Bikers, Bankers and Branding

This Harley Davidson costs roughly $9,000

This Honda costs roughly $8,500

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 bank1 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.