King of New York Case Study

KING OF NEW YORK | One of the longest-running independent action sports event brands in the world had hit a creative roadblock. Baby Bean stepped in and reinvigorated the brand’s world-class flow.

The Brand.

The endemic action sports property began in 1995 and is one of the longest-running independent action sport event brands in the world.

The Challenge.

After its humble beginnings in 1995 as a pioneering BMX Freestyle action sports event, the King of New York event property was regarded as an iconic, authentic independent action sports brand. Despite an incredible decade of successes, in 2005 the brand had hit a creative roadblock and had infrastructure challenges which inhibited further growth. Among other challenges, there was a need to modernize the event property and bring it up to current action sports and event standards. Baby Bean had previously worked with world class action sports events like the ESPN X Games property and LG Action Sports World Tour and was eager to incorporate key learnings gleaned from those experiences.

Solution-focused Goals.

Working with the event founder and other important stakeholders, Baby Bean took a deep-dive into the brand’s history, ideals, successes, challenges, and short and long-term aspirations. Ultimately, one of our primary objectives became bringing the King of New York event closer to the modern standards followed by larger and more well-known events. Paramount to a successful outcome was remaining focused on the athlete and fanbase engagement at the root of the King of New York as a genuine hardcore BMX Freestyle event brand.

1.       Without appearing like the brand was “selling out,” increase sponsorship income, media participation, consumer engagement and expand world-class athlete participation.

 2.       Cultivate brand direction, updating the brand logo, streamline all digital and social media marketing efforts including project managing creation of the brand’s first website.

 3.       Implement lean, efficient production and operations strategy expertise attained through our work with larger and more lucrative action sports properties and businesses (i.e. ESPN X Games and Woodward Sports Camp.)

 4.       Develop and execute a PR and media program plan for broadcast, digital and print.

Results?

The successful resurgence of the King of New York brand, strengthening its authenticity and deepening its legacy in action sports.

Events expanded to other boroughs and venues outside the Bronx. Additional riding disciplines were added to the competition program, such as the first ever dirt jumping competition held in the event’s history.

Other Key Performance Indicators used to help measure our successes were:

o   Increased the sponsorship revenue for the event by 1100%.

 o   Ultimately boosted event website views 5x more than a competing nationally televised major action sports event.

 o   Acquired six-figure New York City-market major radio station partnership.

 o   Attracted the X Games course designer and other talented artisans to design and fabricate distinctive and innovative competition course features.

 o   Deepening the depth of the pro field payout and growing the pro purse ten-fold helped to continue to attract the most talented and world-renowned riders.

 o   Initiated and oversaw multiple successful U.S. Patent and Trademark Office trademark registrations, protecting intellectual property and other rights.

 o   Increased community involvement, local volunteer efforts and corporate support through partnerships with The Home Depot.

 o   Sponsorship acquisition efforts led to Baby Bean’s eventual eight consecutive years of progressively expanding services to Toyota Motor Sales.