Harley-Davidson is moving from badass outlaw to badass dad. Here’s why and how you can make the transition too.
This Harley is roughly $8,000. 
This Honda, $7,500.
Both have roughly the same sized engine. They look similar. I’m sure that they ride similar … but I don’t know for sure, because I’ve only ridden one. The one I bought.
I’m a 44-year-old father of two with no tattoos. I’m an executive whose closet is noticeably lacking in black leather. Until recently, I’d never put a motorcycle into gear.
But when it came time to buy a bike, I only walked into one dealership – Harley.
Yep, the one that is $500 more expensive.
While I don’t fit the stereotype, I DO fit Harley’s market. I’m a middle-aged, white, male with a little extra disposable income.
I bought the Harley-Davidson for the reputation. The legend. The tradition. The BRAND!
But it’s the STEREOTYPE that is killing Harley-Davidson. As white, male Boomers get too old to ride, Harley sales are starting to tank. Harley-Davidson has taken a hit to the tune of a 4% sales decline in the last year. To survive, the brand needs to evolve from Sons of Anarchy to a Millennial, more racially and gender-diverse image. The sale MUST still be lifestyle … heck, it’s Harley-fricken-Davidson. But it’s time to rebuild the brand from the bike frame up.
Harley-Davidson is making the transition from the badass outlaw image to the badass dad.
They are also adjusting their product line, introducing the Street models that are smaller, nimbler and a far cry from the $30,000 ticket that folks are used to seeing on H-D. They are even working on an electric motorcycle.
Our entire industry needs to make the same moves.
In 2014, Viacom Media Networks released results from a three-year study of Millennial Disruption on 15 key industries. They surveyed 10,000 people born between 1981-2000.
They found that the BANKING industry is at greatest risk of disruption!
- 53% see no differentiation between banks
- 71% would rather visit a dentist than listen to a bank
- 1 in 3 are open to switching in the next 90 days
- 33% believe they won’t need a bank at all
- 73% would be more excited about new offerings in financial services from Google, Amazon, Apple, PayPal or Square than from their own nationwide bank.
ALL 4 OF THE LEADING BANKS ARE AMONG THE LEAST LOVED BRANDS BY MILLENNIALS!!!
I firmly believe that our entire industry’s bad rep is pinned on 4 brands: Bank of America, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo. The “Big Four.”
Our rebrand challenge is to offer checking, savings, loans and investments WITHOUT being like them. 53% of Millennials see no difference in banks, we have an enormous mountain to climb.
Millennials are an interesting psychographic: They are simultaneously the most “ME” generation ever and the most giving, socially responsible.
We need to keep that in mind:
- Don’t “sell,” consult.
- Don’t make marketing about YOU, make it about THEM.
- Be more socially responsible. Not to generate sales, but because you care.
- Have more fun!
Just as Harley-Davidson is blowing up the outlaw stereotype, we need to annihilate the boring, corrupt, big bank image if we are going to survive.
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