(Old-Skool Article) Bluetorch Builds New Media Co.
I Found This Article, A Good Read, But I worry about our Future!
Irvine, CA-based Bluetorch bills itself as a digital media company focusing on what Bluetorch Chief Executive Officer Matt Jacobson calls "underserved markets."
"We’re attempting to build a new kind of media company," Jacobson said. "Our goal is to reach our target audience of young male surfers across multiple media platforms – combining traditional and ‘next generation’ interactive media."
Bluetorch is the first consumer brand of Broadband Interactive Group (BIG), launched late last year. BIG, a privately held company, has received financial backing (Bluetorch declined to reveal any figures) from chip maker Broadcom Corp., also located in Irvine. Bluetorch’s strategy is centered on offering an extensive integrated media package comprising events sponsorship, magazine placements, a TV show and their Web site. These include:
Events – Six competitive events, including last month’s 2000 World Championship Tour held in Huntington Beach, Calif. City officials estimated the tour pumped about $2 million into the local economy. That competition attracted the world’s top 44 male and 15 female surfers with a combined purse of $150,000.
Magazines – Bluetorch publishes and distributes free of charge four industry publications – Bluetorch Wave Action, sent to 1,800 specialty retailers in North America; Slant, geared towards teens and is photo rich and heavy on lifestyle features; Launch Wakeboard (same demographics and editorial focus); and Pit Bodyboard, targeted towards the pre-teen crowd.
TV – On July 3, Bluetorch launched the Bluetorch Rush Hour, a one-hour TV show airing Monday through Friday on Fox Sports Net. Bluetorch is also using some of the material for its Web site and magazines.
Web site – Bluetorch’s Web site covers the full gamut of extreme sports. There are separate icons for Surf, Wake, Snow, Bodyboard, Skate, Motox (Motor cross), Inline, and BMX. The Surf portion of the site contains short features, a video section called ‘Sick Flicks & News,’ and regular departments that include columns by well-known surfing industry figures such as Brock Little and Shawn Barron. There are also Surf Cam Links and a SoCal Weather Watch.
Bluetorch also recently formed two alliances with key portals. It has teamed up with Scour, a leading search destination for broadband entertainment, to provide Bluetorch-branded extreme sports content. The partnership will enable Scour users to find Bluetorch streaming videos and photos. When users click on the content, they will view the file in a co-branded media player. Bluetorch and Scour are also developing co-marketing programs, promotions and joint advertising on both sites focusing on the Generation Y audience.
Bluetorch is also partnering with Alloy Online, Inc., another popular Internet destination for teens. Bluetorch is licensing its sports content to Alloy, which claims to reach over 10 million individuals each month through its Web site, Alloy e-zine and Alloy catalog. Alloy is featuring key promotion and placement of Bluetorch content via these channels.
To churn out all of this content, Bluetorch has quickly beefed up to a 90-person staff, many of which are former or current extreme sport athletes and/or editors from print surfing publications -- Alisa Cairns who spearheads live events, was the U.S. women’s surfing champion in 1995 and 1996.
Jacobson believes Bluetorch will be profitable within 18 months.
"Digital convergence is the future of our industry and is how we’re successfully chasing our target audience," he said. "If you want surfing on the Net, on TV or in print, you can have it."
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