Yamaha Motor Australia has gradually introduced its bLU cRU initiative throughout 2016, placing a heavy emphasis on it with its factory-supported teams and now with the wider motorcycling community.

National sales supervisor of Yamaha Motor Australia, Matthew Ferry, has been one of the primary driving forces in establishing the service and brand locally, both in terms of racing and at events across the country upon introduction.

“bLU cRU is a great way for Yamaha Motor Australia to wrap-up and showcase our blue and white world activities and events and put them under one easy to access communication umbrella,” Ferry told CycleOnline.com.au. “We want to inform our sports model customers of all activities that match their interest, not just activities that reflect their current ride. We recognise that owners may have two or more products in different categories or they may have family members with other products.

“Obviously, retail is important to us, but we want to offer more than just a sales experience, we want to inspire and motivate our customers with activities and events designed to keep them coming back and to create a customer for life. We are in the process of developing a micro-site for our customers so we can continue to grow the bLU cRU community of like-minded people.

Image: Russell Colvin.

“They’ll become part of a community and learn about all events and activities that they may be interested in. These include training and education based events, so they can continually improve their skills, riding events like track days, and road, trail and adventure rides so they can enjoy their product, and of course, racing sits at the top and encompasses entry level right up to the aspirational elite category.”

A key part of launching the bLU cRU locally came via Yamaha’s wide range of factory race teams, including the Yamaha Racing Team competing in the Australian Superbike Championship this season with the factory-supported YZF-R1Ms. The R3 Cup was also part of the process.

“One of our first points to create awareness was to get our key race teams on board,” Ferry continued. “All of our motocross/supercross [teams] – CDR, Serco, DPH Motorsport, Yamalube Racing – and road racing – YRT – are a great platform for us to get the bLU cRU message out there, not forgetting the R3 Cup that offers cost effective entry-level racing. Our race teams and riders are the key to inspiring the bLU cRU.

“Lots of our customers look up to these guys so they are a really important communication tool. Yamaha riders from Valentino Rossi down are key to our branding message by differentiating us from other manufacturers, so giving our customers a good reason to buy Yamaha. Race teams will always form a key part of the entire bLU cRU program.”

With an expansive presence across all kinds of disciplines and markets, the bLU cRU initiative has been split into a variety of sectors that appeal to Yamaha riders. It’s that sense of ‘belonging’ that further adds to the platform.

“The product categories that fall under the bLU cRU umbrella of activities and events include our Dream Starter range (fun bikes and entry level off-road), Downright Dirty (competition off-road enduro, motocross, sports ATV and sports ROV), Safari Rally (adventure touring) and Grand Prix (Supersport R series),” he explained.

“”Whenever there is an event that falls under any of these model groups, it will be part of bLU cRU. It’s not only racing, it could be a recreational ride event, a dealer show, rider training, a trail bike rally and so on. Our aim has always been to offer a model for every customer in a step-up structure allowing riders to seamlessly progress as skills develop.”

Image: Alex Gobert (Foremost Media).

And dealerships are also right behind the bLU cRU as well: “The dealer is the most important party in any bLU cRU activation that takes place. They have the day-to-day relationship with our customers and provide them with the constant service and support. In time we’d like to see Yamaha dealers create their own bLU cRU events for customers.”

Come 2017, plans are already in the works to host bLU cRU-affiliated events that will be of major interest to Yamaha riders within Australia. The rolling roadshow emphasizes just how important this division is to YMA and its network.

“We introduced bLU cRU at the 2016 Sunny Corner Trail Bike Ride – the event was a major success and it was great to be involved with so many of our customers,” Ferry added. “This is an event we will continue to support. AUS-X Open was another event this year where we showcased our bLU cRU display to nearly 30,000 customers over the course of the weekend. The product display was all about aspiration with our fun bikes, YZ250F, WR450F and Chad Reed-inspired two-stroke.

“We are still finalising our calendar for next year, but expect to see our bLU cRU rolling roadshow display at the Phillip Island round of the Superbike World Championship (WSBK) in February. On top of this, we will have a number of dealer events, product launches, racing events, rider training, etc, that will fall under bLU cRU all around the country.”