Indian Motorcycles Media Plan

Greg Doughty

Savanna Steel

Brad Summerville

Derrinita Walker

Media Planning Group 9

Table of ContentsExecutive Summary

Company History

Media Objectives

Competitive Analysis

The Target Audience

Media Selections Broadcast Magazines Newspaper Web Outdoor Promotional

The Plan Media Plan Budget Sample Creatives Evaluation

Alternative Recommendations

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Our company has developed a complex and diverse media plan to help In-

dian Motorcycles to reemerge back into the market. This plan is anticipated

to reach out to Indian’s target market, which is white males, ages 45-54. The

campaign’s mediums will focus primarily on print and radio. Most of the

research found points to the dominance of Harley Davidson in the market.

With Indian Motorcycles having difficulties staying in the market since the

1950’s, their main competition will be Harley Davidson.

CreativeThe target market for this media plan are baby boomers that are used to

traditional media. The creative portion of this plan will cater towards the

traditional thinking of these “boomers.” It will bring Indian Motorcycles

back to their level of superior quality.

PromotionIn order to successfully reach our target market, our main focus for promo-

tion will be surrounded by three motorcycle events. Bike Week in Daytona

Beach, FL on the first week of March, Sturgis Bike Week in Sturgis, ND on

the first week of August, and Biketober Fest in Daytona Beach, FL on the

third week of October.

Executive Summary

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Company History

Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing

Company is a motorcycle manufacturer

based originally in Springfield,

Massachusetts. Indian is America’s oldest

motorcycle brand and was once the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in

the world. They have been attempting to compete with Harley Davidson

since Harley began in 1903. They first realized their weakness, in comparison

to HD, during WWII when the Davidson Corporation was chosen over them

as the number one producer of bikes for the Army.

In the 40’s, America was in an extremely patriotic time, and lacking the

support of the army and police force made their company look less appealing

than the nationalistic Harley brand. This began their demise; in 1945 they

tried to start a new kind of motorcycles with a more light-weight design.

Tragically, these bikes suffered from poor quality and a lack of development

which left Indian with a sour spot on their reputation. By 1949 they almost

completely discontinued their classic motorcycles, and were trying to get the

new type of motorcycle to work. In the 1950’s they tried to fix their image

by importing motorcycles from England, namely Royal Enfield cycles, but

this did not help much as soon many brands were coming over to America

and labeling themselves as Indian. Especially from Italy, and these bikes

were of course smaller and less of what the company was actually going for,

and even less of what consumers wanted. By 1975 sales were deteriorating

to a dangerous level, and in January 1977 the company declared chapter

eleven bankruptcy. The brand name passed through many people and many

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court dockets in the 1980s, finally decided in December 1998 by a Federal

bankruptcy court in Denver, Colorado.

In 1999 a new company based in Gilroy, California began manufacturing

motorcycles under the renowned “Indian” name after purchase of the Indian

trademark; however they are often referred to as “Gilroy Indian” motorcycles

instead of just Indian. They picked up steam and were working hard on

restoring the image. The company, however, yielded to bankruptcy again in

late 2003, after a major investor backed out.

This obviously left a void for someone to step into and try one last time to

save this great company and once again go head to head with the famed

Harley-Davidson. In 2006 this happened. On July 20th, a press release was

issued in which Stellican Limited, a London-based private equity firm,

announced they would take over Indian and move to a new home in Kings

Mountain, North Carolina, where it plans to resurrect the Indian Motorcycle

Brand. They have yet to release any new bikes, and intend to start selling in

2010.

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Media Objectives

Create national awareness of Indian Motorcycles while staying within

the $18 Million budget

Following the reemergence of Indian Motorcycles into the market,

continue support through the entire year of 2009.

Target 45-54 year old white males with an income of $60,000 and over.

After the introduction of Indian Motorcycles, maintain awareness of the

product by reaching X percent of the target market.

Use media that will effectively communicate the joy of owning an

Indian Motorcycle.

Media Strategy - Focus on magazines and radio as the primary mediums to create

awareness for the target market.

