This weekend, I was helping out a friend who needed to pick up his motorcycle which had been in for repairs. We had a pleasant ride out to the dealership, discussing various life dreams and struggles, when all of a sudden I unexpectedly found myself in the midst of a cult temple.
This was no ordinary dealership. It was the shrine of Harley-Davidson.
I was surrounded by people who were speaking a certain dialect: Harlean. Technical terms about engines and models and paint colors were tossed about with a mix of both profanity and reverence. Uniforms (mostly black Harley t-shirts), symbols (lots of tatoos), and a certain swagger of the elite were all in vogue. You see, these people were not mere motorcyclists. They were Harley owners.
Over lunch, I discussed my reaction with my friend. He laughed, realizing that the Harley rider community was, indeed, cult-like. I had heard in the past that this was the case in Harley-land, but this was my first visit to one of the temples. As I saw the two-wheeled icons on display, and watched the evident brand attachment in the eyes and voices of the owners, it reinforced something that had been brewing for years in my mind. Brand advocacy isn’t always the highest goal to shoot for. You really want to create a cult.
You want people to feel like they’ve found “it.” That they are now part of a special association, an elite, the kind that freely exchanges the secret wave when they pass each other on the highway. You want folks who pull up to a bar or club anywhere in the world, and fellow cult members immediately start a conversation about the icon and their experience of it. You want people who will pay more for the brand t-shirt, who will proudly wear the brand tattoo, who will boast about the apparent advantages of the brand – and you want outsiders to jealously wish they could be part of the club.
You want full alignment with your tagline. These owners really do Ride to Live, and Live to Ride.
I was informed that there are even special edition red Harleys for firefighters, and special blue ones for police personnel. My friend explained to me some of the sub-groups – denominations, as it were – within the Harley cult, but the common denominator was: fierce attachment.
My guess is that Harley has managed to tap into certain aspects of the American psyche – the yearning to chuck it all behind, hit the road, make noise, and show the rest of the world that you fully intend to be free. Other cults latch onto different mindsets. Those who are part of the tree-hugging and latte cult aren’t likely to be Harley buyers, but that’s just fine – they can hop into their Priuses to visit the recycling center and gather to compare Obama and Hillary. Harley riders will roar down the highway to parking lots and rallies anywhere and gather to compare chrome and engines.
I’m not a motorcycle rider (yet?). I feel like quite an outsider in the Harley temple. But I know great marketing and branding when I see it and feel it, and these guys have nailed it big time. Do you have a plan for creating, not just a marketing campaign, but an out-and-out cult?
(Image credit: Harley sign)
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Tags: brand, cult, Harley Davidson, Impactiviti, motorcycling, Steve Woodruff, StickyFigure
Love it!
Spot on illustration of brand nirvana, Steve. Harley Davidson is one of those rare companies that has found the balance between allowing customers a measure of control while maintaining brand integrity.
Glad to see you made it out of the temple intact (without spending $20k)
Steve,
I am a huge fan of Harley. In fact, my wife often calls me Harley. And I don’t even own a bike. Great brand, great product and great understanding of their customers.
First off, welcome to the DF family Steve.
Second– I suspect that the secret sauce for any of these brands with cult-like followings (I call them “Prom King Brands”) is that they make a superior product. There’s only so much marketing can do with a product that doesn’t live up to the hype. And while brands like Harley and Apple and Whole Foods and Virgin aren’t perfect, they represent a real sea change from what’s come before and their fans appreciate that.
As you note, they’ve reached “Brand Nirvana”
Steve,
You are absolutely right! The Harley cult provides a unique ability to drive directly into the souls of the target audience, speaking to them through a brand by which they actually base much of their lives. It is arguable that there is no other brand on the planet that has such penetration.
We at Virgen Advertising in Las Vegas have recently been granted a challenge in this context, to “create a cult within a cult” as we move forward with an all-inclusive strategy to boost brand awareness within a unique local community for an agressively expanding Harley-Davidson dealership. Red Rock Harley-Davidson chose Virgen for our unique ability to strategically combine advertising methods and potentially expand their local customer base beyond the obvious “Harley cult members” and into entirely new demographics through brand combinations, positioning, influencing and lifestyle events. If anyone would like to follow our progress, you can email me at rsantopietro@virgenad.com and we will keep you informed. It should be a wild ride!
