Harley Davidson’s Latest Ad Blitz
Since this is my first blog, let me start by saying I am not a blogger. At one time I had a website of my own and I posted some rants, but never in a real blog format and not with any real regularity. This blog will be my baptism by fire and I hope you will bear with me as I learn the ropes.
Now that the disclaimers are out of the way, let me continue my inaugural post by thanking my host, Scott Stein. I have always been interested in writing, in sharing ideas with others and, as I mentioned earlier, had made a couple of attempts to share my rambling with the world. Scott came along and scooped me out of obscurity, giving me a place to post in a forum that is actually seen! The inclusion of several of my articles in his WFTC book was a real high point for me.
Thanks, Scott.
Harley Davidson’s Latest Ad Blitz
The Harley Davidson Motor Company recently launched a new ad campaign that is generating buzz around the country, both positive and negative.
One advertising blog touts Harley’s efforts to “build genuine relationships with their customers” while another ad blog derides the company, calling it “massively out of touch”. Yet another blog even says the new campaign “Challenges Prophets of Economic Doom”
The campaign is targeted at the young crowd and encourages the 20-somethings to ignore the current economic situation and purchase an often outrageously overpriced motorcycle, outfit it with the latest, definitely overpriced, chrome do-dads, and “Screw it, just ride.”
The Harley Davidson Motor Company was outed by insiders who shared intradepartmental memos with the public. These memos, sent to dealers across the nation, spell out how to make this campaign work. They detailed how to target young buyers, to offer them ‘secret’ information, pamphlets, free swag and likened the experience to “a secret handshake” in a very exclusive club.
I am not against a company doing what is best for the shareholders. In fact, I am fully behind the Motor Company (hereafter referred to as MoCo) extracting every last dime it can out of those who buy their products as status symbols and fashion statements. This fleecing of the willfully gullible fad adopters is what kept the MoCo afloat after the disastrous AMF years and has turned a failing company into a real powerhouse. The money from these consumers means that I can still go down to a dealership and buy a new Harley Davidson, long after market pundits predicted her demise.
Despite the new, squeaky-clean image, Harley Davidson helped to create the traditional, ‘Rebel without a cause’ biker. They marketed to, supported, and encouraged the biker scene, proudly proclaiming that bikers were the life-blood of the company. Their ads in every bike and car magazine in the nation touted their long-running commitment to the biker and the life they had adopted.
Then, in what many tout as a marketing master stroke, Harley Davidson changed its image and started directing their sales at the more affluent crowd. The official MoCo clothing lines, the cutesy little dog leashes, the can cozies, the flowered and sequined mini-skirts and an official Harley Davidson decal on every truck in America. They started marketing and selling more chrome doo-dads and dress-up pieces than they did motorcycle parts, discontinued their vaunted lifetime support and started turning away the very people who kept the company afloat long after management had run it into the ground. They just didn’t want to be associated with the denim- and grease-clad crowd who rode year round on 30-year-old bikes not because it was a fashion statement, but because it was a true love affair.
Before we go further, let’s get this out there in case you were curious. The traditional leather and denim, bearded, tattooed, hard-partying, close-knit community of bikers is alive and well in America. They are your garage mechanic, gardener, patrol cop, fireman, VA hospital nurse and more tech geeks than you can imagine. Even though you might not see them around, they still exist and are still out there, year round, in all weather and in every state. They are not the ‘lifestyle’ crowd you see at StarBucks™ or at your local Grange; they are the guys who congregate at the little hole-in-the-wall on the edge of town and hold poker-runs to raise money for people you will never hear about. They still believe in looking out for each other and the sense of brotherhood shared by these men has to be experienced to be believed. They are the guys that will stop if you are broken down and will ride hundreds of miles in a hurricane if it will help a friend. The military still supplies more than its share of bikers and even those who aren’t Vets are still 100% American patriots who do things like protect the families of fallen soldiers when Fred Phelps comes to call.
Now that the boutique-bike bubble has burst and companies like Big Dog and American Iron Horse are failing left and right, now that the yuppie craze for shiny, fat-tired, unwieldy excuses for bragging rights have gone by the wayside and the MoCo’s sales slumped 13% in the first quarter, the MoCo has once again used its marketing judo to try and recapture some of its lost revenue. It is attempting to create a new generation in the very same image it shied away from for so long.