- Provide continuing support through the entire year of 2009.

- Use motorcycle-oriented consumer magazines to restore Indian

Motorcycle’s reputation to what it once was.

Other Media considered, but not recommended

- Telemarketing (People with a higher income don’t have time to listen

to telemarketers.)

- Direct Mail (Clutter and consumer resistance.)

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Media Objectives (What tasks the media are expected to carry out?)

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Competitive Analysis

Harley Davidson

The Harley Davidson Company was founded in

1903 in Milwaukee, and is known for designing

motorcycles for long road trips and driving.

They are a corporation of independently owned

dealers. They are known also for supplying

Police officer’s with their fleet for motorcycle

cops. They also provided rides for the military

during World War I, and World War II. By the

1920’s they had dealers in 67 countries. They were the leading industry until

the early 1950’s when they had strong decline, but they regained their status

in the 1980’s. According to a recent Harley-Davidson study, in 1987 half of all

Harley riders were under age 35. Now, only 15% of Harley buyers are under

35, and as of 2005, the median age had risen to 46. As the age of riders is

getting higher, so is the average income. In 1987, the median household

income of a Harley-Davidson rider was about $38,000 and in ten years the

median household income for those same riders has jumped 2.2% to about

$83,000. They have bought out almost every other company in the industry

and is definitely the leader in the market.

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Red Wing Motorcycles

Red Wing motorcycles are a new company started by Rock Legend,

Steven Tyler. They are currently sold at the Manchester Harley-Davidson

and Nashua Harley-Davidson dealerships. They began selling bikes in 2007,

but with well determined objectives to be the new brand to “revolutionize

the market”; they have already become a major player in the Industry. They

advertise that every single bike is hand signed by Steven Tyler. They are

going for a very high income bracket, and a higher age group.

Buell Motorcycles

Though this company was bought out by Harley Davidson, it is

still important to view their unique product in its own light. The Buell

Motorcycle Company is an American motorcycle manufacturer based in

East Troy, Wisconsin and founded by ex-Harley-Davidson engineer Erik

Buell. The company first partnered with Harley-Davidson in 1993, and

became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harley by 1998. This company

became known more for racing bikes than street bikes, and since their join

with HD they have worked exclusively on their “Sportster” and other racing

or “crotch-rocket” style bikes. Their focus is mainly on sport bikes, so they

will match more with our secondary target audience than primary.

NSU Motorenwerke AG

This is a German company which has been bought out by

Volkswagen in 1969. They reached their heyday with motorcycling in

America during Harley Davidson’s dark years and held the position of

largest manufacturer from 1955 until the 1970s. Since then, they have not

had a lot of success in America.

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Target AudiencePrimary Target Audience:

Indian Motorcycles has a clientele

distinctively different from its major

competitor Harley Davidson because of

the base price of its product. An Indian

consumer is primarily a white male

between the ages of 45 and 55, married,

and has children that may or may not

bee still living at home. Although he may

seem like he’s a part of Regular Middle

America, his average annual income is at

least 60,000.

Generally this man is a professional

working in Corporate America holding a

management position. By no means is he

an avid outdoor enthusiast but he does

enjoy travel and hobbies that are both

a status and club oriented (e.g. he may

belong to a country club or a small bike

group).

Snap Shot

Age: 45-54

Race: White

Gender: Male

Income: $60,000+

Marital Status: Married

Geographic Distribution:Entire Country

Lifestyle Habits:Reads newspaper, mostly

local

Use tobacco products

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Secondary Target Audience:

Because indian Motorcycles appeal to

more than one male age group we have

identified a second market that has

consumer potential.

The second target would be a white male

between the ages of 35 and 44, married

or single, and may have a young family.

Although he may seem like he’s a part

of Regular Middle America, his average

annual income is at least 60,000.

Generally this man is a professional

working in Corporate America holding

a supervisory position. He enjoys family

activities, travel and hobbies that are

both a status and club oriented (e.g. he

may belong to a country club or a small

bike group).

