Vespa cruises into blog publishing

Vespa scooters, steered by Steve Rubel at Cooper Katz, is getting into the publishing game by hiring four bloggers to drive two blogs.

One blog will celebrate the urban mobile lifestyle. It will include articles, tips, tricks and links on the latest tools that help individuals get around any city more quickly, easily and enjoyably. The blog will feature posts about Vespa scooters, with the aim of appealing to a broader audience – those who crave mobile gadgets. Content might include: how to get real-time traffic alerts on your cell phone; how to learn Spanish while commuting; how to prevent your gadgets from getting wet; Web sites that help you get around by subway more easily; gadgets for staying cool while commuting in the summertime; etc.

The other blog will focus on the journey we call life. It will help readers learn how to get from point A in their lives to point B, both literally and more “existentially.” Content might include: tips, tricks and links on weight loss; saving money; getting errands done faster; how to triumph over stress; or how and where to travel with your pet; etc. Like the other blog, this Vespa blog will also occasionally put the Vespa scooter in the context of larger lifestyle topics.

It’s an audacious move for a PR agency and scooter company. Yet another pirhana chewing on the publishing wildebeast. Not only are traditional publishers up against millions of bloggers and hundreds of entrepreneurs… now scooter makers are doing it too.