Harley-Davidson recently hosted an event at Whiskey Park, an upscale bar on Central Park South, to recruit new “ladyblogger” riders. The pastime of motorcycle riding usually stays within the realm of men's activities, but Harley-Davidson wanted to give marketing to women a shot.

According to the Motorcycle Industry Council, one in four riders is a woman, and the number of women who own motorcycles topped 1 million in 2009 for the first time. So these numbers portray the possibility of a growing market. However, Ms. Davidson’s message of defying expectations by not sitting behind a man on a bike failed while she struggled to be heard over the bar chatter. This indicates that the typical motorcyclist routine did nothing to grab the attention of this “ladyblogger” crowd.

Harley-Davidson couldn’t reach their target audience and really used the wrong method to grab their demographic’s attention. At the event, they provided literature aimed at women, including a brochure titled “We Ride,” that depicted bikes but had very little relevancy. Inside the brochure, the images and copy said nothing about targeting women and instead were heavy on landscapes of the American Southwest and Navajo jewelry.

What Harley-Davidson could have done better is attempt to reach women through more personalized marketing. It was hard for them to connect with their target audience because it is a different group of people that they hadn’t focused on before. We recommend researching the media in depth before reaching out and perhaps tailoring an event, and even the motorcycles, more to their liking. To read the complete article in The New York Times, click here.

FletcherPR is a national communications firm that specializes in reaching women through the power of media. Headquartered in Knoxville, TN with staff in Nashville & Los Angeles, we are a full-service agency providing strategic public relations, social media and marketing communications services to our clients throughout the U.S.