Snap Shot

Age: 35-44

Race: White

Gender: Male

Income: $60,000+

Marital Status: Married or

Single

Geographic Distribution: Entire Country

Lifestyle Habits:Read magazines at early

hours of the morning

Prefers trade or hobby

magazines and national

newspapers

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Media Selections

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Broadcast

Normally television would be the

way to go when introducing or

re-introducing a product into the

market. Most households have a

television and if a company was

to place ads on the right stations

with enough frequency they

could raise awareness for their

product, however high income

customers are the exception to

the rule. Consumers with a larger

annual income spend less time in

front of the television--the Indian

target is no exception.

This being the case we’ve

decided to limit the use of

television commercials to reach

our consumer.

Television

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On the opposite side of the

broadcast fence is radio. Since the

invention of the television the in-

home radio has never been the

same but instead of becoming

obsolete, it switched formats and

became the King of the Road.

Radio is one of the best ways to

reach consumers during their

daily commute. Just going to and

from work a person can spend up

to 3 hours round trip (rush hour

traffic is no joke!).

Wanting to reach out to our hard

working, high-earning, 9 to 5

male, we have decided to place

radio ads on several stations with

higher listener rates during “drive

time”.

Snap Shot: Television v. Radio

Radio

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Television Stations

Radio Stations

In using these radio stations, we hope to focus in on the surrounding areas

of the bike events, in order to increase awareness of Indian’s presence at

the events. The types of radio that our target listens to and the a selection

of the stations we have decided to use are as follows:

All News (117) WCOA, Pensacola, FL. KORN, Mitchell, SD.

Classic Hits (158) WJGL, Jacksonville, FL. KCCR, Pierre, SD.

Classic Rock (155) WBGG, Ft. Lauderdale, FL. KFXS, Rapid City, SD.

Sports (128) WAOC, St.Augustine, FL. WAXY, South Miami, FL. KWSN,

Sioux Falls, SD.

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We have chosen to use cable networks and specific television dayparts to

reach our target market and increase awareness of the Indian Motorcycle

brand towards the end of the year as to prepare for the 2010 release of the

product into the market. The index numbers of the cable networks and

the dayparts will be listed in the following order: 45-54, 35-44, 55-64. The

following Cable Networks and television dayparts are the most popular

within our target:

ESPN (180, 190, 161)

History Channel (173, 158, 170)

Speed (162, 214, 163)

Travel Channel (143, 105, 127)

Discovery (132, 132, 117)

Dayparts:

Mon-Fri 8PM-9PM (492, 451, 335)

Mon-Fri 9PM-10PM (489, 454, 345)

Mon-Fri 10PM-11PM (474, 428, 321)

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A Sample Magazine Ad

We have selected magazines that

have a high index within our primary

target market age range, but with

high indexes in the secondary and

tertiary target age ranges, as well.

They are listed after the magazines

in the following order: Index for

45-54, Index for 34-45, and then

Index for 55, 64. These magazines

and index numbers are as follows:

Popular Science (271, 211, 214)

Golf Digest (266, 240, 345)

Popular Mechanics (233, 220, 239)

Guns & Ammo (210, 294, 241)

Men’s Health (178, 280, 165)

We want to increase our reach by placing ads in multiple magazines, with

less emphasis on frequency, to prepare our target market prepared for 2010,

when Indian launches their motorcycles back into the market. We have also

utilized more specific magazines geared towards our target market with

magazine selections that focus on motorcycles.

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Magazines

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Out of the dozens of motorcycle enthusiast magazines these three

appealed to out target market the most for the following reasons

Higher quality production

Features more expensive bikes and parts

Targets a mature reader

Has little to no mention of street racing style bikes

Emphasizes bikes as leisure source for travel

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Within these magazines, we have also placed ads during the months prior to

major bike events across the United States. This is to increase reach before

the events, and attempt to spark interest in Indian Motorcycles before the

reader arrives to the said events. We hope that through these ads, we will be

able to garner more support for the promotions we plan to run during the

events of Bike Week in Daytona, Sturgess, and Bike-tober.

