ade him its Marketer of the Month in April 1991, the photo showed not a man in a business suit (with whom most bikers would probably not identify), but a man who looked like them, sporting a beard and sunglasses. HOG is open to all Harley owners and has over 100,000 members, with 400 local chap-ters. Customers, by virtue of HOG membership, are given a "reason to ride" and "membership in a social group whose main activities revolve around [Harley's] products [G1, p. 11]." If it were possible to measure the dollar sales generated by this brilliant marketing stratagem, we may speculate that the result would probably be in the mil-lions.Such activities were also extremely valuable in dissuading the public from the negative image that Harley had picked up in the late 1970s, when quality control virtually fell apart. A test ride program called Demo Ride was created. Fleets of new machines were taken to motor-cycle events and rallies, and anyone with a valid motorcycle license was encouraged to ride them. This program was highly successful, and ever since, test rides have been standard in the industry [G1, p. 11].In 1984, the company committed $3 million to an unprecedent-ed demonstration program named SuperRide:. . .A series of TV commercials invited bikers to come to any of the company's 600-plus dealers for a ride on a new Harley. Over three weekends, the company gave 90,000 rides to 40,000 people, half of whom owned other brands. The ven-ture didn't sell enough bikes to cover its cost, but it made the point nonetheless. Many who rode the demonstrators came back to buy a year or two later when they were ready for new motorcycles. Today SuperRide is the only such consistent program in the industry, and so successful that Harley has a fleet of demo bikes that it takes to motorcycle rallies [H3, p. 162].The company has also used another shrewd promotional tactic. Following its resurgence, as soon as the first year came along that wo...
