When you are a legendary skateboarder with a career spanning collection of skate decks, awards, VHS tapes, and shoes, what do you do? Rent a self-storage unit and become a pitchman, of course.
Santa Monica, CA-based StorQuest Self Storage recently debuted a new digital marketing campaign featuring champion skater Tony Hawk. To learn more about how the partnership came together, the SpareFoot Storage Beat spoke with Michelle Bakva, VP of Marketing for The William Warren Group, parent company of StorQuest.
How did the sponsorship with Tony Hawk come together? Was he already a customer?
Tony was in need of additional space to store some of his collectables and valued possessions. From turning pro at age 14 to redefining a sport; from video game character to entrepreneur and philanthropist, Tony’s journey has been an incredible one. And filled with incredible memorabilia and iconic pieces collected along the way. He had seen the partnership we’d formed with surfer Kelly Slater a few years ago, and felt like there was great synergies between our Make Room for Awesome approach and brand philosophy. We also saw an opportunity to amplify our messaging through Tony’s voice, with over 13 million social followers, and serve as an extension of our brand.
Did you work with an agency to put the campaign together? Which one?
Tony has his own production company, so our in-house marketing team strategized directly with his team to create the video and photography. If you’ve ever wondered what the first ever X Games medal looks like, which shoe design Tony regrets the most, or wanted to see the greatest skateboarder who ever lived try to fit a massive gondola into a storage unit – you’re going to love this as much as we did.
In what ways did you think Hawk would be an ideal spokesperson, as far as relatable to your customer base?
Tony’s career has spanned for decades and truly embodies the StorQuest “live big” spirit. We were stoked that Tony trusted StorQuest Self Storage with his most valued possessions, accolades and conversation pieces. From skate decks to art prints, from gold medals to shoe prototypes, and from action figures to larger-than-life checks for charitable causes, Tony has truly lived a “Life Worth Storing” – which we used to coin the tagline for this campaign.
How would you gouge the response so far?
The campaign was really designed to drive brand awareness through our digital marketing platforms and amplify our guest experience throughout the StorQuest Journey. We’ve seen an incredible amount of audience engagement (views, likes comments, shares and reshares) and interaction through all of our social platforms, with the early on-set of the campaign launch.
Are you airing anything on radio or TV in connection with this campaign or anything similar?
We’re currently promoting the campaign through our digital marketing and social media channels, as we typically see the highest level of quality engagements and response through our owned media.
