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With a gritty DIY look, exhaust brand brings fun back BY LIZ KEENER MANAGING EDITOR With a new black and tan shield logo and images of men with greasy hands working in their garages prominently displayed, Cobra USA's 40-by-20-foot booth at the center of the V-Twin Expo drew attention. Those who have known Cobra throughout its 39-year history have grown accustomed to the red and white look of the past, but the new logo and marketing materials unveiled at the show were different, and people noticed. "It's gone everywhere from 'Wow you guys look like a completely different com- pany,' to other people saying, 'Wow, it looks like you've really evolved and are really in touch with the marketplace,'" reported Cam- ron Bussard, Cobra's director of sales & mar- keting. "That's really been the biggest thing — this feels real and genuine and authentic and important in way, too." MADE IN CALIFORNIA The new look has been in the works for about a year. Bussard said many in the industry, Cobra included, have focused on too profes- sional of an image, and since so many people got into this industry because they're hands- on enthusiasts, Cobra's messaging should show that. "We looked at ourselves and thought we need to be able to bring some fun back into it. We want to bring our brand back to life," he explained. "We've been made in southern California since 1977. That's the hotbed of the hot rod industry, and almost all of the long- term companies also came out of Southern California. So we wanted to bring some of that So Cal do-it-yourself, work-in-the-garage and bring the fun back into motorcycling, certainly with aftermarket exhaust. So that was the nexus of our thinking of 'How do we bring our brand to life."' Previous marketing messages have focused on Cobra's lifetime warranty and its quality, but Bussard saw an opportunity to send that same message in a different way. "We began exploring 'Made in America.' That was a strong point, but everybody settles for 'Made in America.' So then we had to look at 'Made in Southern California since 1977,' and that puts us in a specific location and a specific time frame. In a bigger sense, yes we're made in America, but the 'Made in California' sort of gives us that attitude, and that was the begin- ning of where we ended up with the current expression," Bussard said. The Cobra marketing staff released the new logo and images at the V-Twin Expo because it was the first big motorcycle event of the year. "It's the first kickoff of the year. Daytona is a little bit late, and we wanted to have all of this material ready," Bussard said. "We're consider- ing this a rollout, not a launch, because our advertising will follow behind it. This is really just the beginning of what we plan to do. This look and this feel is an indicator of where we're going, and we've got other stuff coming down the market. Our social media campaigns, the apparel we're developing, the advertising and our catalogs are moving in this direction, so this is just the start." The new images of men working in their garages reflect on Cobra's history and culture. Tim McCool and Ken Boyko started the busi- ness as a small company that manufactured high-performance ATV exhausts. The company remains private, with about 85 people work- ing to produce, sell and market Cobra exhaust from the company's 85,000-square-foot factory in Yorba Linda, Calif. "There's a passion that runs through the company to make great products, to develop great products, but also to market them in a FOCUS PSB V-twin Motorcycle 16 • April 4, 2016 • Powersports Business www.PowersportsBusiness.com Cobra catches eyes with new logo, marketing materials See Cobra, Page 39 Cobra's exhaust systems are manufactured at the company's Yorba Linda, Calif., factory. PHOTO BY ERNIE COPPER, THUNDER PRESS