In these troubled times even women and minorities are on the Motor Company's radar.

Harley-Davidson's recent marketing efforts were the subject of an article in the latest issue of Chief Marketer magazine. Yeah, yeah... I can hear the yawns all the way from here. Most people think marketing is about as fascinating as outdated road maps. I just happen to be fascinated by both.

But this article was interesting- not so much for what Harley is doing with their marketing, but what their marketing says about motorcycling in these United States. Hear me out.

Full disclosure: I'm not a big fan of H-D. For me they cost more yet do less. Paying more for something that's slower, heavier and less maneuverable doesn't make much sense to me. It's hard to make a case for a Harley purchase if you look at tangible numbers like horsepower, stopping distances, curb weight, price, etc.

That's no secret to executives in Milwaukee. That's why the image of their motorcycles drive most of their advertising. Why sell the steak when you can sell the sizzle? Think about it- when have you seen a recent Harley ad that quoted a single spec? Other than APR, I can't think of any.

This approach requires tremendous brand allegiance from your customer base. And when it comes to marketing their "brand" Harley is up there with the best. Selling a lifestyle, so it seems, is much easier than designing a practical bike. They're so good at this it's not uncommon for college business classes to study H-D's marketing strategies. But hard times make selling solely on brand loyalty a hard sell.

Drastic Measures
Over the last several months we've seen more Americans buying generic brands at the grocery store, driving their cars less and fixing broken things instead of throwing them away. Along with this Cultural Revolution we've seen purchases of discretionary items plummet. Motorcycle sales have dropped off 30% on average this year. Harley sales have fared far better (closer to 9%) and it's partly due to their new marketing initiatives.

Beginning last year Harley-Davidson began a concerted effort to reach out to younger riders, women and Hispanics. Two of those are demographics long ignored by most motorcycle manufacturers- not just Harley. Attracting younger buyers has involved de-chroming some of their hardware and using names instead of their legendary alphabet soup. Part of their reasoning is it will be easier to draw in a new rider than convert an old one.

But once again we're talking lots of snake oil and very little gear lube. Aside from the XR1200R these efforts are almost exclusively fueled by aesthetics.

I do applaud Harley's efforts to foster women riders and help them feel more comfortable in the "mans world" of motorbikes. But, beyond social functions, the effort is limited to accessorizing their current lineup with lower bars or different seats. God forbid they'd actually design a bike tailored to fit the fairer sex.

It also concerns me that newbies, with very little experience, are plunking down serious coin to waddle about on some very heavy machinery. It would be far more beneficial to see these rookies fall off a dirt bike or Ninja 250 a couple of times before hitting the open road feet first.

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