People Creating New Kando Experiences
Discover 'People Creating New Kando Experiences' through Yamaha Motor Australia's initiatives.
Ollie Sharp
Brand & Content Marketing Manager,
Yamaha Motor Australia
Yamaha Motor's long-term vision, ART for Human Possibilities, is about enjoying life in everyday life,
exploring our humanity, and giving rise to new experiences of Kando that inspire the next step forward.
One tangible expression of this vision began in Australia.
More than a campaign, it is an ongoing effort to portray new Kando experiences through real, human stories.
From a Life-Changing Experience at 14 to Yamaha Motor Australia
When did you first have a Kando experience that truly moved your heart?
It was when I was 14, riding a used YZ125 for the first time. I was at a point in my life where I felt uncertain about my path, but beyond the thrill of the machine itself, I chanced upon a group of riders who welcomed me with open arms and made me feel that I truly belonged. That experience became my first major Kando experience.
Racing quickly became part of my life, and I threw everything at it to chase my dreams. I spent more than a decade racing in New Zealand, Australia and further abroad—a time for self-discovery through both victories and defeats, as well as injuries. After retiring from racing, I obtained a bachelor’s degree in marketing and gained experience viewing the industry from the outside as a journalist for various road and off-road motorcycle magazines. So, while racing wasn’t the core of my existence as I knew it, I still had that burning desire to remain connected to the community that helped shape my life.
Along the way, I met the Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Australia (circa 2010), and through that connection, I found my way to Yamaha motor Australia. I have now been with the company for over 13 years, working in areas such as brand strategy, marketing and content planning. At the core of my work is the same desire I felt at 14—to create experiences that leave a lasting mark on people’s lives—and the projects I work on at Yamaha motor Australia stand as a symbolic expression of that belief.
How the Projects Come to Life
How were the projects you work on established?
They began with research in Australia into how customers perceive Yamaha Motor. Many people first encounter Yamaha Motor through a single product—such as an outboard motor or an off-road motorcycle—but over time, they experience new passions and realize that Yamaha Motor can enrich and enhance that lifestyle too. So, we came to realise that our customers experience Yamaha Motor as something more than just a product.
Even across different products, we found common threads in how people feel—such as a sense of trust, the thrill of performance, the craftsmanship, a feeling of belonging to a community, and the excitement they experience every time they ride. That’s when we realized this was the unique value of Yamaha Motor.
Around the same time, Yamaha Motor’s global long-term vision, ART for Human Possibilities —Let’s strive for greater happiness, was announced. I understood it as a direction focused on unlocking each individual’s potential through the relationships between people, mobility, and community.
Through the real stories of our customers, we wanted to express this vision in a tangible way within the Australian and New Zealand context. The projects were created as our answer to that challenge. Using stories from customers, partners, ambassadors as the starting point, they serve as a platform for people to experience Yamaha Motor’s values, mindset, and intentions.
Shaping Kando Experiences, and What Lies Ahead
What kind of stories are you telling,
and what future lies ahead?
The core concept is not to focus on the products that Yamaha Motor produces, but to show the experiences Yamaha Motor brings into people’s lives. In the campaign launch film, we reveal the “Yamaha Motor” families, riders, and those who love the ocean come together at a campsite from their own different paths, sharing the same place and moment in time. What is conveyed there is not specifications and features, but emotional responses—such as joy and a sense of reassurance—that move the heart.
The same fundamental approach has guided every film in the series we have created since: A boy with a disability experiencing the moment he is able to ride a machine for the first time; athletes who devote their time to young riders, nurturing the next generation; an indigenous artist who continues to connect with the ocean, their community, and their culture through personal watercraft; to people who use robotics to support agricultural work, expanding the possibilities of both work and life; and scientists throwing their life’s work into understanding how ocean ecosystems work, studying sharks in dangerous marine environments and trusting outboard engines to return them safety home.
What emerges in each setting is not so much "Yamaha Motor products" themselves, but the relationships and emotions that form around them. There are moments of enjoyment woven into everyday life, moments that invite reflection on oneself and on others, and from that continuum, powerful experiences of Kando are born—prompting people to take their next step forward. We capture this flow in a documentary-like way.
And there is one more essential element: nature. The oceans, forests, rivers, and bushland across Australia and New Zealand are places where Yamaha Motor’s products are used at their most vibrant—and at the same time, environments that must be protected. If these stages were to be lost, the experiences born there might be lost with them.
That is why we also share initiatives to protect the natural environment—such as ocean conservation efforts like Yamaha Rightwaters *1, and cleanup activities carried out in partnership with Outback Cleanups *2. Preserving the very stages on which experiences of Kando are born, and passing them on to the future, is one of the challenges Yamaha Motor Australia continues to value.
Looking ahead, we want this to be more than an Australia-only initiative. By connecting with Yamaha Motor colleagues around the world, we hope to share stories built around common themes — people, mobility, nature, and possibility.
Having worked across many different products and categories, I've come to feel that the emotions they evoke share common ground — joy, trust, freedom, and connection.
By carefully portraying these "movements of the heart" as stories, we hope to create moments that inspire those who encounter them to think, "Maybe I'll take a step forward too." That is how we want to continue growing — as a platform for inspiration.
*1 Yamaha Rightwaters: A sustainability program led by Yamaha Motor's Marine business that focuses on protecting water environments, reducing marine debris, and promoting environmental education.
*2 Outback Cleanups Australia: A non-profit environmental organization that removes illegally dumped and washed-up waste from beaches, bushland, and marine areas across Australia.
Yamaha Motor Australia’s initiatives
