Moto Initiative Sponsorship Proposal

MOTO INITATIVE

MOTOINITIATIVE.com [email protected] 1

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Sponsorship Proposal MOTOINITIATIVE January, 2010

MOTO INITATIVE


THE IDEA

Four guys. A motorcycle trip from Alaska to Argentina. A cultural adventure. A digital media strategy.

On August 1, 2010, Dashiell, Wheeler, Damian, and Jonny will ship out from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to kick off over

20 thousand miles of web-casted Pan-Americanism via motorcycle. After crossing Alaska, the route will primarily

trace the western coast of the Americas before traversing South America from Lima, Peru to Florianopolis, Brazil,

and proceeding south to the final stop in Ushuaia, Argentina. Every mile will be photographed, blogged, tweeted,

and filmed. Highlights and lowlights will be broadcast daily from www.MotoInitiative.com.

The Moto Initiative experience is designed to recapture the American adventure spirit. Our ability to complete and

document the trip will show that new adventures and life-long goals can still be achieved through determination,

hard work and ingenuity. With varying educational and professional backgrounds, we share a common interest in

international travel, a commitment to making this trip happen and a combined lack of motorcycling experience.

We've already begun acquiring training, licenses, and starter bikes. We're learning motorcycle maintenance; tuning

our Spanish; lining up courses in first aid, off-road motorcycling and wilderness survival; and speccing bikes and

gear. Our personalities and commitment to pulling off the trip will form the core of the story initiated on

MotoInitiative.com and expanded by the community developed there.

The design and content of the new-media website tracking the adventure is driven by the participants' desire to

develop a community of enthusiasts who share common interests and ideas in an online forum. The content will be

the footage and comments from the trip, but the site will be defined by the spontaneous and authentic conversations

of the online community at large. Moto Initiative will benefit from the ongoing engagement, easy organization and

participation in the development of a story defined and formed by its own community.

From this interaction of the riders with a larger community, interests will be identified, expounded upon and grown

into additional content. Observations and insights will be shared as a volunteer collective is formed, comprised of

creative individuals simply seeking fun, adventure, interaction and an outlet of exchange. A culture will be born of

these traits, and affiliation with that culture is the driver of supportive participation by you as a sponsor.

The sincere efforts of our passionate group, the broad appeal of an exciting adventure and new media sources

utilized to develop and share this story motivates and enables this undertaking.

Submitted To: BMW of North America, LLC Attn: Marketing Department P.O. Box 1227 Westwood, NJ 07675 Phone: (201) 307-4000

Submitted by: Moto Initiative 139 Norfolk Street New York, NY 10002 Phone: (917) 664-0670 Email: [email protected]

MOTO INITATIVE


THE ADVENTURE

MOTO INITATIVE


WEBSITE

Blog posts, tweets, photos and videos from the development and execution of the trip will form the core of a

community engaged in cultural exploration. Community dialogue will grow from our original content, developing

new topics and expanding the scope of the discussion.

Similar trips have been done, and some have been documented online, but none have achieved the polished

interface, sustained traffic and active networked community that motoinitiative.com plans to deliver.

As four young travel enthusiasts with relevant and diverse experiences, we appeal to sought-after demographics

within and beyond communities inspired by adventure travel. Our existing networks, both professional and personal,

are representative of these same populations.

MOTO INITATIVE


THE OPPORTUNITY

SPONSORSHIP CONCEPT The marketing opportunity offered through affiliation and underwriting of the Moto

Initiative project is provided by the passion of our group, the broad appeal of our exciting adventure which will

attract and build a diverse global community, and the new media sources we intend to leverage in collaboration with

our own robust digital platform to share our story.

As enthusiasts of the Moto Initiative concept foremost, we bring to our work a passion that would be difficult to

sincerely achieve in an otherwise purely professional pursuit. We will be sharing our personal perspectives,

enveloping ourselves in every element of the adventure and conducting interactions, which will facilitate the

development of our community. New media technologies make it possible to host this community; enabling the

interaction of a geographically dispersed, yet cohesive connected network that can share common interests and

collectively develop an engaging experience. From a commercial perspective, this community will represent a

substantial niche market. However, the population won't view themselves as a "market", but as a network with

complementary interests and a drive to share them with like-minded people.

NEW MEDIA OFFERING Our dedication to new media is driven by the desire to interact with a community sharing

common interests and ideas, identifiable by the spontaneous and authentic feel of the conversation.

