While flipping pages of OPEN magazine, I found this advertisement of Harley Davidson; a bike which every guy wants to ride once in his life. This was probably the first ad I have ever seen in print for Harley Davidson in India. In the clutter of print ads these days, it’s easy to find bad/worse ads but you can count, good ads like these, on your fingers.
Harley Davidson was launched in India by late 2010 with dealers in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Now opened at Chandigarh and Hyderabad also. In India, they have positioned themselves as a ride which is not owned by the rich but by those who love the road. And, it is also true to large extent because Harley Davidson has been trying to bring down the prices their bikes and making it affordable to HD lovers !
The ad emphasizes on owning the bike by the one who loves the road rather than by one who owns a lot. Therefore the tag line says,
“You don’t have to be born under a lucky star to live under one” which translates into, you don’t have to own lots of money to be lucky enough to ride Harley.
Just in the left bottom corner, you can see “Calculate your EMI at …” which simply tells you that Harley in India is available in installments, so why not have a look at the website and see if you can afford one.
FYI, the bike ranges from 6 lakhs to 35 lakhs with down payment of 15% and above with EMI duration up to 60 months. If you are a bike lover and have a secure job, go ahead; You can’t beat owning a Harley!
All in all a good ad with right calls for action. Seems to be effective, what do you think?
With you on this man… super cool….
With you on this man… super cool….
Hey @Arun, @Altaf
Seems like Business Standard has started referring to trak.in these days. They are a bit too late for the news. lolz
Check this out – http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/highharley/433960/
Not much, but they are a couple of days late.
“In India, Harley Davidson wants to sell to people who live up to the bike’s image rather than anyone with a stash of cash.”
Looks like that Satyam… :)
@ Satyam,
On the face of it, it looks like a great news. However somehow I dont feel like rejoicing at a positive news. May be my thought process is wrong but what ever it is I am willing to share with all here.
Before I say any thing related to the article I would like to say this :
Why people remember God when all efforts fail? Because he is the final attempt. Now suppose God starts fulfilling every two bit wish of every two bit nobody, who will remember God? What value God will have in the eyes of people?
The point is “exclusivity”. Only when you try all ways and fail, then only you turn to God (to perform miracles). If miracles happen every day to every one what remains of miracle? The very meaning of miracle will change.
Everybody revers Harley because of its exclusivity. Apart from its price, it stands for something. In US it represents freedom, revolt. People without falling into the regular slot, roam around the country freely. Those who form associations are those who refuse to be mainstream. It has a thrill to it. Ofcource price is another factor to make it look dreamy.
Now if HD comes out with cheaper models and begs people to buy it and even suggests how easily you can buy it on EMIs, what fun is left? Those hardcore fans of HD gets offended as every one who can afford is he brand value gets diluted.
I see this as a negetive news. May be readers here may think that I am a chauvunist but I would request people to just give it a thought to what I said above.
Tomorrow Rolls Royce stops its practice of making cars on orders that too by screening the profile of buyers and comes out with affordable models and says they are available on EMIs, may be those who dream of driving a RR once in life but know that they can only afford to dreram but not to own may rejoice. But those who already own it based on certain qualifications (profile of person, richness) feel insulted.
Same way a Rado stands for something. Similarly a flat on Marine drive stands for something. All these along with few more things stand for some thing – EXCLUSIVITY.
If exclusivity is diluted, what charm remains?
So I would like to conclude by saying that with the arrival of cheaper model of HD coming to India with EMIs which I can afford, though I dream of owning one HD, make me sad.
Just my two paisa :)
@Altaf
Price is not the only thing that makes a commodity exclusive!
Dude, no matter the price is low, HD people will not give HD to anyone who has money.
If I go with 10lakhs to buy a HD, they will not give it to me JLT. They will screen me and my passion for the ride! :) thereby keeping its exclusivity.