An Effort to Reach A Wider Audience
Interesting and tasteful advertising is something that’s hard to pull off. It takes a good agency or media company most times, and one that’s very well known is Vice. The company knows how to connect with a younger demographic, and that’s exactly what Harley-Davidson is looking for, so it’s a match made in heaven, right?
Well, not quite. As RideApart points out. This feels like downright pandering, but hey, sometimes pandering works. Vice certainly did its job, delivering a video that’s in line with what a lot of younger people want to see. There’s humor, some feel-good moments, fancy cinematography, and perceived authenticity—which is really just bull crap because it’s literally an ad trying to sell you an overpriced motorcycle.
Still, Harley is making an effort. The issue is that the company’s bikes are too damned expensive. It can reach out to younger people all it want, but until HD either finds a way to bring the price of its bikes down or adjust the economy to put more disposable dollars into younger people’s pockets, I don’t see how many young people can afford a Harley motorcycle.
You could get so much more from a different manufacturer. Unfortunately for Harley, the whole bar and shield, bald eagle, American flag waving thing that it has relied on for the last several decades doesn’t seem to have as strong of an impact on sales as it once did. But I’m curious. What do you think of the video below? There’s no doubt they picked to two riders well. They’re likable enough guys, and the class of kids is a good touch, too. To me, the whole thing feels a little too contrived to move the needle at all.
