Case Study

Yamaha Motor Canada

Client Particulars: Yamaha Motor is a national company with headquarters in Toronto, a branch office in Montreal, a national parts distribution centre, seven product warehouses, a coast-to-coast network of employees, and over 500 dealers. 

Project Overview: In early 2007 Yamaha recognized that their reputation lay in the hands of influential participants in online forums. They identified the need to open a conversational channel for the influential snowmobiling community.

The Strategy: Create a complimentary platform that allowed Yamaha to engage with online influencers, gave the company a place to post important information about recalls and other sensitive product issues, as well as extend and expand upon important conversations.

Research Methodology: Through interviews with key internal stakeholders, online influencers and a thorough examination of competitive activities, our research led us to the recommendation that Yamaha Motor establish a Corporate Blog to engage the snowmobiling community online.

The Challenge: Establishing Yamaha as a credible participant in the existing online snowmobile community while developing an official corporate platform for direct-to-consumer communications.

The Results: Sled Talk was one of the first corporate blogs in Canada. Existing snowmobiling communities embraced the blog, which has above-average participation metrics. It also changed the category rules of engagement and forced competitor Ski-Doo into a reactive position on a sensitive issue since they did not have a similar platform.