The Leo Burnett Melbourne-created 'Own the racetrack' campaign emphasises the brand's high-performance sports bike heritage to differentiate Suzuki from as many as 50 competing main brands in the market.
According to Suzuki Australia's managing director Perry Morrison, the Australian motorbike market has as many as four major Japanese brands (Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki) jostling for market share against the US' Harley Davidson, European brands such as Ducati, Aprilia, KTM and BMW and a host of smaller companies, including scooter, sports bike or dirt bike manufacturers. "Add to this the wave of Korean and Chinese imports which are starting to hit our shores, and the non-Japanese ATV manufacturers like Polaris, Arctic Cat and Bombardier from North America, and you have a cluttered market indeed," he said. The challenge is for Suzuki to convey its strength as "state-of-the-art, high-tech, performance-based winning and dominant image". Morrison said the brand intended to extend this image across its new range of competition four-stroke dirt bikes as well.
Burnett account director Robb Hittner added: "The campaign was basically cleaned up - providing a fresher, cleaner look, one that would stand out among the competition.
The agency picked up Suzuki's brief in September.