Really? Or at least that is what Harley-Davidson’s chief marketing officer (CMO), Mark-Hans Richer hopes for with the new Sportster Iron 883. Richer was hired as CMO in July 2007 after leading the marketing efforts at General Motors’ Pontiac unit. So, I ask Mr. Richer have you truly met with today’s youth (see illustration) to understand their eclectic buying style and randomness?
Don’t get me wrong I like the gothic stylized Iron 883 bike, but in an economic acknowledgment of the challenges of selling premium motorcycles, Harley introduced a print ad aimed to play off the Iron 883’s low price with a focus on appealing to youth and non-traditional audiences. The message:
“About six bucks a day. Cheaper than your smokes, a six-pack, a lap dance, a bar tab, another tattoo, a parking ticket …”
This might be Mr. Richer’s idea of an “off the hook” marketing offensive, but I don’t see how it will attract younger buyers. Especially blacks or Hispanics. Wouldn’t applying principles of the “urban-suburban hip-hop settings” provide better reach?” It seems that Harley-Davidson is trying to be everything to everyone all the time. They look to uptick their image with riding mom’s of all shapes (soccer and hockey) to traditional geezers and even one-armed midgets if they didn’t think it would hurt the brand!
No disrespect to ethnicities or “height challenged” members of society, but I think Harley has fallen down in delivering a motorcycle rider message. They have become just part of the blah, blah, blah advertisement (nausea) “noise.” Isn’t it time to reach out beyond the comfort zone and get a ‘hip-hop’, bump-pumping gangsta makeover? I’m talking about an extreme makeover with a page borrowed from Gravediggaz. Melding the dark and gothic themes of the Iron 883 with a hardboiled gangsta rap phenomenon. Include a bundled switch-blade skull knife along with models named; Grym Reaper, De La Soul, Dubsteppah or Aristacrank if you have too.
Do keep in mind that I’m only one customer’s viewpoint and statistically there’s always a significant chance that a reinvention attempt will not only fail to revive the brand, but indeed may actually succeed in killing the “bling.” Tangential, do you remember country singer Garth Brooks as Chris Gaines? Pretty much a textbook example of an extreme makeover and once people listened to the album – supposedly the greatest hits of a fictional musician with a…oh, screw it, Brooks’ career went totally Tom Cruise cold and now he’s doing Saturday morning cartoons in clown pants!
Memo to Mr. Richer – know your customer/demographic. For example, during a press conference for Valkyrie in Rio de Janeiro, Tom Cruise greeted the Brazilian press with ‘Hola’ and ‘Gracias’ before saying he fell in love with Brazil while watching movies about Tango.
They speak Portuguese, the idiot. And dance the samba!
Photo courtesy HD and illustration courtesy Australian artist Eamo Donnelly.
I think the bike looks pretty good, it fits right in with the Dark Custom series. Personally I’m a Heritage guy, but if I was a first time Harley buyer, and had never owned or been on a big twin, I would consider this Sportster model vs. a Shadow, Rebel, or V-Star. To each their own….
I have been a long time Jap bike rider and devote but a buddy of mine recently bought a Dark Custom from Harley and I will tell you that I am hooked. The feel the roar maybe I just getting older and am now able to appreciate the bike the style or the heritage. Non the less I will be purchasing one this summer.
http://www.ronincycle.com
I appreciate the chromed out machines of the traditional Harley’s. I think they are beautiful machines… and the customization that is possible allows for everyones personal style to show through.
However, for my personal style, the Iron fits. I want a bike that is unassuming, that does not standout. It rejects all the chromed out machines. Not because they are bad, just that they don’t fit me.
One is not better than the other… it is just like every generation’s attempt at saying FU to the previous generation. The previous generation get all pissy at the new looks and sounds, and the new generation tell the previous group to piss off. The Iron may not amount to squat. But I have to say it definitely speaks to people like me who listened to Seattle music in the early 90’s and now have the money to consider a bike.
