UTMC

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 5:45 pm**

Stole from Ducatista site, official Harley-Davidson test ride manual

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 6:03 pm**

Horrible.
But whatever they do, it apparently works. This goes along with the whole schtick about raising children to be insecure adults.

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 6:05 pm**

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 6:29 pm**

Posted: **Sun May 01, 2011 6:55 pm**

I've got to admit, initial reaction is that dry, sucking feeling at the back of your throat preceding a horrific dry-heave. You just hang your head in embarassment at the MoFoMoCo, which is a position I'm largely used to assuming over the years.

But on a second glance, this is really solid sales technique. Is it douchey-mac-douche off the douche scale? For sure. And the way they word it to their own employees? Hilarious, really. But you've got a brand that has juggernauted itself, for various and arguable reasons, into the American identity. What better way to sell it than to use that identity. It's not a planted person waiting for them at the convenience store, it's a random member of the populace, that they can count on to make the sale for them.

Now, is it encouragable in any sense to promote such shallowness among riders, much less any segment of the population? No. And really, when these sales guys push a mid-life crisis who's never been near a bike out onto the highway on some 800 lb behemoth, should they have a little trouble sleeping at night? Maybe. But again, in the name of a sale, for some folks, all is fair, and this kinda spells it out for them.

:shrug: Just sayin'.

-Rench

Posted: **Mon May 02, 2011 3:37 am**

^- Yep, have to agree.
As a capitalist big I can't complain since my shares for HD are up 250%

Posted: **Mon May 02, 2011 6:30 am**

Made me think of this...

<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gDW_Hj2K0wo?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Posted: **Mon May 02, 2011 12:01 pm**

I don't find it remotely surprising. So much of brand selection is about putting out to the world "what kind of guy" you are, and cars and motorcycles are perhaps the biggest opportunities to express that.

A friend of mine sold cars on a Dodge lot, and that was how he sold Jeeps left and right. Rather than sell the car, he would get guys to talk up how much they like to ski/hike/camp, and build up how awesome this 4x4 vehicle would tie in with their manly outdoor lifestyle. He said that getting the buyer to visualize themselves being cool and happy in the vehicle was all it took.

Posted: **Tue May 03, 2011 4:51 am**

I work at a Subaru dealer. Lifestyle is a huge part of their marketing as well. Granola & Birkenstocks.

Posted: **Tue May 03, 2011 8:58 am**

Yeah, lifestyle marketing is very effective. What cracks me up here is the fact that they're targeting the "look at me!" trait. It just plays so neatly into the whole "fag" stereotype. I have to wonder what the discussion was like when they made the transition to lifestyle based marketing.

Do we go after the adventure types?
Nah, they're all on dual sports and off road bikes.
Do we go after the performance enthusiast?
Nope, our bikes are slow and old tech.
Wait, I know, let's go after the attention whores!
By Jove, I think you've got something there!

Posted: **Tue May 03, 2011 10:51 am**

Metalredneck wrote:I work at a Subaru dealer. Lifestyle is a huge part of their marketing as well. Granola & Birkenstocks.

I've always loved walking into a place where I was clearly not the type being marketed to, salesmen get all lost about it

/RM

Posted: **Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:59 pm**

Rev wrote:I get what you're saying, but it still makes me want to station a pretty girl with a scooter fetish outside that busy convenience store.

Or a pretty guy, just in case of Sportsters (Zing!).

And I'm just now seeing this for the first time.

Remind me to slap you next time I see you.

Posted: **Mon Mar 12, 2012 5:56 pm**

It's so interesting to see the psychology digested into morsels of sales tactic. Things that makes complete sense, but I'd never thought out.

I love the quality of marketing in the marketing manual!

I wonder what the Ducati manual looks like.

Posted: **Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:30 pm**

It'd be funny to set up a salesman with a prospective buyer, I suppose you could do this to either one, and guarantee that the wrong sort of attention "happens."
Like at the convenience store. Have a hot chick in ATGATT park right next to them and make some remark about gay bikes or something completely antithetical to the image. Or a group of small schoolchildren with slurpies could mock them for being pirates. Something like that.
I spend too much time thinking up elaborate practical jokes.

Posted: **Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:42 pm**

Trav wrote: I wonder what the Ducati manual looks like.

Posted: **Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:34 pm**

piccini9 wrote:
Trav wrote: I wonder what the Ducati manual looks like.

[rummaging]Where's my checkbook[/rummaging]

UTMC

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