Loved the adaptation from the lyrics to "All Along The Watchtower", I even think Bob Dylan would give this event a nod for originality, finding a cause, and even a marketing tie-in. This looks like everything but an advertisement but the marketing is there tied in a cause and events that we can relate to from the article "Vespa Enlists Singers For California "Expirement""...
"This is a 100% organic partnership. The artists developed the idea, including the notion of taking the message on the road on two wheels versus four," says Paolo Timoni, President/CEO of Piaggio Group Americas. "They approached Vespa about the idea of working together. We thought it was a perfect match and a complement to our own ongoing Vespanomics campaign."
Timoni says California Vespa dealers along the travel route are lending a hand by helping to promote the concerts, events and the artists' important message.
Scooter sales benefited immensely last year from record high gasoline prices, while motorcycle sales slipped. Sales of Vespa and Piaggio scooters grew 60% last year, and the brand's market share rose 3.4% in 2008 to 27.7% of the U.S. scooter market. Overall scooter sales from all brands rose 41.5% last year in the U.S.
"Last year, sales grew enormously as consumers shifted to scooters to ease pain at the gas pump," says Timoni. "Gas is cheap again -- for now -- but the money-saving chapter of the scooter ownership story resonates just as much."
Timoni says Vespa will do a summer campaign focused on the financial benefits of owning a scooter. The campaign will bear the banner: "Runs on a nickel, turns on a dime."
"Nearly 70% of Americans own two or more vehicles, and our message to them is 'reduce your wheel count -- swap just one set of four wheels for two and save up to $6000 per year,'" he says."
Great marketing tie in, can you replicate it in your market?