Again, no disrespect meant to those that like the traditional bike looks… but… Piss off. 😛
Oh, btw, the hip-hoppers you are talking about… they can’t afford a bike, let alone a HD.
I can’t wait to see what they want to ride when they get to late 20’s and early 30s.
I will prolly piss and moan about those bikes.
Uhh..Hip hop gansta..mixed with a Harley?! I honestly think that would not only kill any and all rep that Harley has..but it’d loose any and all costumers it has or would get. That stuff may work for some other brands..but when I personally think Harley..I think classic rock..and some new rock..but not bass thumping rap..so, but to me someone’s out of touch..and it’s not Mr. Richer…..
Does that cartoon picture really represent today’s youth? If it does, God help us. First of all, you got the two wanna be drag queens at the top left who look like they just got done tonguing each other and are having an after gay sex cigarette. Then you got some dweebie bisexual looking headphone wearing dork who was probably getting off watching the first two going at it. Then, on the front left, there is the classic white wanna be black “yo, what up kid” poser throwing gang signs and the only gang he was ever a member of was the cub scouts in fifth grade and has mabye been in three or four fights tops, all of which he got his ass kicked. Last but not leased, the living representation of Selma from Scobby-Doo. Dear God dont let them get Harley’s. Road rage is already a problem without this mess added to it. And what would happen if these clowns decided to ride up to a real biker bar and get a few metro sexual cold ones. It would be pretty funny sight to see. The biker world isn’t ready for these people and hopefully never will. I’m not trying to be insensitive. Be what you want to be…just don’t be it around me. I’ve been told a time or two that I need to be more open minded and sensitive to the rights of others and that in todays secular culture we need to be politically correct and open to new ways of living and thinking. Well then, if I need to accept the cartoon above as tomorrows biker community, then I’m afraid I’m going to remain a narrow minded individual through all this. I also eat red meat, I’m against gay marriage and I support the right to bare arms just to piss off a few more.
hey, i agree no pussys should ride, except real pussy. i dress gothic / heavy metal and i eat red meat as close to raw as i can get. my street glide is black with willy g skulls all over. i know it’s not classic, but it’s not pussified.
@ Mark B – you got me with that Selma/Scooby-Doo ref…I’m still cleaning up from the spewed coffee. Good one!
Cheers,
-mac
Hey Mac, sorry for the coffee spill. What’s up with that picture anyhow? I mean, W.T.F.!? Take care.
I don’t believe H-D needs an image make over as much as they need a more comprehensive product offering and pricing strategy to bring younger riders into the brand.
If the H-D rider image shifts from classic rocker (as referenced earlier) to metrosexual/gay/Selma (as in the image above), I would bet most would stop riding or aspiring to ride H-D bikes.
The H-D lifestyle and brand is still relevant and aspirational. However, the product range and pricing strategy is focused almost exclusively on the aging baby boomer which limits growth and leads to decline as these riders die off.
I think you’re under estimating today’s youth. There certainly are members that fit into that illustration, but the same can be said about any generation (maybe not those particular categories, but categories non-the-less the Harley wouldn’t target).
As a young(er) person, the long hair, flames and chrome doesn’t appeal to me. Neither does the large group of riders dressed in leather from head to toe. There are nothing wrong with any of those things, just not my taste. The throwback nostalgia of the new iron 883 does, and so does the open road. Until I saw the new iron 883, I never really had a desire to buy a H-D.
The fraternity of the chromed out bikes with paint that belongs in an art gallery will be alive and well even if Harley goes after a younger audience. From a marketing standpoint, the big bikes don’t really need sold to consumers anymore. People don’t go out and buy a $15,000+ bike as a starter bike. They already have them hooked.
The Sportsters are going after the mid-twenties early-thirties crowd to get them addicted to their brand. It happens everywhere from Coke vs. Pepsi to Ford vs. Chevy. The goal is to get them to graduate up to larger bikes, and to become loyal customers to the H-D brand.