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Eight years ago, we posted this Valentine's Day video that marked a significant shift in RevZilla's content strategy. And personally speaking, it was a memorable moment in my career trajectory, which makes it even more fun for me to revisit it this Valentine's Day.
2023 marks 15 years in business for RevZilla and our YouTube channel is only about a year younger. Creating videos has been a big part of our strategy for nearly the entire history of the company, but a fundamental change happened in 2015. In the early days, RevZilla used YouTube to inform customers of new and existing motorcycle gear with videos such as detailed looks at the features of a specific product or our monthly "deals" videos that highlighted new products and bargains. All these videos came with a healthy mix of our bizarre sense of humor and unique personalities. (Remember "HeythisisAnthonyatRevZillawhereyoucanwatchdecideandride" or Hi-Viz Brian in an eagle mask doing a burnout on a Sportster?)
Changes actually started in 2014 when Lemmy and I were moved from positions on the merchandise and customer service teams, respectively, to our fledgling video and content team, and Lance Oliver was brought on board to spearhead a little project that would become Common Tread. But in February of 2015, the expanding video team was still finding its footing. It would be months later when we released our first bike review video, with Lemmy testing a Harley-Davidson V-Rod, a bike we rented, or when we finally got our first official press bike to review, a Triumph Tiger 800 XCx.
When this video was released in February, our monthly deals videos had evolved to include more storytelling, a precursor of the direction we were taking the entire YouTube channel. As for the video itself, what I remember is how simple it was. We had a small team and an even smaller budget.
Brett Walling, who was the department director at the time and is currently the Vice President of Creative and Brand for Comoto's Family of Brands, let us use his his high-end loft apartment to shoot the dining room scene. The scorned lover was played by Martina Samson, who was an assistant to CEO Anthony Bucci at the time and is currently our Communications & Community Relations Manager. While they were shooting, Brett and I eventually left and got a beer because he wanted Martina and the crew to really get into smashing stuff up and didn't want his presence to inhibit them.
There are so many outtakes of Martina trying desperately to smash the champagne bottle. It simply would not break. The team tried everything, from drilling nails into a helmet and smashing it over top, to pre-fracturing the bottle. In the end, we settled for shooting out the cork.
The sacrificial teddy bear whose head was cut off in the video was actually mailed to a customer later. A man who was a huge fan of RevZilla at the time called customer service, looking for a unique Valentine's Day gift for his girlfriend. So I packed up the head and sent it along with a few gift cards and a note saying that I hoped their relationship would fare better than the teddy bear did. That gesture is a good example of the lengths we go to in an effort to include our audience and customer base into our RevZilla community.
The motorcycle that was being "built" in the video actually was a custom bike that belonged to our camera operator at the time, Ryan Schultz, and the garage scene was shot in his garage on a freezing cold winter day. (Ryan is now a freelance camera operator in Los Angeles.)
After nine years with RevZilla, this video is one of the many moments that bring me a smile when I look back and remember just how far we've come. I hope it brings you a smile this Valentine's Day, too.
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