Miguel Martinez, former general manager of Piaggio Spain, is now the leader of the Piaggio / Vespa / Aprilia Group in the greatest country and smallest scooter market in the world, yes the United States of America!
The first brilliant decision by Piaggio Group of Americas this week was to cut ads in Scoot! Magazine.
I heard about this and unlike the people at Scoot I will go ahead and publicly comment at sheer stupidity of the decision. It will all get blamed on some intern, but lets go ahead and break it down for the new bosses anyways on how they find more ways to shoot themselves in the foot.
This is an open letter to you sir so that you take immediate action to change the downhill slide your company is on. I just finished blogging about how the industry is affected by the decisions of the Industry leaders, how we emulate and follow their decision. Here is another great example of why Piaggio Group does not inspire nor lead.
While everyone has been focused on your predecesor who alianated much of the American core industry we all failed to see that your advertising in the wrong places.
Mr. Martinez my recommendation is that you immediately continue to advertise in Scoot! Magazine. This decision by one of your underlings to cancel advertising in the only US based scooter magazine brings nothing but red to my eyes. It's stupid decisions like this by people that know nothing about the US industry that led to the original decay of the Vespa brand name ( that and allowing certain people to trademark it then get rich when the company left the country are just legendary in the buffoonery that is Piaggio Group )
Stop the Buffoonery. Seriously man, whatever non-scooter people you have working there all the gas price increases will not save your operation.
For the cost of one day in your high priced New York offices or one ritzy galla or fashion show that Paolo sponsored you could have pre-paid advertising in Scoot! Magazine until 2012. Now when the magazine needs you the most you abandon them. Your company offers the most expensive scooters in the US market ( and the margins are nothing to brag about ) now you go and you abandon the magazine that supported you all these years. Next time I see a Piaggio sales rep eating at a high end restaurant I will remind them how the company is on a downhill slide.
I think it will come as no surprise as Kymco and Genuine continue to eat away at your dealer base. Let's fill in the blank. Scooter Maven walks into "VESPA OF _____" and he sees more Kymcos and more Genuines than Vespa's. A work of fiction or something that keeps happening more and more? Who by the way are way happier with the service over at Kymco and the margins. If you take a look Kymco was a full sponsor of something called AmeriVespa this year, and the year before, and the year before that.... you get the picture.
Three years ago one of your dealers gave away scooters and paid for everyone's meal at Amerivespa because your company wouldn't step up to the plate. It was embarrassing and many dealers still remember this.
You don't support the scene you will loose the scene. We might as well call the even AmeriKymco in the future.
You want to save some face. Call up Scoot! Magazine today and tell them the idiots at the ad agency subcontracted to a subcontractor to made a mistake.
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