Marketing to Women Lessons from the Motorcycling Industry
Motorcycles are no longer solely for tatooed, longhairs like those portrayed so perfectly in the classic Peter Fonda movie, Easy Rider. 
No, motorcycling is becoming more and more mainstream and, you guessed it, women are becoming a larger part of that market. In the Sunday New York Times Money section, Fara Warner wrote a great piece (registration required) about how the activity is breaking away from its anti-establishment roots.
In the article, Laurence Kuykendall, the marketing communications manager at BMW is quoted, saying: "We have a real challenge in the industry to appeal to younger riders and to women riders." The things that BMW is doing to broaden the appeal of their bikes include: lowering the seats and narrowing them nearer to the gas tank to make straddling the bike easier, and making them lighter.
Rebecca Bortner, a communications project manager at Harley-Davidson, says that the company web site is now featuring more women who give insights into why more women have become motorcyclists. Furthermore: "Harley also started offering more accessories that women demand, like heated hand-grips, seat-lowering kits and better fitting apparel."
But, I take particular note of these next sentences:
- "But like most bike makers, it [Harley] has no model just for women."
- "’We do keep all sizes of riders in mind when we design bikes,’" Ms. Bortner said. ‘But women ride for the same reasons as men do.’"
Transparent marketing at its finest, Rebecca! Yay!
Wow – we can all learn a lesson from the motorcycling industry. Never thought I’d write that.