@sandra – you’re my favorite reader. Even if I don’t have a tattoo of you on my arm…
@jay – it is true that Harley simply lets their customers “run with the brand” (or ride with it). It’s a cool example of creating the score, but letting the worshipers make the music.
@Alan – interestingly enough, my friend tells me that the mechanics of a Harley are very old-school, and often not so reliable. But the sound and the feeling that come from it are the real essence – that’s where the superiority lies.
@Raymond “…a brand by which they actually base much of their lives” – very insightful phrase. I need to chew on that one.
The interesting thing is that this “on the edge”/outsider positioning translates very well globally. You can see it in Australia, Europe and Asia. It speaks to our sense of non-conformity and yet allows us to recognise the other non-conformists easily. Great stuff!
It is more than just a great product that makes Harley Davidson customers so loyal. It is the people. One of my first blog posts (ever!) was about the way that Harley Davidson puts a big chunk of their marketing spend back into marketing to EXISTING customers, rather than new customers (http://tinyurl.com/5uvkox). They then use that money to spend time with their customers, learning what makes them the way they are.
And that is a big part of what makes it all work.
Rock on, Steve!
Great post!
You might find John Grant’s discussion on this of interest too: (see Brand Innovation Manifesto). Another interesting point of view on the Harley Owners group within the context of lifestyle ideas (p. 13) and clans (p. 175).
Coincidentally, I just blogged about his book last night!
What is this tree huggers/latte cult? The hugging and the drink are not connected…
How about you come out in the wilderness with me for a week or climb a mountain that takes two days to summit? I will show you tough.
And yes there are brands we tree huggers love, too, and they generally are very high quality. If our gear fails, not unlike a motorcycle, we could die easily.
I will meet you at the base camp my friend.
@gavin – Thanks for the international perspective. Good to see that the brand has translated to other areas!
@becky – doesn’t it make a whole lot of sense to continue to target your existing advocates? Best use of marketing dollars ever.
@katie – thanks for mentioning that!
@neil – as you well understand, there are “indoor” environmentalists (my over-simplified example) and there are the rugged types. I spent many days hiking (in younger/stronger days), despising the encroachment of too much civilization. I still longingly wish I could have done the entire Appalachian trail (sometimes I still think I could work my way back up to “base camp” shape!)
If you are a fellow tree hugger, which you clearly are from your description, then why would you speak pejoratively of our cult?
And it is fantastic there are indoor environmentalists. Come one, come all. Even John McCain counts himself a Teddy Roosevelt Republican.
Second, even cowboys drink lattes these days. The drink used to be used in pejorative descriptions of “yuppies” and “eastern liberal elites.” Now, you can find a latte at Duncan Donuts and wherever. Does this cult you speak of really ride over to DD in a Prius (car pooling, of course) to pick up some lattes?
My last point is are Prius drivers really somehow the opposite of authentic (you used them to contrast with authentic Harley riders)? I’d say, even if it is a brand cult around the Prius, the cult is doing more to end our dependence on oil from noxious dictators than most other brand cults.
BTW, your post was excellent on the Harley brand cult. I am not meaning to attack you but I have to defend my tribe of tree hugging environmentalists.
BTW, Steve, I do not know your age exactly but I *guarantee* you CAN get back into base camp shape.
So instead of thinking about chrome, get out running, pumping iron, bicyling, running, and hiking.
Start right now by getting down and cranking out push ups until failure a few sets. That is your hazing back into the tree hugger cult.
By the way, while I am not a motorcycle rider myself I am impressed by the Harley brand and its incredible following. I see big groups of them out on the road and, these days, they really do seem like a mix of people.
I would expect a quick poll of some riders would find a dentist, an accountant, a retiree, and an iron worker. Though they still have that tough image thing going with all the leather so I won’t do this poll any time soon, especially at a bar.
The last thing I need is to get my ass kicked by a dentist, an accountant, a retiree, and an iron worker.
@neil: I always have far more comfortable with leather hiking boots than leather jackets. Probably always will!
there are somethings I simply didnt understand about life until I owned & rode my motorcycle. Then, life became very clear & transparent.
Henry, if you don’t mind, what were these things you learned and was the bike a Harley?
My son and some friends just returned from the huge “Roar to the Shore” Harley gathering in South Jersey. He was blown away. I’ll probably put a follow-up post on the Stickyfigure blog, with pix.