Harley-Davidson continues to push its new electric agenda, releasing this week two videos that show its electric scooter and electric moped models in action, just ahead of the X-Games in Aspen, Colorado.
The videos are interesting for two very important reasons. First, they show the two concepts running, just a few weeks after we saw the concepts in actual photos, not sketches.
Not exactly exciting two-wheeled video porn, nevertheless it shows that Harley-Davidson is hard at work bringing these bikes to market…though they do seem pretty rough and in the early stages of development.
The second reason that these videos are so important is because in them Harley-Davidson tips its hand on how it plans to market to a new generation of rider, namely by involving the X-Games in a cross-promotion campaign.
This isn’t the first time that Harley-Davidson has tapped the X-Games to help the Bar & Shield brand engage a younger audience, as we have seen them promote flat track racing at the sporting event before, and we doubt it will be the last.
This is because somewhere in the Milwaukee headquarters there is a memo that outlines how the skater lifestyle, which has morphed into a larger freestyle-stunt scene, has a perfect interest overlap with the Harley-Davidson brand…except that it is far younger.
As such, we have seen Harley-Davidson focus its millennial and gen-x marketing materials to this particular vein of urban white kid, though with mixed success.
So, it doesn’t surprise us to see Harley-Davidson going back to the well to once again promote its two-wheeled lifestyle, the question though will be how this younger counterculture demographic responds to the “new” Harley-Davidson messaging.
We would predict good things for the Bar & Shield brand, as they are likely to get more traction with younger non-riders with electric motorcycles than they would with older and more-established motorcyclists.
It will therefore be very interesting to see what comes from this, both as we watch Harley-Davidson’s electric vehicle lineup mature, and as we see the American motorcycle company begin to shift its marketing campaigns into younger venues.
Source: Harley-Davidson
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