Yamaha Motor Corporation

Something fast, something new, something four-stroke, something blue. In the early years of my career, I cut my teeth on the Yamaha Motor Corporation account and quickly became obsessed with motorsportmarketing and brand strategy. While working with Yamaha to develop key launch strategies for all their full line of products, I led both project management and brand strategy initiatives for cruiser, sportbike, ATV, snowmobiles and Yamaha generators. My primary role and largest initiative while working with Yamaha was the development and launch strategy for the Yamaha RX-1, which at the time, was the first snowmobile to market with a four-stroke engine. This revolutionary machine was a mixture of the technology and power of the Yamaha YZF-R1 sport bike and Yamaha snowmobile prowess. With both trail and mountain models being launched to a dealer network who had never seen a four-stroke snowmobile, the launch strategy was crucial.

Utilizing clandestine testing and aggressive creative, we developed a launch and distribution initiative that took the RX-1 to multiple levels of brand communication. From traditional media executions to dealer support and in-store brand communication programs, the RX-1 was born in Las Vegas at the Yamaha Annual Dealer Meeting and went global, becoming one of the fastest selling snowmobiles in Yamaha to date.