Breaking into the market the story of Malaguti USA

1. 3/10/2020 Breaking into the Market: The New School Entrepreneurs
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the-vu Issue Number 24
Bouncing Spring Issue! April 10th. 2002
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You are here: the-vu> Transportation> Malaguti USA
Breaking into the Market:
The New School Entrepreneurs
By Vert James
In a time when gas prices are driving
the masses back to the days of
carpooling and public transit, a name
like Vespa is reforming itself to mean
more of a transportation alternative
than a piece of nostalgia. Scooters are
just beginning to receive major
attention right now in the US and for
more reasons than our tradition of
stealing anything that is cool and
European. With gas prices and traffic
through the roof, the scooter market is
set to explode.
All pictures courtesy of Malaguti USA
Many Americans have already heard
about Vespa coming back into the
market with a new corporate feel and
slick boutiques featuring classic models
and cappuccino machines at every
location. However, the hot topic in the
scooter scene is the name Malaguti.
Unless you are a fan of elite motor
engine and body models, or a
connoisseur of sought after Italian
quality, you are probably unfamiliar with
this brand of scooters. This will soon
change.
Malaguti is Italy's third largest scooter brand and was recently introduced into the
US market by a group of young, energetic college grads from the University of
Florida. Apparently, college got boring after the first two years and it only seemed
logical to these real-world newborns to start a business. Today, their communal
attitude and youthful spirit continue to drive Malaguti USA forward at a mind-
blowing rate. The company's focus is to stick to the young, growing scooter crowd
and offer Italian Scooters at American prices. While Vespa’s new US models start
at $3,000, the Malaguti's average $2700. They have also embraced the
traditional scooter crowd, ensuring an incredible amount of street credibility,
something the young executives noticed that Vespa lost when it sued small
Vespa shop owners last year for name infringement. “Sure we want to make a
buck,” said Ian Kirby, a Malaguti USA marketing executive, “but we’ve seen not
only the scooter market, but most all of America, turn into a pathetic corporate
wasteland.
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2. 3/10/2020 Breaking into the Market: The New School Entrepreneurs
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At Malaguti USA we’ve embraced the
extremely simple idea that if everyone
is happy, from my coworkers to our
customers, then we can’t go wrong.”
This philosophy seems to be carrying
Kirby and the rest of Malaguti USA to
the top of their game faster than they
realize.
How Malaguti Arrived In the States
Growing up in Miami, Joel Martin recognized scooters, a vehicle analogous with a
European lifestyle, as part of his everyday being. Helping father Froilan and
grandfather Manuel run a small scooter outlet in Miami, Martin became a natural
expert in motor scooters and the related business. In college, he was approached
by Malaguti and was asked to do American market research for the Italian firm.
His college career was already highlighted by marketing internships at companies
like Coke and Sony and so it came naturally to him to try to find a market for the
Italian scooters. After consideration and the following realization of the huge
potential for an American scooter market, Martin asked his friends Chris Esposito
and Ian Kirby for help in looking for marketing opportunities for scooters in the
US. Immediately, Esposito, Kirby and Martin turned their small DJ entertainment
company that they ran for extra cash into a PR firm for the Malaguti scooter
empire. In January they launched the Malaguti USA brand and have been hard
under pressure to keep up with demand since they started.
When questioned about the birth and development Malaguti USA, Esposito said,
“Most of our friends left college regretting the fact that they didn’t drink enough
beer. I left regretting that I didn’t turn my DJ business into a PR firm that handles
international accounts earlier. I couldn’t have asked for a better situation—my
hobby has turned into my career.” Kirby added, “Everyday, we wake up and
know that we are making our living doing exactly what we want to do. California is
whining about the energy crisis but we’re loving it. It's funny, people didn't think
scooters would sell, but now that gas prices are up everyone wants an Italian
scooter."
Since Graduation they have been turning down jobs left and right. The trio has
omitted positions at marketing firms and youth-oriented websites. "The
temptation’s always there—job security, company cars—that sort of thing, but
that’s submitting to the rat race. Where’s the adventure?” Joel Martin, president
of Malaguti USA asked. He continued, “We’re actually pretty lucky that we
haven’t hopped on any of the corporate opportunities that have been offered to
us. All my friends who left for the dot com field are now looking for jobs; we
followed our hearts and were doing okay. It’s not about money."
While the classically trained businessman would most likely frown upon the
Malaguti USA marketing and promotional strategy, many established marketing
experts are highly impressed by the innovative approach the young firm uses to
promote itself. Their first event was the Indiana Motorcycle show at the RCA
dome in February. While companies like Yamaha and Harley Davidson had
expensive and flashy setups, the Malaguti team knew they would need
something more if they were to attract the attention they were looking for. Using
industry connections, their booth included a light show and a constant live
10 Ana Loria
By Leonardo Calcagno

