Combining a Passion for Motocross With Marketing

Twenty-year-old Jocelyn Killough has been racing motocross for the last five years and is currently ranked #2 in Canada after finishing second overall in the Canadian Women's National Motocross Series.

Currently enrolled in the Business Marketing program at the Lawrence Kinlin School of Business, Jocelyn has always been interested and involved in sports such as hockey, golf, cycling, snowboarding and especially motocross.

(Left: Jocelyn Killough training at Monster Mountain, a premier motosport facility in Tallassee, Alabama, last winter.)

Jocelyn is rather soft-spoken, yet when asked about motocross racing, she smiles and her enthusiasm is obvious.

"I have found my passion," she proclaims. "I have realized that I want to be involved in the sport whether I'm racing or not. I have so much knowledge and passion for this sport and so many ideas on how to improve it and help it grow. I know that is what I want to do now."

Jocelyn decided to invest in education to help her achieve her personal and career objectives. She earned one of the top marks in her Marketing 1027 class for an essay assignment on personal branding.

The Marketing 1027 curriculum includes learning outcomes related to branding and brand management. Marketing Professor Murray Morgan encourages his students to reflect on their personal brand to build relevance and think about their career opportunities through networking. The concept of 'The Brand Called You' was introduced by Tom Peters many years ago and updated in Fast Company in 2007.

According to Peters "If you're going to be a brand, you've got to become relentlessly focused on what you do that adds value, that you're proud of, and most important, that you can shamelessly take credit for. When you've done that, sit down and ask yourself one more question to define your brand: What do I want to be famous for? That's right -- famous for!"

Jocelyn wrote "I really believe that 'The Brand Called You' has taught me a lot and can really be applied to my life. It has made me think about exactly who I am, what makes me that person, what I want to accomplish in life and how I am going to market myself."

The Marketing 1027 course includes all aspects of marketing communications and promotion. Jocelyn has gained personal experience in many aspects of marketing and is now developing additional skills and experience to further build her profile, enhance the success of her sponsors and to contribute to the success of the sport of motocross.

For the past two years she has ridden for the Canadian factory Suzuki race team, OTSFF Rockstar Suzuki. The series consists of five rounds across the country - Kamloops, BC; Calgary, AB; Courtland, ON; Moncton, NB; and Ottawa, ON.

Through racing she has developed positive and mutually beneficial relationships with her team sponsors including West49, Absolutely Sparkling and Rockport Performance. West49 began as a skateboarding store and recently moved into the motocross market by launching new stores called "The Compound" to focus solely on motocross clothing. Jocelyn and her Rockstar Suzuki teammates participated in the grand openings at a few of these new stores by signing posters in-store. The personal experience in promotions and sponsorships fits perfectly with the Marketing 1027 curriculum.

Jocelyn has also been featured in magazines and writes her own monthly column in MXP magazine. She is currently writing an article on "The Future of Canadian Women's Motocross." She hopes to promote and build more support for the women's series. Her profile is also multimedia: last summer, Jocelyn did a television segment on YTV, teaching the show's host how to ride a dirt bike. She has been featured on local television and radio interviews, websites promoted by her sponsors, as well as blogs, Flickr, Facebook and MySpace.

Jocelyn is excited about the opportunity to build her understanding of marketing concepts. In Marketing 1027, Jocelyn and her classmates are developing a comprehensive marketing plan for a 'live client', ArtVenture. ArtVenture is a multimedia art school that offers art classes for all ages, camps and birthday parties in a custom-designed studio and gallery. The marketing plan template and the discussion on cost-effective marketing strategies to capitalize on emerging technologies will certainly help Jocelyn achieve her objectives and work even more effectively on behalf of her sponsors. The live client connection is consistent with the experiential learning focus that was recently the subject of a best practices session at the Lawrence Kinlin School of Business.

Jocelyn's commitment to community volunteering fits well with the concept of social responsibility also covered in Principles of Marketing 2. Jocelyn was recently engaged and her fiancé, Colton Facciotti, is also a professional motocross racer, a Red Bull athlete and the 2008 and 2009 Canadian national champion. The young couple volunteered to hand out trophies and sign autographs for children at the local Thames Valley Riders Club year-end awards banquet. This was extremely well-received and the club organizers contacted Jocelyn's sponsors to express their thanks for the commitment to volunteering and the positive impact on the young motocross enthusiasts.

Jocelyn hopes to volunteer to work more closely with Red Bull and other sponsors this summer to further build her marketing experience and create synergistic sports marketing partnerships. She is looking forward to continuing to improve her communication skills as well as her marketing expertise. Professor Morgan has recommended Jocelyn broaden her professional development and networking efforts with groups such as the Canadian Women in Communication as well as the International Association of Business Communicators. In addition, Jocelyn plans to attend Professional Writers Association of Canada Event organized by PWAC - Southwestern Ontario Chapter 'What's Nice about Niche Writing'. Jocelyn is also hoping to meet other Fanshawe Marketing professors to help plan her course selection to best suit her personal objectives.

Jocelyn indicates, "I believe I am on the right track to promoting myself and doing the right things to achieve my goals and build a career. 'The Brand Called You' has really made me realize my qualities and skills and motivated me to use them to my advantage."