Saabs and cycling - getting closer together.
Can I just take a quick moment to point out this website’s prophetic prowess? In September last year I pointed out the advertising and product placement opportunities that were emerging in professional cycling.
Whilst that was aimed more at the European tour, it seems that Saab are definitely getting more into it in the US.
Mavic
There’s now a bunch of yellow 9-3 SportCombis following competitors around in professional cycling events. These Saabs are being driven by the Mavic team, a non-aligned bunch of technicians who help out any of the cyclists in need during an event.
Mavic is owned by Salomon, which whom Saab have other sporting relationships that you’re probably familiar with.
I’d show you a color photo so you can see the yellow, but this black and white is so good, I’ve just got to use it somewhere. From KrisKros
Slipstream-Chipotle
In June 2008, Saab announced that they were the official vehicle for the Slipstream-Chipotle team on the US cycling tour:
Team Slipstream-Chipotle Presented by H30, a professional American cycling team dedicated to promoting ethical sporting and developing the next generation of cycling champions, announced that Saab will now be the official U.S. team vehicle. The Team will now be supporting its world class riders with the 2008 9-3 SportCombi vehicle which they will debut at Philly Week in early June…..
….Saab’s Scandinavian design makes it stylish for the team which is also known for its distinctive argyle kits, and Saab’s responsible performance and first-class safety keep the team safe while traveling across the country. The Saab 9-3 SportCombi features a turbocharged engine and sport-tuned chassis which are ideal for tackling the winding mountain roads of cycling races. It also has five doors and an ingenious cargo space that make it equally practical for transporting the team and equipment.
Now, ignoring all the sales spin-language there, it’s true that Saab’s are great for outdoor pursuits, uphill climbs and the designers have given a lot of thought to storage and carrying solutions.
This is a great fit and hopefully sponsorships like this can continue.
Le Tour de Saab
As they’ve done in previous years, Saab are once again tying themselves in with US coverage of the Tour de France.
There’s a competition called Fly to the Finish and you can win yourself a Saab 9-3 SportCombi 2.0T as well as a Cervelo bicycle to give away to someone else as you’ll obviously be too busy enjoying your Saab (that 2.0T is just brilliant).
The tour is already underway, so the competition is underway. You’ve got to be in it to win it.
Thanks Gripen!
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Perhaps Saab should take a look at the Tour Downunder?
watching le tour right now (5.6K to go)….thoroughly enjoying the barage of saab ads! i just spotted a saab ‘vert in a non-saab ad, in fact (some oil product or somethin’).
That b&w shot of the SportCombi is AMAZING, btw!
Go Team Columbia!
Wow, that black and white shot almost blew me away. That 9-3 is really looking awesome! Too bad it says “Born from Jets”, and not “Move your mind” on the reg plate though..
Slipstream-Chipotle was renamed Garmin-Chipotle a few days before the French tour. I haven’t managed to catch their support car yet but MAVIC are not using Saabs for the TDF.
I think the doping problems may now be over for Pro-tour racing with Slipstream for example testing their riders up to 600 times a year. It’s a shame Saab didn’t fully sponsor this team.
The cost ranges from 6 - 9 million Euro for an international pro-tour team, but given the amount of global coverage it’s certainly worth the money.
Professional cyclists are not the breed Saab should be associated with, I’d say…
Ken: Care to give a reason?
Starts with d…
Ah I guess cycling will forever be hit with the Doping stick. The effort that the UCI and pro-tour teams have made in the past years to rid drug abuse in the sport is second to no other sport. Last year there were a few who felt they could still cheat the system and paid for it, with also the sport as a whole suffering the consequences. Cycling actually has the most stringent drug testing regimes, where riders have to give full information as to there location, just in case inspection teams care to test at anytime.
This is complete opposite to American Football for example where the players are informed well in advance of drugs test dates so players can be ‘clean’.
So which sport is the most corrupt?
Cycling has received a lot of negative press with the media not covering the other side of the story. Scandal and gossip is far more fun to write about than the huge efforts that the UCI, ASO, individual teams and their riders are doing to rid the sport of cheaters.
But alas the media has stuck once again and now most associate cycling with drugs…
If you don’t follow the sport intensely then why should you know any better. If the press don’t cover the good side of the sport then how will the general public’s view be changed?
However; from a company that builds safe, sporty, and ecologically friendly vehicles and a sport that based around the most ecologically and still to this day, the most efficient form of transport. The two should work side-by-side.
The TDF alone gets over 36 million world wide viewers, maybe this is a reason why Gerolsteiner have stayed as a team sponsor.
As for Saab how much is that worth to have a dedicated team constantly in the faces of so many people, especially when the majority wouldn’t normally consider their product?
Talk about opening peoples minds to a vehicle that suits their active lives and chance to capture a new bread of Saab customer.
I’m sorry but I think it’s a far more effective use of advertising money than having a Saab’s face burnt off in a 30 Second TV Spot.
Please don’t blame media or anybody else for the image problem cycling has managed to achieve. That is something they did themselves. Yes, there has been a great effort done, but since the job in hand was far bigger than in other sports, they are still way behind what should be acceptable in sports.
I’ve read insiders telling that doping in cycling is so organised that with today’s efforts the antidoping will never catch up…
Like I mentioned, other sports are even more advanced in their level of corruption, yet as none of their members get caught for doping, there is no public humiliation to contend with.
The Fuente affair is what sparked at lot of the recent negative opinion about the sport. Last years winner Contador was mentioned as a potential connection to Fuente but investigations seemed to leave him clear of any underhanded play. Insteresting that this year the ASO has banned team Astana from the TDF, stating that due to last years fiasco with Vinokorow there is insufficient evidence to support a good enough turn around for the team. This is the same team, who this year signed Contador who will not be able to defend his yellow jersey. Maybe the ASO see this signing of a rider with what can be seen as a very slight association to the Spanish doctor as reason enough to not allow the whole team to take part in this years race?
All sports carry various forms of negativity, look at Soccer players who are snorting coke on a regular basis, or kick a disgruntled fan half to death in a late night brawl. The recent Max M orgy scandal in F1. You don’t see sponsors pulling out of those sports in disgust. Neither does public opinion lend itself to thinking that soccer is a sport played by drugged up, overpaid, self obsessed thugs. Who are not worthy of the millions of sponsorship they get from the likes of Nike and Vodafone.
But hey the chances of Saab getting the money to sponsor a pro-tour team is remote to say the least. Gm would rather give the money to some over-weight exec as part of a retirement gift for all the boats they managed to miss throughout their working career.