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Newspapers

USA Today is the top national paper

in America with an average weekday

readership of 6,275,497.

Because of its wide reach and varied

general content it would be the paper

most likely to reach our side spread

demographic.

The Wall Street Journal is the

newspaper of choice for professionals

and investors alike. The average

weekday readership of 5,063,751.

Because its readers generally have a

higher income, this paper would reach

the targets with the right amount of

disposable income to find our product

an attractive investment.

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A Sample Newspaper Ad

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Outdoor

A Sample Billboard Ad

Our recommendation to use billboards effectively is to place them in high

traffic areas in the weeks leading up to and during Bike Week, Biketoberfest

and Sturgis Bike Week. We will advertise all summer in North Carolina

because that is where the company headquarters are located.

Eventually billboards will be placed in close proximity to Indian dealerships

to alert newcomers or travelers that the motorcycles are available in the

area and to remind residents of their presence.

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Promotional

Bike Week has been a tradition since

January 24, 1937. Today Bike Week

has transformed into a 10-day festival

that expands throughout Volusia

County. There are hundreds of events

for motorcycle enthusiasts to enjoy.

Bike Week now welcomes hundreds

of thousands of visitors annually and

is enjoyed by locals and motorcycle

enthusiasts world wide.

‘OfficialBikeWeek.com

Another Daytona centered festival ,

Biketoberfest, is sponsored by the

AMA and boasts a similar turnout.

Although there are lots of Harley

enthusiasts in attendance, both

gatherings represent an opportunity

to showcase the new motorcycles,

answer questions and even offer

road tests.

Each August, hundreds of thousands

of motorcyclists journey to the Mecca

of the motorcycling world: Sturgis,

South Dakota.

‘SturgisBikeWeek.com

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The Plan

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The media that we have selected to utilize in order to complete our

objectives are primarily print and radio. A larger emphasis will be placed

into print because it appeals to our target market more so than the other

types of media.

For the most part, the more affluent and educated spend more time

reading magazines and printed material over the other media, like radio

and television. We want to place a larger emphasis within our media plan

into the magazine portion of print simply because it is a more focused

approach to our target market. We also have chosen to do this because

most of the individuals who fall within our target market are more likely to

view our ads if they are in magazines over the other types of media.

Radio is our second approach simply because between it and television,

our target market will most likely be exposed to ads placed in radio

than commercial ads on television. Our consumer market does not

use motorcycles as their primary mode of transportation and more for

recreation. Therefore, on their way to their jobs or other destinations

they can listen to the ads about getting a motorcycle. One would think

it makes less since to advertise on a medium most drivers of motorcycles

could not hear, but we are advertising to people who do not already own

motorcycles, rather those who are looking to buy one. However, we do not

want to place as much of an emphasis on radio as we do with print, but we

still want to increase our reach with the media so as to increase awareness

for the Indian Motorcycle brand.

Media Rationale

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Outdoor media, like billboards, are also important to our goal with raising

awareness of our brand; that why no matter what people are driving they

can see the ads. We hope to target in on the geographic locations of the

major bike and motorcycle events that occur within the Unites States.

During the time before the events take place, we chose to use outdoor

media, specifically billboards, to promote our brand in preparation for the

events that occur in both Florida, in March and October, and South Dakota,

in August.

Television will be the medium we put the least amount of focus in simply

because it is the medium that is least used by our target demographic. We

still want to, however, increase our reach and raise awareness, so we are

attempting to get the word out regarding Indian Motorcycles as often as

we can.

Seasonality

A motorcycle is a product that is owned and used year round, but there

is little need to promote all year. Very few drivers ride their bikes in cold

or rainy weather so we are promoting mostly in the summer months

nationally.

Advertising in magazines, TV, and other forms of print will be focused

during the spring and summer months. However specialized outdoor

advertising will take place during March, July, August and October, the

months of three main “gatherings” of bikers in the United States.

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Media

Plan

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Budget

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Evaluation

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Alternative Recommendations

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Closing Statement

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