Tie Traditional Sport to Gen-X: Give em skateboards…

The traditional major team sports continue to fight the battle as to how they can continue to engage a younger audience that is growing up less with stick and ball and more with thrill-seeking individual sports these days. As the X-Games and Gravity Games rise in popularity for their generation, baseball, hoops and football have to find ways to keep those young people engaged in some way, if not always playing then coming to games or following casually. A recent piece in Fast Company provided a nice little look into one way to provide Gen-X’ers with a little incentive to follow team sports…a branded skateboard giveaway.

Skateboards, like ripsticks and snowboards, are in many way. the “vehicle of choice” for a new generation of young people, so many brands are finding ways to theme boards and use them as cost-efficient mass market giveaways and promotions. The Cincinnati Reds had their most effective promotion thus far in 2010, giving away 10,000 Reds-branded skateboards this spring. While just slighly more costly per piece than popular bobbleheads and not as visible as caps or tee-shirts, the boards provide a constant and subtle reminder to young people about their team, even when they are not following every minute. It is a bit of a “if you can’t beat em join em” idea, but the boards create an affinity to the Reds for a group that may not have a real reason to connect with the team. Of course the boards can also be co-branded with a sponsor to ease the burden, and maybe finding a brand that will look to use a call to action for the skateboarders would be another extension of a team-branded skateboard promotion. Also maybe there is an opportunity to bring in x-Games athletes for a meet and greet at a game as well, further tieing the team to the young audience.

Regardless, the branded skateboard giveaway is a smart one as teams look to tie to Gen-X, and the Reds made a solid connection with some young potential fans of the future.