The problem here is that the MoCo is encouraging these youngsters, these new riders, to adopt a ‘lifestyle’ that they really don’t know anything about. They are trying to tell these youngsters that they too can be part of that elusive ‘biker’ crowd. Yes, the age of the hard-core biker gang mentality has passed, but the riders are still around. There are still clubs out there that you just do not mess with and a heck of a lot more whose members aren’t shooting at rivals anymore but still would not take kindly to some 20-year-old college student with a store-built ‘custom’ calling them ‘brothers,’ a term that holds special meaning in the biker community.
Bikers, like every other segment of our society, are as caste and class conscious as the next bunch. Sure, most of us will deny it, but the reality is that the everyday riders, the guys who build and work on their own bikes and may not even own a car, look down on those weekend, buff and fluff new adopters who ride only as far as the next bar or coffee shop. For the most part, it is good-natured and, if pressed, the biker will admit that these weekend, fair-weather riders are helping to keep the sport alive. But that is as far as it goes. The weekend rider, the guys clad head to toe in MoCo logo emblazoned gear, who wear their brand new chaps in 90 degree weather as though it were a uniform and “live the life” a couple of days a month, are tolerated, not welcomed. Think of it as introducing a Dobermann puppy into a pack of Rottweilers. They may grow up and be able to hold their own, but the fact that the outside coloring may be similar is not enough to protect that puppy if it steps out of line or pushes too hard.
As long as these new guys keep to the café late circuit and the show-and-shine circus, they will never know the difference, but a few of them will cross over that line, buying the MoCo slogans hook, line and sinker. For those that do, and manage to survive the conversion, will they find themselves abandoned in another 10 years when Harley reinvents itself again?
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Well said. The chickens will come home to roost sooner or later.
Very well said. Content rich and poignant, strikes at the very heart of the matter without a screaming rant. Very difficult to do and very well done here as i feel properly represented. Many thanks from the little hole in the wall on the edge of town.
Wow. Pretty much spot on. N8dawgs comments sum it up.
Great article! Very well thought out and written.
That is a well thought observation, I really dig how you left an open-ended question hanging on the end. Great work!
whats wrong with chaps? they look really cool. i like the ones with tassles. chaps, jacket and gloves all with tassles just blowin in the wind lookin all cool and stuff… can’t find any harley approved boots with tassles though, but they must be out there, and money is no object, i gotta have em. A freind of mine says there’s leather covers that say harley davidson on em you can get for your helmet to, and if you can get a leather helmet cover, it would stand to reason you could get a leather helmet cover with tassles… anyway, screw it, i’m goin to ride… as soon as i check the weather channel to make sure it’s gonna be nice outside and then get all this tassled leather on. See ya on the road bro!
I don’t ride a bike or own one (or plan to), but I laughed out loud at Adam’s, “it would stand to reason you could get a leather helmet cover with tassles.”
I am actually a very good freind, dare i say even, “brother” of preachers and have a well worn and well established seat at the “hole in the wall at the edge of town”. My comment was meant as good natured ribbing of the MOCO devotee, starbucks biker crowd and to give preach a bit of a chuckle. I’m glad you got a laugh out of it as well.
Very well put. We are out there, wrenching in our garages, helping out buddies, meeting like minded individuals… when that new Denim Black bike sitting in your garage no longer turns over, the tires go flat, and the dealer wants $2,500 to get it running….. guys like us will be there to take it off your hands, coax it back to life…. and get rid of the foo-foo to find the machine underneath….. All at a cheap deal, and as little money in the dealers pocket as can be managed…
nice write up, just some of the many reasons to support your local indy shop
Nice write up… what I’m still amazed at is that Harley is using older bikes in their ads to sell brand new bikes. Last I time I checked, I didn’t see a shovel with an open primary on the ’08 lineup of new bikes.
I will say one thing though: Everyone has to start somewhere. I’ll admit I bought into HD’s BS when I first bought my bike, but I saw through it until I was educated enough to graduate into the group of “real” bikers. It took a few years, a lot of reading and learning, and more time in the garage than most people spend sleeping! HD’s new ads may attract a few that make it past the “weekend warrior” phase and move onto building and riding the older iron. HD can’t survive on the baby boomers forever, so they have to shift their target to my demographic (the 20 somethings) in order to survive in the future.
Starwolve:
I have no problem with HD marketing to the new generation, but I do have issues with the way they are doing so.
I rank this current set of ads right up there with Enzyte(tm) and those adhesive pads that pull heavy metals out through the soles of your feet.
Nice bit of writing. I don’t fit neatly into ANY of these buckets. First of all, I ride a Sporty (Shirley-Davidson :). Second, I’m an accounting guy, but I’ve been on two-wheeled things with/without motors for 45 years. I don’t have a beard, not a single tattoo, and my hair isn’t long. I also wear a full-face helmet all the time.
