ggirlballa
10-24-2006, 12:19 AM
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/money/homepage/article_1325164.php
Etnies landed two big deals for its annual skateboarding contest – Etnies' biggest domestic event promoting the sport.
The skateboard brand hired the Beastie Boys to perform Saturday at the contest, which kicks off today and last year attracted more than 12,000 people over three days. It's held at the Etnies skate park in Lake Forest, where Sole Technology, parent company of Etnies, is headquartered.
And then it signed up KROQ to promote the 2,500 free concert tickets that are given away at stores selling its products.
The event is "an opportunity to reach new consumers in an authentic way through skateboarding and music," said Eladio Correa, Etnies brand marketing manager.
Below, Correa talks more about the Sole Technology event. Last year, the company pulled in roughly $200 million in sales worldwide.
Q. The contest is called Etnies GvR (Goofy vs. Regular). What is that?
A. Left-foot forward is a regular (foot stance) in skateboarding. That's when the skateboarder puts his left foot first on the front part of the skateboard and pushes off with his right foot. Right foot forward is called goofy. Left foot forward might be called regular because it's more common. Skateboarding has had both stances regular and goofy since it began. This year's contestants include Ryan Sheckler and Arto Saari, who are both regular-foot skateboarders.
Q. How did you land such a big band?
A. In the past, we went with emerging and young artists such as Contribution. But since this year is the tie breaker – regular footers won the first year and goofy footers won the second year – we thought we would step it up. Someone in the Sole Technology marketing department has a close friend that is friends with one of the Beastie Boys.
Q. How much did it cost Etnies to get Beastie Boys?
A. It wasn't something ridiculous. It was a good deal.
Q. How and why did you get KROQ to promote the free concert tickets over the radio and drive its van to some retail shops to hand out the tickets?
A. KROQ is familiar with Etnies, but it helped that someone on the Beastie Boys management team knew someone at KROQ. It's one of the more popular radio stations for our (target audience.) We wanted to drive consumers to stores that sell Etnies. Almost instantly (after KROQ announced the free tickets at Active Ride Shop in Orange), the store filled with kids asking for the tickets. About 300 tickets were given away on Oct. 12. They spent time within the store and I'm sure it generated business for the store.
Q. Why didn't you charge for the Beastie Boys tickets?
A. The event is to promote skateboarding and we wanted to give back to the people who support our brand, such as retailers and consumers.
:cool:
Etnies landed two big deals for its annual skateboarding contest – Etnies' biggest domestic event promoting the sport.
The skateboard brand hired the Beastie Boys to perform Saturday at the contest, which kicks off today and last year attracted more than 12,000 people over three days. It's held at the Etnies skate park in Lake Forest, where Sole Technology, parent company of Etnies, is headquartered.
And then it signed up KROQ to promote the 2,500 free concert tickets that are given away at stores selling its products.
The event is "an opportunity to reach new consumers in an authentic way through skateboarding and music," said Eladio Correa, Etnies brand marketing manager.
Below, Correa talks more about the Sole Technology event. Last year, the company pulled in roughly $200 million in sales worldwide.
Q. The contest is called Etnies GvR (Goofy vs. Regular). What is that?
A. Left-foot forward is a regular (foot stance) in skateboarding. That's when the skateboarder puts his left foot first on the front part of the skateboard and pushes off with his right foot. Right foot forward is called goofy. Left foot forward might be called regular because it's more common. Skateboarding has had both stances regular and goofy since it began. This year's contestants include Ryan Sheckler and Arto Saari, who are both regular-foot skateboarders.
Q. How did you land such a big band?
A. In the past, we went with emerging and young artists such as Contribution. But since this year is the tie breaker – regular footers won the first year and goofy footers won the second year – we thought we would step it up. Someone in the Sole Technology marketing department has a close friend that is friends with one of the Beastie Boys.
Q. How much did it cost Etnies to get Beastie Boys?
A. It wasn't something ridiculous. It was a good deal.
Q. How and why did you get KROQ to promote the free concert tickets over the radio and drive its van to some retail shops to hand out the tickets?
A. KROQ is familiar with Etnies, but it helped that someone on the Beastie Boys management team knew someone at KROQ. It's one of the more popular radio stations for our (target audience.) We wanted to drive consumers to stores that sell Etnies. Almost instantly (after KROQ announced the free tickets at Active Ride Shop in Orange), the store filled with kids asking for the tickets. About 300 tickets were given away on Oct. 12. They spent time within the store and I'm sure it generated business for the store.
Q. Why didn't you charge for the Beastie Boys tickets?
A. The event is to promote skateboarding and we wanted to give back to the people who support our brand, such as retailers and consumers.
:cool: