Hey Kris, Well said…
I agree that most of the “Kris Holm” names gives you extra influence for
marketing and obviously for products as well, and that is great. I’m not
really sure why any Unicyclists are concerned with this anyway. Most of the
unicycling marketing (whether that be unicycles, accessories, videos or
whatever) it should be geared to markets outside the unicycling circle to
generate more interest in the sport. Marketing is all about giving people
what they want to hear, and a lot of people know the “Kris Holm” name when
it comes to unicycling so how can that possibly hurt anything. It gives
them that extra connection to unicycling and that just generates more
interest.
Anyway, I think the unicycling growth in the last few years is awesome! If
it means we need to attach names to help promote a new product, what’s so
wrong about that? It’s only going to help us all have more parts, better
equipment and better designs for what we all love, unicycling…
So, our sport is finally becoming its own without the traditional clown and
circus references it has always had and there are more and more riders
continuously working to promote it. So why not help that promotion out
instead of questioning the riders who do the most of it… I know I’m going
to keep promoting unicycling locally here in Calgary as much as possible
whether that’s out selling videos, organizing unicycling events, running a
unicycle club and website or just out riding with other uniers and bikers,
its all fun and I feel all promotion for the sport is great! I personally
love it when I’m out in the mountains or just riding locally here in the
city and some biker approches me as says, “Hey are you Mike King?” or “Are
you that guy with the unicycle web site?” I don’t care even if they ask if
I’m Kris Holm, (which it sounds like a number of people in the group have
heard before) because it usually means I have someone else to ride with and
every now and then it sparks a conversation and gets another person into
unicycling.
Those are my thoughts…
Mike the Unipsycho
Calgary Mountain Unipsychos
www.ethereal3d.com/uni
“Kris Holm” <danger_uni@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:mailman.1013104757.24550.rsu@unicycling.org…
> — UniDak <forum.member@unicyclist.com> wrote:
> > With all of this talk of the New Kris Holm
> > Unicycle, I began to think of almost celebrity endorsements…Does
Kris really use the same
> Muni that is available at Unicycle.com?..
>
> Hmm, this is a good thing to bring up- thanks for asking.
>
> To answer the first question, yes I ride the unicycles that have my name
on them.
>
> Whether it’s a good idea in the first place to have a “Kris Holm” brand
unicycle or other “Kris
> Holm" signature brand products is another story. Here’s my take on this:
>
> Like it or not, I realize that due to a heck of a lot of media coverage,
I’m a household name in
> the mountain bike community, and quite well known to the mainstream public
as well. I am also not
> naive to the fact that in our culture, celebrity brings a higher level of
credibility and
> influence than would otherwise be possible (whether I agree with that is
another story!).
>
> This high level of exposure, and resulting high level of influence, won’t
last forever and while I
> have it I’d like to put it to good use. It’s taken a while to get to this
point, but people in
> industry now take me seriously when I indicate I’m interested in working
with them to develop a
> product. In my opinion this is very significant, as the production,
marketing and distribution
> of unicycling products at a large scale is expensive, and most easily
conducted by large companies
> that may have had little or no previous involvement with our sport. For
example, right now I’m
> working on a seat with Velo, the seat manufacturer. Mold and
development costs for this fairly
> basic seat cost over U.S$20,000, but when they’ve developed it they will
be able to produce a good
> seat for a small fraction of the price of, say, the $230 Carbonfibre
airseat. There is
> absolutely no way I could have convinced Velo to make this initial
investment without the
> influence and credibility that comes with celebrity. Yes it will have my
signature on it, but
> like it or not this “branding” of the product will give it a credibility
outside our current
> unicycling community that it would not otherwise have.
>
> I find this weird to personally express, but in the mainstream public, my
name has become
> associated with a perception of the sport that is different than the
stereotypes normally
> associated with unicycling. In other words, its not an ego issue, nor do
I feel that I deserve to
> have my name on these more than other riders (especially since I don’t
feel that I’m as gifted at
> unicycling skills compared to many other riders I’ve met at UNICON and
NUC). Rather it’s an
> awareness on my part that I have a rare opportunity to change the way
millions of people perceive
> our sport. Right now, if non-rider goes into a bikeshop and sees a "Kris
Holm” brand unicycle on
> display, they will perceive it differently and take it more seriously than
they might otherwise
> have. It’s marketing, pure and simple, but if I can use this to expand
people’s understanding of
> our sport, and grow the sport in the process, then I think that it’s worth
it.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Kris Holm.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Kris.
>
>
>
> — UniDak <forum.member@unicyclist.com> wrote:
> > DISCLAIMER: This is not an accusation, it is merely a question! Please
> > excuse any hint of assholeness in this post. If it exists, that was
> > NOT how it was meant
> >
> > With all of this talk of the New Kris Holm
> > Unicycle, I began to think of almost celebrity endorsements. I doubt
> > every “Michael Jordan” shoe has been used by the big guy himself, and
> > hockey players dont really use the sticks that carry their name in
> > sporting good stores. Does Kris really use the same Muni that is
> > available at Unicycle.com? Hey, how about it Kris? Is this just a muni
> > you think would be a good ride, or are you currently riding this very
> > thing?
> > -David Kaplan
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > –
> > UniDak
> > Posted via the Unicyclist Community - http://unicyclist.com/forums
> >
> > rec.sport.unicycling mailing list -
www.unicycling.org/mailman/listinfo/rsu
>
>
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