Mountain Dew is shining the wheels of its skateboards in preparation for the May kick off of the Mountain Dew Free Flow Tour. Now in its second year, the grassroots skateboarding hoopla increased the number of skateboard parks it will visit from 12 to 18.
At each stop, 120 local kids can participate in a jam-style contest for a spot on the brand’s Free Flow Skateboard team. Mountain Dew tries to have a professional skater help judge at each event, Heidi Sandreuter, sports marketing manager at Mountain Dew, said.
Skaters from three different age groups will be chosen at each event. Team members receive a $250 “skate scholarship,” a one-year supply of Mountain Dew, product from tour partners, as well as a featured spot at http://www.mountaindew.com.
In addition to last year’s Free Flow Skateboard team members, this year’s crop of 54 skaters will serve as brand ambassadors and receive packages of product, such as the new Mountain Dew flavor, Live Wire, launching Memorial Day weekend.
“We make sure when we have a new product coming out, that we send them cases of it,” Sandreuter said. “This way, team members get the inside scoop and can tell their friends about it.”
El Segundo, CA-based World Industries, a manufacturer and distributor of skateboards, clothing and accessories joins incumbent Vans, Santa Fe Springs, CA, as a tour partner.
The Mountain Dew Free Flow Tour four-man road crew of amateur skaters travels in a 30-foot trailer and will visit retail shops and other skate spots across the nation as it stops in cities including Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles and Phoenix. Tour attendees can meet the skaters, check out skateboarding DVDs and video games, sample Mountain Dew and walk off with giveaways.
Mountain Dew, a brand from Purchase, NY-based Pepsi, is also a top sponsor of the Vans Triple Crown Series and the Summer and Winter X Games.
“We’re vertically integrating our activity,” Sandreuter said. “With the X Games and the Vans Triple Crown we have national and regional sponsorships and with this we can drill down the sponsorship in 18 cities and support these kids’ passions.”
Print ads in skateboarding and youth magazines support as well as radio spots. Fuse Marketing, Burlington, VT, handles the 5-month tour for Mountain Dew.
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