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Building brand identity used to be simple: Manufacture a good product, buy some national advertising space, add a celebrity sponsor and watch the cash roll in.
But these days consumers are increasingly fickle, and they often perceive the products they buy as an extension of their lifestyle. Today, a brand is more than just a company.
The extreme-sports market is a particularly fussy demographic. Although style and trend are still important to this group, the products they buy must be able to withstand their active lifestyle.
From skateboarding to whitewater rafting, extremists want to see first hand how a product will hold up.
Enter interactive marketing, the advertising du jour. Rather than appear on TV or in a magazine, interactive marketing takes place in the consumer's backyard and at the local amphitheater, racetrack or fairgrounds.
Vans is one of the most recognizable names in event sponsorships. Since the late '90s, the Santa Fe Springs, Calif.,-based company has created a mega-brand via national tours and amateur events.
The Vans Triple Crown Series, now in its sixth season, consists of seven different sports with three sub-events in each sport. Cosponsored by consumer heavyweights such as Mountain Dew, Playstation and Rolling Stone magazine, the Triple Crown Series allows competitors to go head to head against some of the best professional athletes in BMX, skateboarding and freestyle motocross, among other sports. Vans puts up the prize purse -- sometimes up to $2 million in cash and prizes -- for each event, which also is the focus of a twice-weekly program on Fox Sports.
"The Triple Crown series has been a fantastic vehicle in the growth and development of these sports," said Chris Strain, vice president of marketing for Vans. "As these sports become more successful, so do our brands."
Unlike other competitions, Vans' Triple...