3. 3/10/2020 Breaking into the Market: The New School Entrepreneurs
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performance by DJ Factor E who recently went on the road with the MTV
Campus Invasion Tour. The Malaguti booth received national rave reviews and
was voted one of the best booths at the event.
Their second event soon followed in March with Playboy Magazine’s Spring
Break on South Padre Island, Texas. Playboy Playmates paraded around the
island for the entire week on the hottest new scooter brand around. Esposito,
Kirby and Martin personally escorted the Playboy limousine wherever the
Playmates went on the island. The event received international headlines in the
motorcycle and scooter press, on top of being featured on Playboy.com.
Malaguti USA opened its US headquarters in Miami, Florida where Martin's
family scooter shop was located. Malaguti SpA has been so impressed by
Martin's work, it extended Martin’s contract and asked him to set up all of North
America to receive the giant scooter brand. His first mission was to send out
Kirby and Esposito to open up the West Coast offices. Before this could happen,
the Malaguti events reached the ear of Playboy's president Cindy Rakowitz who
offered to take on the Malaguti cause. She hired Chris Esposito as her Event and
Program Coordinator for a new Marketing, PR company called RakNRoll
(www.RakNRoll.com) Thanks to the new PR firm Malaguti is now making a name
for itself outside of the scooter crowd. "With RakNRoll's help we will be able to
develop the brand to the point where it’s at in Europe in a shorter time. People
know that Italian scooters are the best there is in style and quality, and it’s up to
us to show them there's more out there than just Vespa," commented Esposito.
The next large event featuring Malaguti will be the Ducati World Weekend in
Nevada this October. Hundreds of thousands of motorcycle fans will flock to the
Vegas racetrack from all over the world to participate in the event. Malaguti USA
just reached an exclusive licensing deal and promotional agreement with Ducati
North America to be its official scooter. Malaguti will also be launching a line of
limited edition US Ducati replica scooters for collectors this fall, all of which will
have high exposure at the World Weekend.
In the meantime, Esposito, Kirby and Martin continue to run Malaguti USA in their
own particular manner. Said Kirby, “It’s not an issue of Malaguti adjusting to the
business and consumer here; it’s an issue of us retraining the American market
to embrace the product we have and the way we do business. And it couldn’t be

4. 3/10/2020 Breaking into the Market: The New School Entrepreneurs
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going better.” With that Kirby had to excuse himself. He said that he was on his
way to the beach to meet Esposito—in the middle of the business day. “That’s
what we do. We run our business on the precept that if we’re happy ourselves
then everyone else will be happy with us.” Martin emphasized this in a separate
interview saying, “At Malaguti we like to think that if it’s not getting better, you’re
not doing it right.” After a laugh he said, “Well, it’s getting better.”
Not bad for a few kids who three months ago were looking for change to order a
pizza. You can learn more about Malaguti USA by visiting
www.MalagutiUSA.com online.
A novelist and scooter enthusiast, Vert James' one goal in life is to be credited
with inventing the bumper sticker slogan: I'd Rather Be...
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