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Kathy shares some interesting insight into just how Levi’s has achieved so much in so little time and she has some great advice for riders looking to get sponsored or even for those who already are.

Tell us about yourself and your company, Bird Marketing:
I’m Kathy McGrath, president of Bird Marketing. Bird Marketing is a youth and action sports focused marketing agency that works with clients to build marketing programs that build credibility and affinity for their brands within a youth demographic. Often, we use action sports as the platform to build that relationship. Most people in this industry know me through two of my biggest programs, Target and Levi’s, where I started the programs that got them involved in action sports.

How did the whole concept come up for Levi's to invest in a BMX team? What was your role in the process and what were the original goals of the program?
I had been working in the music industry when I attended the 2006 Winter Olympics to watch snowboarding. After that week in Italy, I knew I had to get back to working in action sports. I brainstormed companies that I thought were an obvious fit for these sports, and the first one we really went after was Levi’s and BMX. Levi’s was looking for a sports sponsorship at the same time that I pitched them, so it was just perfect timing for both of us. The original goals of the program were to create a brand presence for Levi’s within the action sports world with a team of athletes who aligned well with Levi’s brand “personality.” Of course, the goal of a program like this is always to increase impressions and exposure, garner word of mouth and increase affinity for the brand so that in the end you sell more product!

How long did it take from the time Levi's gave the "green light" to actually having a full team in place? How did you go about selecting the team? Obviously, each rider's personality is important is choosing athletes to represent Levi’s. What other attributes were important is getting the best team possible in place?
The team was already chosen at the point when I pitched Levi’s. It’s really important to pick the right people, and that is almost never just the guy who is “hot” at the moment you’re pitching. In action sports, there’s always going to be the flavor of the week, and then there are those athletes who will create an identity for your brand year after year. Levi’s identified their brand personality with words like “rebellion, spirit, youth, crazy, individuality, hard work, confident, no b.s.” If that’s not a perfect fit for BMX, I don’t know what is! They also used words like timeless, original, honest, unique, style—I think these words all represent the athletes we’ve chosen, too. If you look at your brand personality and it doesn’t match up with your riders’ personalities, you are off on a bad footing from day one.

Do you feel "corporate" sponsors allow team riders other opportunities not available to traditional BMX company sponsors? (For example, health insurance, opportunity to travel to other countries to promote the sport maybe outside the financial reach of more traditional sponsors, etc).
Without question, it absolutely takes both the big corporate sponsors and the smaller endemic sponsors. Anyone who thinks one can live without the other really hasn’t been paying attention. The big sponsors (in general) bring more money for advertising, travel, insurance, events, appearances, etc. The small endemic sponsors (in general) bring the credibility and the underground / grassroots fan base that really makes a career for the athlete. If the big brand does it right, they support their athletes in a way that benefits that rider’s other sponsors, especially the endemic sponsors. A great example of this is the relationship between Levi’s and Etnies. Levi’s “owns” Jamie and Morgan’s t-shirt branding at X Games, but we recognize that Etnies does a lot to support those guys, which in turn creates more exposure for Levi’s. So, when X Games rolls around, we give up some space on our t-shirts to make room for an Etnies logo and pay for the t-shirts. I think one of the biggest, dumbest mistakes that the “big brands” sometimes make is thinking that their athlete’s other sponsors are in the way, and they do things like edit sponsor stickers out of shots in post-production. That is so inauthentic and annoys anyone who is a fan of that athlete—it’s a really quick way to lose credibility with the core consumers.

Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace have had a profound impact on making athletes more "accessible" to their fans. Whereas a few years ago, kids would read about their favorite riders in BMX magazines or maybe even on an online site, now they can essentially track everything the athletes do by "friending" or "following" them on one of these social networking sites. As the Levi's team manager and someone with years of sales/marketing experience, you must be cognizant of the image the sponsor wants these team members to represent. Has there ever been a time when you've been concerned with anything you've seen your team post on one of these sites?
This really goes right back to the question about how do you choose the team. Obviously, when working with a bunch of teenage and 20-something guys, there are always going to be things done and said that I might twitch at a little bit! The key is to pick the right people and set your expectations for they way you want them to represent your brand. The easy answer here is that I don’t work with guys who don’t get it! I might really enjoy their company, laugh with them and be friends with them, but if they’re not going to get it right 99% of the time, I just won’t risk exposing a sponsor that way. I did have an athlete really get it wrong once (not a Levi’s rider, by the way), criticizing his sponsor on camera, and he was gone within the week. There are just too many amazing, hungry for sponsorship guys out there to put up with a dud!

The teams you’ve worked with have traveled extensively throughout the US and across the globe. Do you travel with the team?
I actually don’t travel with my teams that much. I don’t ride (gasp!) so I don’t want to slow them down by tagging along. Plus, if I go with them on filming trips, I’m just eating up budget that could be used to send the riders on another trip. With that said, I do attend most of the major events (Dew, X, Interbike, etc) because it’s a great way to interact with a big part of the industry and action sports fans. There’s always a lot of laughing and a lot of great conversation when I’m around the athletes. I feel really lucky to work with such amazing people, and all of the pros who know me know that I’m looking out for all of them, not just the guys on my teams. When BMX does well, my clients do well, so I’m always looking for ways to support every rider. It’s just a big bonus when I can put them on a team and pay them, too!