At the Harley dealer, I look like a mark, though I only get treated like one part of the time. To the Bikers, I don’t know what I look like – a yuppie, maybe. I bought my bike because I saw a tour of the Sportster plant in KC, and said to myself, these guys have a nice operation; maybe I should check it out. A year and 9000 miles later, I love my Sporty, and I seek out information to help me keep it in great shape. Usually I buy bikes for $200 and fix them up – this was different.
I want to see HD – and all American manufacturers – stay alive. They are walking a fine line. The product is good, but that H-D label still costs between $1-3K, and that’s pure margin. It’s nice work if you can get it.
If anyone figures out what bucket I fit into, drop a note here. Cheers, Mac
Well said Preacher. You hit the Dark Custom nail on the head with a big ole’ garage built hammer.
Mac, you might be surprised to know that most of the people that have commented on this blog, ride Sportsters (they are far from stock though). ;-)
That was the most beautiful thing i have ever read…… Brought a tear to my eye… Preacher for President……
Finally, I realize my eyes aren’t alone when looking at the world as I see it. Thank you, Preacher for saying what needed to be said. At 37, I’m not old but I ain’t too young either. I grew up near the bikers “you know to steer clear of” I knew early when to leave or just not to be there in the first place. Some gave me time to learn …Most made me aware I should have known better. I know what TCB means. But I still ride. Everywhere… The marketing doesn’t make anyone aware of what they’re getting into. The marketing doesn’t make anyone who they are. Like a lot of things, I’m sorry ’bout yer luck but it’s all about the BUCK
Oh yeah, I ride a 97 1200 evo sport. Got pipes jets and air filter but the rest is mostly stock. Then again nothin’s broken on it and I don’t fix it if it ain’t broke.
Think you have it all figured out don’t you?
Not!
Wow, Charlie, could you be less helpful?
I don’t expect everyone to agree, but it would be less cryptic if you told me WHY you didn’t agree.
I think he just wanted to get in on some of that question mark implementation. He’s jealous of your finish there.
Great read, and it really is good to have WFTC revved up and rolling again.
I wonder, though, what percentage of the new buyers – these “clueless” (but cash-flush) 20-whatevers – are helping keep HD above water and within sight of the island?
If I were an investor, or, for that matter, a rider, real or otherwise, I’d thank anyone willing to contribute to the company’s longevity, clueless or not.
I find it kinda funny to think of a big pack of tough guys looking down their noses at the posers/wannabees/babyfaces. Remember to hold your pinky out while you sip that tea.
Here’s the thing, though: Marketing is not the company, as I’m sure you’re aware. Sure, it’s some version of an ideal thrown around to encourage people to jump on board, but it rarely portrays the core values of a company for long.
To Coonrat’s comment: your knowing when to “steer clear” strikes me as funny, too, as if the Harleys somehow make the group of owners inside want to kick someone’s ass for trying to fit in. Groups of any types of folks looking for reasons to start kicking ass is just sociologically retarded, innermost best intentions to help their fellow man becoming quickly irrelevant.
Harleys ain’t cheap, so this group of tough guys (ok, this PARTICULAR group, not all bikers) go to a bar, drink some beer, get tough about the wannabes, then what? Go back to managing their accounting department during the week, and cease from threatening the junior accountants with bodily harm?
Then, of course, I could be totally wrong.
Back on point: an entertaining read.
Keep it coming, Preacher.
Truth be told, the self-wrenching crowd, or the edge of town types that I am proud to call myself a member of don’t really give the “wannabee” crowd much thought at all.
The one thing that the MOCO has created is a wonderful market for barley used motorcycles.
R.U.B.s part with the “garage jewlry” at good prices and most of the time it isn’t even broke in.
That is how a edge of towner like myself was able to afford a newer (more reliable) HD. In turn I passed the old “Ironhead” sporty on to a 17yo who went to the stealership and lauqhed his ass off at the blah/blah/shut up and ride banner in front of the store.
Nice read. will tab it for further views.
Im 20 and just bought a 1200 custom im not clueless i ride my bike every chance i get i live in illinois so sometimes the weather sneaks up on you i feel like some of my peers are buying into the ads and feel like there buying respect. Im a General Motors auto technician and i work hard for the money and ill wrench on my own bike and i take pride in my motorcycle i keep it as clean as possible. I really dont fit into a category and i love that. They only thing that bothers me with the post is the stereotyping of my generation, im sure there are plenty others of people like me. sometimes change is good.