By John Stouffer

October 1, 1998

Most snowboarding experiences involve traveling to remote mountains. Morrow Snowboards and Motorola want to make sure riders won't miss any important messages when they go.

In a first-of-its-kind promotion, consumers will get the opportunity to order a free Motorola pager if they buy a Morrow Snowboard or Westbeach jacket.

Morrow is excited about the promotion, which will give retailers another reason to push the product, as well as giving consumers some added value for the boards or clothing they buy.

"We researched pagers, cell phones, and different things that we could pair up with, but pagers were the best match," says Morrow Marketing Director Gorelle Bracelin. "We had heard that Motorola had done something like this in another industry, so we called them up. They're very excited to be involved with a new, exciting sport like snowboarding."

Pagers, she says, aren't seen just as a cosmopolitan communication device anymore. "It differs by territory, but overall the demographic match between snowboard buyers and pager purchasers was good. It was more weighted male than I thought it would be, but the range was right in the twelve- to 21-year-old group."

Of course, both Morrow and Motorola know some consumers couldn't care less about the promotion. "We determined that the riders who wanted the pager would take it and others who didn't, wouldn't."

The pager promotional cards will appear on all Morrow boards and as hangtags on Westbeach jackets this fall. The pagers will feature the Morrow and Westbeach names and the snowboard company will provide POP advertising to shops to promote the program.

Although the pagers will be free, consumers will still have to pay the monthly service fee.