Most companies have some form of web presence and many are involved in new media. However, what is often

lacking from this presence is the authentic interaction that social media offers, authenticity that drives dedication to

many of the extensively utilized online platforms. New media is not a new place to broadcast traditional media

content, but a place to foster interactions of the most sincere form; unsolicited communities, voluntarily bound by

common interests and connections. Once developed, new media platforms are predisposed to viral content because

of the number of participants and the ease of access. What Moto Initiative offers is a well produced and intricately

designed site, hosting an engaged community that accommodates this viral potential in a controlled and clean form,

with the association of an underwriting brand.

TRADITIONAL MEDIA V. NEW MEDIA Compared to the traditional variety, new media has the benefits of ongoing

engagement, easy customization, organized markets and committed audiences seeking entertainment and

information in the form of real interactions with other proactive participants.

In traditional media, advertisers have a very limited time frame in which to reach and influence the audience. With

digital media that time frame has the potential to grow exponentially. In social media, with an engaged and

enthusiastic audience, that time frame can be infinite. With a new media based interactive platform, the medium is

owned, customizable, continually changing and exists as long as the owner chooses. This far outshines the

traditional media model of renting an audience from a media source and abiding by their terms, format and timing.

The internet has put markets in control, but they are still reachable and still listening, just differently. In fact, if

properly approached, they are more accessible then ever. They are less structured and controlled, but more powerful

and permanent. Underwriting a community of interest also offers a substantial advantage over search advertising,

which simply leads consumers to products they already know they want. Associating with a community of engaged

enthusiasts offers a powerful tool for exposing products to an audience that didn't know they wanted them. This

approach establishes the associated sponsor as an advocate for the market's interests.

MOTO INITATIVE


PARTICIPANT APPEAL There are many aspects of the Moto Initiative adventure that could individually and/or

collectively appeal to participants. Foremost is the desire to be connected to an authentic community engaged in the

development of a story around our shared interests and efforts.

The participants in Moto Initiative will be drawn in by the adventure, by their interest in motorcycling, travel,

culture, technology, photography and film, or by any other aspect of the concept that initially appeals. From within

the story the conversations will organically drift, covering these and many new topics, to as granular a level as one

cares to observe and drawing in more participants along the way. The subjectivity apparent in these stories

establishes the participants as being real, foremost fulfilling their desire to be involved. This authenticity is

recognized by all and makes it a comfortable place to communicate. The interaction in these communities is based

on trust, any attempt to unduly influence the conversation could be construed as a violation and will alienate

members. The result is a uniquely involved story defined as much by the authentic character of the message as the

content. This story is based on experiences presented creatively, which encourages imagination and engagement.

UNDERWRITING & SPONSORSHIP BENEFITS The value of a sponsorship arrangement is achieved through access to

and affiliation with a uniquely formulated market interacting as a freely associated community. The collective

knowledge of this crowd and the development of a fun, creative story establishes a valuable culture with many

insights to be taken away. Aligning a brand with the power of that movement allows the brand to enjoy affiliation

with its traits.

Sponsorship of the Moto Initiative project may initially seem limiting based on the requirement of presenting an

authentic voice absent of traditional advertising rhetoric. However, a company that understands this requirement is

able to access a focused market of individuals that are emotionally involved, offering extensive opportunities for

insight and exposure. The inherent instinct of curiosity will drive online and on-route viewers to consider

purchasing the quality products employed in completing or supporting the Moto Initiative adventure. Market

research achieved through input from the community will be more telling than inferences from their respective

demographic stereotypes. The conversations amongst customers hosted by web-based companies, e.g. Amazon,

drive sales because people trust the wisdom of the crowd and enjoy the conversation therein; an effect leveraged in

our model. This is more effective than messaging and pushing products based on over-generalized and inaccurate

demographic information. These are real individuals opining amongst peers of myriad mutual interests and

informative differences. Tapping into these micro-markets of targeted customer groupings will provide significant

exposure to truly customized products, services or messages and allow sponsoring companies to take away very

specific market intelligence. The company will be inextricably linked with the community it underwrites, reflecting

on the perception of corporate culture. A fun, creative, interactive, volunteer community of enthusiasts will draw

like-minded people into the culture of the company supporting it and positively affect those already there.

Additionally, the extensive real time content being created offers many opportunities for press coverage of the

company and places to link to company web pages. The unsolicited customers that are reached through social

platforms can become ambassadors for the company because they've developed a personal attachment through their

interaction.

