WDA have been commissioned to create a new Yamaha Ad Campaign to capitalise on the media storm created by their new Yamaha MT09 Tracer. The bike received rave reviews from the World’s assembled press at launch in Málaga Spain, the latest model variant of Europe’s third best selling motorcycle; and a very important model for the brand here in the UK.

In-line with the Dark Side Tour WDA helped deliver last summer, the aim was to give our audience the complete Yamaha experience, which meant getting riders into the saddle and on the gas rather than just looking through the dealership window. This involved putting Tracer ‘TEST BIKE’ liveried machines into the considerable dealer network, and a promotional campaign to create demand for the test ride opportunity.

‘MORE THAN JUST TORQUE’ Yamaha Ad Campaign

Our solution ‘MORE THAN JUST TORQUE’ worked on a number of levels, most obviously in leveraging the topical positive press reviews utilising a series of the best quotes from the UK’s leading specialist press titles. The idea being to invite the audience to ‘ride it for themselves’ and discover that this bike lives up to – and indeed exceeds – the hype.

The slogan gave us the opportunity to remind the audience what the ‘MT’ model acronym stands for (‘Masters of Torque’) something not widely known but which perfectly sums up the unique triple cylinder powered machine. ‘MORE THAN JUST TORQUE’ also enabled us to position the Tracer as a bike which sits slightly above the ‘base’ MT in terms of price point, and one which is aimed at the slightly different Touring market.

In addition to conceiving the core campaign concept, WDA were tasked with creating the official ‘Test Bike’ branding, and with writing, designing and producing a range of promotional materials for the dealership, and various advertising positions – both print digital. Due to time pressures Yamaha required the whole campaign to be turned around in about a week, which we were able to accommodate.

Yamaha’s continued road to sales success

WDA are proud to continue to support Yamaha and are thrilled to be part of the brands ‘come-back’; with latest Motor Cycle Industry Association figures showing Yamaha now occupying second spot in the UK manufacturers top 10 with sales UP 20% on the previous year and market share increased by 13%. As multiple winners ourselves(!) we’d also like to congratulate them on ‘doing the double’ at the recent BDN motorcycle industry awards – A Motorcycle Franchise of the Year award, and NMDA Manufacturer of the Year Award.

WDA moved up another gear this month when we were awarded Recommended Agency Status. RAR has become the default industry authority amongst  brand owners and marketing managers looking for agencies with independently ratified credentials who follow best practice and are highly rated by existing clientele. Only agencies which have been very highly rated above a set quality threshold by at least three of their clients within the last 12 months become Recommended Agencies.

“WDA are absolutely thrilled to have achieved Recommended Agency status as being on the RAR roster creates a whole range of new business generating opportunities amongst registered brand owners looking for accredited agencies.” commented Managing Director Lee Waterhouse. “This is great for us, but the main reason we decided to apply for RAR was to have what we believe are exceptional credentials independently ratified by a trusted independent body. Meeting the rigorous selection criteria will hopefully give our existing clients that extra confidence factor.

RAR also gave us the chance to see how existing clients rated us on a whole range of things which is invaluable feedback and enables us to identify areas we can target for improvement.”

Read more about RAR at: www.agencyregister.co.uk/about

WDA were awarded our sixth accolade at the annual BDN Trade Industry Awards ceremony held at Europe’s premier trade exhibition the Expo Show on the 23rd January 2011.

‘Best Trade Advertising 2011′ was accepted by our client Shaun Leonard, co-owner of Scorpion Exhausts’.

“Quality is at the core of our entire organisation,” said an excited Shaun. “In fact as our competition continue to move production to Asia, we have actually bucked the trend in bringing what small parts of manufacturing were being carried out in Europe, BACK into the UK to better control quality.

However, our obsession with the product meant we sometimes overlooked marketing and branding. We eventually realised that strong brands live in the customers mind not within the features list of the product; and thanks to the efforts of WDA we now believe we have both.

This award is a great launching off point for a planned 2011 marketing push within the motorcycle market; and sends out a clear message that Scorpion are back on top!”

The Best Trade Advertising award follows a win in the same category last year and a merit in 2009; and will sit alongside WDA’s other silverware including a hat-trick of outright wins in the Best consumer category in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

“WDA have really enjoyed working with Scorpion on the rebrand”. Says WDA’s Lee Waterhouse “As a user of the product it’s great to back a brand that I really believe in. The Red Power positioning gives Scorpion real differentiation in todays crowded market place and the new fresh, clean visual style is a credit to our creative team.

British Dealer News and the Expo event carry huge clout within the motorcycle industry and to be recognised by them with this award further boosts our reputation for ‘Building Brilliant Brands’, and encourages excellence amongst the team.”