them the "world’s most awesome mullet," a play on the cliché of ATV enthusiasts as "Red state yahoos."

The blog spot has already yielded remarks both disparaging ("What a stupid marketing ploy. A 44-year-old CEO who probably rides an ATV regularly against a bunch of senior citizens who have never even seen the ATVs their companies produce") and fawning ("DUDE! This is awesome! I can’t wait for the 800 [a Polaris model] to wipe the floor with the other CEOs!!!")

"This is a viral campaign because most of our customers don’t want to be shouted at anyway," said Tiller, who has yet to hear back from his contemporaries. They have until Friday to respond, but "I really have no idea what to expect. I hope they all take us up on this."

There are contingencies—unrevealed at this point—for a blanket no-show, but even without a contentious race, the effort has accomplished what it set out to do.

The ATV advertising market has a sameness that the ad agency is hoping to disrupt, said David Baldwin, executive marketing director at McKinney.
"It all says the same thing, 'we make the world’s toughest, strongest, blankest' ATVs," Baldwin said.

Baldwin and his team sought to create a campaign that "would start a conversation," and at the same time see who might take them up on a contest of machines.

"I would imagine there are conference rooms abuzz saying, 'What the hell do we do?'" Baldwin said.

Or not.

"We’re obviously not going to attend," said John Tranby, marketing communications manager for Arctic Cat. "Our CEO doesn’t have the time to help them with their publicity stunt."

A rep at Kawasaki said "I have not heard that anyone is going to accept," while calls to several other invitees by Brandweek were not returned.

Tiller’s strategy is to build some brand awareness on the back of his better-heeled foes, who can easily outspend him; last year, Polaris spent $7.5 million on advertising for its ATV line, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus, while Honda spent around $11 million on its ATVs and Yamaha spent $15 million. The overall ATV industry spent $45 million in 2005.

"These other companies can outspend us 20-1 and there’s not a lot we can do about it," Tiller said. "This thing could get ugly and we could get beat and have to lick our wounds. But another possibility is that we can demonstrate in a credible way that we do build the world’s toughest products and if you are considering buying an ATV, we want you to take a look at a Polaris."