MOTO INITATIVE


SPONSORSHIP TYPES

There are a broad range of sponsorship and marketing opportunities that could provide value to the sponsoring

company, while enhancing the Moto Initiative experience for all participants. We will consider the following high-

level marketing models individually or packaged together, as well as any additional marketing content ideas. Our

goal is to fund Moto Initiative, while facilitating the successful interaction between sponsors and the Moto Initiative

community.

Products, services and brand logos in both Moto Initiative site content and along the trip route

• Brand logos will appear on all motorcycles, equipment and clothing.

• Products, services and brand will appear in Moto Initiative image, video, and written content, as well as the

physical presence along the route.

• Riders will actively interact with individuals and groups encountered promoting products and services.

Sponsor Benefits

• “Caravan Affect” - Four identically branded bikes and riders traveling together will magnify the impact

exponentially.

• The performance capabilities of your products and services will be demonstrated to the entire online

community and to consumers in 17 countries in North, Central and South American markets.

• Extremely effective passive presentation of products, services and brand.

• Dedicated use of available retail outlets for required products along the route.

Products and services demonstrated and employed to deliver content

• Performance capabilities will be demonstrated and presented.

• Integrating the use of products and services in the field to deliver digital content online.

• Cross-branding capabilities to deliver content, while performing their intended services.

Sponsor Benefits

• Expanding the range of consumers who are exposed to and ultimately use your products and services.

• Expanding brand identity.

Traditional and New Media website advertising

• Opportunity for full site, integrated branding campaign.

• Standard advertising forms such as Banners, Badges, Direct Links, Branded Widgets and Branded Feeds.

Sponsor Benefits

• Connection to a community of micro-targeted participants.

• Targeted marketing based on location and demographic of audiences encountered along the route.

• Community members can become brand ambassadors for trusted products and services.

• Association with sophisticated new media technologies and community networking tools.

Content for traditional advertising campaigns

• Moto Initiative content used in development of a new campaign.

• Integration of Moto Initiative content into existing campaigns.

Sponsor Benefits

• Present products, services and brand in the real life environment to which they are aimed.

• Connect products and brands to an appealing adventure trip.

• Expand the online connection to the traditional advertising space.

MOTO INITATIVE


THE TEAM

Collectively having visited all continents save Antarctica and 50+ countries, our love for the many rewarding

experiences of travel, our friendships, and our diverse professional backgrounds have driven us to conceive, pursue,

and complete the Moto Initiative adventure.

Damian lives in New York City and works with a design firm specializing in attracting exposure for events,

exhibitions, and interactive storefronts. Interests in marketing, media, and design have shaped and inspired past and

present work experiences.

Wheeler lives in Boston and works for a clean-tech energy firm with a deep interest smart grid technologies and

applications. Growing up with in rural Vermont, Wheeler developed an appreciation for the outdoors, travel and

mechanics; specifically bikes, motorcycles and cars.

Jonathan lives in New York City working for an asset management consulting firm. Jonny has developed deep

passion for travel and cultural understanding, having spent six months aboard a 180 foot Barquentine sailing vessel

studying insular cultures of the Caribbean and South Pacific, like those of the Pitcairnese and native Easter

Islanders. Jonathan grew up between Northern New Jersey and Eastern France

Dashiell lives in New York City and is a trained development economist focused on emerging markets and

international development. His wide-ranging professional experience has enforced the concept that global events

have to be understood in the local context. Relocating frequently, traveling has been one of the few constants in his

life, having lived on three continents and traveled to five.

WHEELER BOYD-BOFFA LOCATION Boston, MA

BIRTHDAY February 3, 1981

HOMETOWN Worcester, VT

EDUCATION Mechanical Engineering

EXPERIENCE Clean energy, Engineering consulting

DAMIAN BOYD-BOFFA

LOCATION New York, NY

BIRTHDAY May 1, 1983


EDUCATION Finance, International Business

EXPERIENCE New media, Marketing

JONATHAN DOOLAN LOCATION New York, NY

BIRTHDAY June 27, 1984

HOMETOWN Wyckoff, NJ

EDUCATION Economics, International Affairs

EXPERIENCE Asset Management

DASHIELL FLYNN

LOCATION New York, NY

BIRTHDAY April 16, 1977


EDUCATION Economics, Finance, International Development

EXPERIENCE Management Consulting, Strategy, Government

Documents

Moto Initiative Sponsorship Proposal