What mistakes do you see athletes make that make you cringe? What do you wish you could “fix” about BMX or action sports in general?
I really wish guys would quit selling themselves short! I see so many pros who ride for big sponsors for free or for product thinking that some day their loyalty will mean that they’ll get paid. It just doesn’t (usually) work that way! If you tell people you will ride for free, that means you are worth $0. This is true at every level, even the endemic level. I don’t mean that you always have to get a salary. Take the Levi’s flow team as an example. The team was only ever supposed to be 4 guys. It was Bestwick’s idea to create a flow team, and although we couldn’t support contracts and paychecks for another 8 guys, we have given them unlimited product, free health insurance, lots of travel and a ridiculous amount of exposure. We absolutely value those guys and we do our best to support what they’re doing. I think the fact that we haven’t lost anyone off our flow team is proof that our athletes feel good about the way we support them.

Take note that there is a payoff for Jamie Bestwick in this too—he is one of the guys in BMX making good money, so he looks for other ways to be supported by his sponsors including the ability to pass on benefits from his sponsors to other BMX’ers. This is another thing I tell guys with big corporate sponsors: once you have your paycheck negotiated, look for other ways to get support from that sponsor! Generally these things help everyone. Levi’s definitely benefited from the flow team—imagine how different the Levi’s team would be without the flow guys.

What it boils down to is, as an athlete you HAVE to say to yourself: “is my agreement with a sponsor balanced, or am I giving them lots for no compensation?” Compensation can be a salary, insurance, product, exposure, travel budget, upgrades to your local park to help with your riding, events that allow you to give back to BMX, it can be a million different things. Don’t sell yourself short!

How do you personally feel non-traditional corporate sponsorships have impacted the sport? Either positive, negative or both?
In general, they’ve really helped. Imagine anyone making a paycheck without X Games and Dew Tour creating an international platform for these sports. In order for sponsorships to work, you have to be able to see the athletes. These big televised events give that exposure to our sports, and that exposure creates a market for the endorsement deals. That market is bigger than just the athletes who compete in these events, so the halo effect is what helps get street and trail riders paid, too. The fact is, without big corporate sponsors paying millions of dollars to support these events, there would be very little ability to make money off riding a bike, skateboard, snowboard, etc.

Now, with that said, do I think the corporate sponsorships are all well executed? Absolutely not. I think they get too hung up on being “extreme!” Some brands do it really well, some are getting bad advice or just haven’t figured out how to best play in this arena. I would love to see all the big corporate sponsors get it right so that we can embrace all of them as part of our community rather than just brands who help pay the bills. And to be honest, this isn’t just the big sponsors. There are a lot of the endemic brands that I wish would better understand what a huge role they play in crafting the marketability of these sports. There’s a lot of room for growth and room to do a better job, but action sports are and will continue to be hugely influential with the youth demographic, so I think as time goes on, we’ll see more and more of the big sponsors get it right.

There is no question that these "corporate" sponsorships have increased the awareness of action sports and more specifically BMX (Dew Tour, X-Games etc). What do say to riders/critics who categorically reject and resent the "corporate" influence. Is it justified or just resentment? Can riders still "ride for fun" and "do what they love" when their role is essentially to increase a sponsors marketshare?
Ahhhh! I love this question. First off, see my answer above. The second part, “Can riders still ride for fun and do what they love?” Not only can they, we EXPECT them to. For example, I didn’t decide to work with Jamie because he wins, I wanted to work with him because he loves riding his bike and he loves winning. It was his passion for BMX that caused me to want to work with him, and the fact that his passion translates to wins is fantastic. I would never work with a guy who wins everything but isn’t having fun. Who wants to work with that guy?? I took Corey and Dakota on a weekend trip that didn’t include riding once and they were freaking out by Monday, desperate to get back on their bikes! THAT is what I help sponsor: fun, passion, energy, hard work, appreciation for their sponsors, etc.

I wish that the guys who reject or resent the big sponsors would just relax and recognize that those sponsors are financially supporting the sport they love, even if they haven’t quite figured out the best way to do that. The other thing is that the guys who do all the griping about this are also the guys who really don’t have any interest in “fixing” what’s wrong. I say unless you’re willing to fix it, just keep your trap shut! If you don’t like the way a sponsor represents your sport, go find the person in charge of that sponsorship and (respectfully) start a conversation with them about the way the sponsorship resonates with you. A good sponsor will want to hear what you have to say.

Levi's has quickly become one of the best known and most successful BMX teams in a tremendously short time. In the past, we have seen corporate sponsors get into BMX, throw a lot of money into the program without success and then just as quickly discontinue the venture. To what do you attribute the rapid success of the Levi's program?
To be honest, it’s a really easy equation. Levi’s picked the right people. I love action sports and what they stand for, and so does everyone on my team. I also have the highest respect for my clients, and want them to be really proud of their action sports involvement. At the end of the day, I want my client to have a program that is a shining star of their marketing efforts, I want athletes who love riding for that client, and I want to know that the client will listen to and act in line the advice I give them about how to make an impact in this industry. When we are all happy, you know you’re doing it right. Failing that, your consumers will tell you if you’re doing it right or not! I scour the online comments about our program to get a feel for whether it’s resonating well with our consumer.

What does the future hold for Bird Marketing? What types of things do you have planned for 2010?
There’s no answer I can give that won’t sound like an ad for my own company, because to be honest, I just want more work that allows me to do what I’ve been doing! I love my job. I know it’s not a very glamorous answer, but it’s the truth! Outside of business, there are a lot of things I’m looking forward to this year as a fan, too. I’m excited to see what rider-owned events pop up, I’m excited to see who makes their mark on the Dew Tour this year, and I’m excited to see this big Red Bull dirt event that is getting so much buzz. I hope it’s a good year for BMX; that we finish the year with more sponsors than we started with, that everyone stays relatively healthy and that more guys get to make a living off the sport they love.


Clearly, Kathy McGrath has not only put together an amazing program at Levi’s, but is setting the bar for other companies interested in or already in BMX. Props to both Kathy and her Levi’s athletes and best of luck in 2010.

Susan Linerode