Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/636351
www.PowersportsBusiness.com MOTORCYCLE Powersports Business • February 15, 2016 • 29 HOOKIT CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26 140 sponsored pro athletes in its lineup. But Hookit hasn't let go of its original mis- sion. The company continues to offer its ser- vices to athletes for free. Registered athletes can track their own score, so they know how appealing they'll come off to a potential sponsor. "The athletes are obligated to do things for these brands that are supporting them, so we try to encourage both sides to use it as a part- nership tool. We don't want athletes to get fired because they're not doing their job. Sometimes they just don't know," Tilton said. Hookit has its roots in motocross, as that's the segment the company started in, and Tilton himself spent some time in the saddle of an MX bike in his younger years. However, the com- pany has now expanded to tracking not only motocross, on-road racing and ATV series, but also the NBA, professional golf and soccer and a slew of other sports. It's also growing its PWC and UTV presence. Hookit now tracks about 2 billion data points per month. "The numbers don't lie," Tilton said. "We don't want to make this an emotional decision because in the past a lot of the sports market- ing investments when it came to sponsorship, spending was definitely more of an art, not a science. We're trying to bring more of a data- driven decision making process to it, and once the decision's made, giving them a tool to confi- dentially analyze and optimize." PSB on/off-road motorcycle manufacturers list with a solid 7 percent edge over the No. 2 manufac- turer, BMW. The surprising thing is not that Harley- Davidson was the only manufacturer on this top 10 list to show a drop in KBB.com hits for 2015, but that the manufacturer attained a spot in the top 10 at all. Harley has not made on/off- road motorcycles since 1992. OFF-ROAD BIKES Off-road motorcycles overall had an 18 percent increase in KBB.com hits for 2015 compared to 2014. All of the manufactur- ers in the top 10 most-researched list dem- onstrated this trend, with the lowest gains being the No. 1 manufacturer, Honda, with a 13 percent increase. There are some surprises on this list: namely Cobra, a small manufacturer of high- end motocross motorcycles for youth; Sherco, a small manufacturer focusing on trials bikes; and Bultaco, which has been out of production since 1982. PSB Lisa Pelissier is a senior powersports analyst with Kelley Blue Book. KBB CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28 Change from 2014 1 1 Honda up 13% 33.8% 35.4% 2 2 Yamaha up 17% 28.2% 28.5% 3 3 Kawasaki up 21% 16.0% 15.5% 4 4 KTM up 31% 10.8% 9.7% 5 5 Suzuki up 17% 8.8% 8.8% 6 6 Husqvarna up 50% 0.7% 0.6% 7 7 Gas Gas up 41% 0.2% 0.2% 8 10 Cobra up 67% 0.1% 0.1% 9 8 Bultaco up 20% 0.1% 0.1% 10 9 Sherco up 50% 0.1% 0.1% 2015 Rank 2014 Rank Make MOST RESEARCHED OFF-ROAD MOTORCYCLE MANUFACTURERS Change from 2014 1 1 Honda up 15% 24.7% 25.5% 2 2 Yamaha up 18% 15.7% 15.7% 3 3 Vespa up 13% 13.7% 14.3% 4 4 Suzuki up 3% 8.4% 9.7% 5 5 Kymco up 22% 6.2% 6.1% 6 6 Piaggio up 19% 4.8% 4.8% 7 7 Genuine up 40% 4.8% 4.0% 8 8 Aprilia up 27% 2.5% 2.4% 9 10 SYM up 28% 1.4% 1.3% 10 11 Tomos up 72% 1.3% 0.9% 2015 Rank 2014 Rank Make MOST RESEARCHED SCOOTER & MOPED MANUFACTURERS Source: Kelley Blue Book TOP 10 MOST RESEARCHED MANUFACTURERS ON KBB.COM FOR 2015 Share of KBB.com Web hits in 2014 Share of KBB.com Web hits in 2015 Share of KBB.com Web hits in 2014 Share of KBB.com Web hits in 2015