Harley Davidson's ad agency fires its customer...

[Fumesucker]

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=11524397

Harley-Davidson Inc.'s main ad agency for more than three decades has dropped the struggling motorcycle maker in favor of new business.

Ad agency Carmichael Lynch, a unit of Interpublic Group, said many factors went into the decision, including the fact that the Milwaukee-based motorcycle maker has slashed its marketing spending in recent years amid slumping sales.

Carmichael Lynch President Doug Spong said Harley-Davidson was also never a big spender on traditional advertising.

According to Kantar Media, Harley-Davidson spent about $11 million on television ads and other measured media last year, half its spending from 2007.

[DrDan]

1. Don needs some new business . . . .

[arbusto_baboso]

2. Well, Harley is a crappy product.

Any serious rider will tell you that.

Maybe the ad agency just didn't want that albatross around its neck any longer.

[Fumesucker]

3. I see HD as a parable for much of American business these days..

The triumph of style over substance..

BMW has been building motorcycles for about as long as Harley, they have a quite wide variety of models to choose from including a sportbike that's at or near the top of the heap and bristling with technology as well as their old boxer twins that have been continuously updated to keep up with the times.

Admittedly, Harleys today are miles better than back in the dark days of AMF ownership of HD, but that bar was set so low you'd need an excavator to even reach it..

[Kalyke]

4. If BMW's motorcycles are built like their cars, give me a Harley!

Hubby's 2002 BMW (car) has been in the shop 17 times in three years.

Piece of shit.

My Ford has never been in the shop other than for oil changes, etc.

[Fumesucker]

6. Harleys are basically the Hummer of motorcycles...

The way they look is far more important than how they run to those who ride them. Style over substance in other words.

BMW cars tend to be high performance machines and come with the high level of maintenance and repair that high po machines usually require.

BMW motorycles run the gamut from very reliable but not particularly high performance to bleeding edge that probably aren't all that reliable.

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. The Harley "motorclothes" catalog is 3#.

The motorcycle brochure is one trifold sheet. The motorcycle is intended to be part of the costume.

I watched an interesting show a few years ago about the development of the V-Rod. Depressing. Most of the engineering was dedicated to ego-stoking the CEO.

They spend far too much on branding and legal (did you know that they've copyrighted the sound of a 90° v-twin?) and far too little on engineering.

BMW is a good example of what could be.

[Fumesucker]

8. A minor nit.. A Harley is a 45 degree Vee twin..

Ducati and Moto Guzzi are 90 degree Vee twins..

My personal ride is an 80 degree Vee twin.... Only model like it in the world I believe.

And yeah, Harley makes more off the "accessories" than they do from selling actual motorcycles..

[Obamanaut]

13. I think you'll find the cylinders are 45 deg rather than 90, and HD withdrew

their application for a sound trademark in 2000, IIRC.

[lumberjack_jeff]

15. Thanks for the correction. n/t

[PJPhreak]

7. For all of you that think HD is an "Unrelible" Motorcycle....Read This!

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=462017

I Don't know about anyone else,But it takes Balls to ride a '62 Panhead Chopper around the World!

This is the same dude that did this same Roadtrip on a '46 Indian!!

Edit to add photo:

[Roon]

10. My natural father collects indians

Suicide stick with a foot clutch? No way!! He is willing his bikes to me. I think I'd stick with the harleys and nortons before I would even risk riding an indian.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

11. Ah but it WAS a '62

They don't make them like that any more.

[nashville_brook]

9. i bet they were a shitty client -- "how can we get more Hooters girls in our ads?"

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

12. I hope the Hooters girls got paid a lot.

:P

[JohnnyRingo]

14. I'm an old biker

Though I haven't touched my Sportster since 1984, it still resides in pieces in the basement.

The problem with H-D is cyclic (pun). Popularity in the brand has always risen and fallen over time, but it's different this time. The development of super bikes has become so refined there are for the first time real options to looking cool on a motorcycle. I say that because back in the day, the more superior CB series Hondas and two stroke Kawasakis never made good movie props for Hollywood studs.

My two sons are exemplary of a generation that doesn't want the bike their dad and grandpa rode. The youngest rides a Ducati, and his brother has a Buell. After they took me to see Akron's own "Star Boyz" (Google them) perform, I got some insight to why this new legion of highway commandos have found kinship in sport bikes. Now instead of black leather one is more likely to see riders sporting factory colors. In eschewing saddle bags, a back pack is now required gear so as not to clutter up their muscle machine.

Harley's fatal error, in my opinion, came about in the '90s when potential customers were put on a waiting list of up to one year while H-D used scant cash to ramp up for what must have been unexpected demand caused by a robust economy. By the time they increased production and filled their showrooms with ready to adopt machines, it was too late. I know a broad segment bought the American Dream Machines at first, but many of these new bikes, most of which which appear custom built by the way, now languish in garages across the country as owners lost interest in the most recent cyclic fad. I recently attended a charity run for the sake of photography and saw row after row of Square Head Evos, everyone a bit different that the rest, but factory built none the less. What I was hoping to find for my photo expedition were homemade chopped customs. I was very disappointed in the lack of individuality and craftsmanship. These riders may have well bought the latest Yamaha Road Star with factory custom paint, and that's my point exactly.

With new Harleys now having reached saturation level with the public, the dealership has to compete in sales with those low mileage examples that are for sale due to economic woes and lost interest. A 5,000 mile Harley that looks like new is always going to be more attractive than a showroom example of the same bike. That's too bad for Harley Davidson who's current advertising campaign catch phrase could be "too many too late".