Indian Motorcycles Media Plan

Media Planning Group 9

Greg Doughty Savanna Steel Brad Summerville Derrinita Walker

Table of Contents
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Executive Summary Company History Media Objectives Competitive Analysis The Target Audience Media Selections 6 Broadcast 6 Magazines 6 Newspaper 6 Web 6 Outdoor 6 Promotional The Plan 6 Media Plan 6 Budget 6 Sample Creatives 6 Evaluation Alternative Recommendations

Executive Summary
Our company has developed a complex and diverse media plan to help Indian Motorcycles to reemerge back into the market. This plan is anticipated to reach out to Indians target market, which is white males, ages 45-54. The campaigns 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 1950s, their main competition will be Harley Davidson.

Creative
The 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.

Promotion
In order to successfully reach our target market, our main focus for promotion 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.

Company History
Indian based Motorcycle originally in Manufacturing Springfield, Company is a motorcycle manufacturer Massachusetts. Indian is Americas 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 40s, 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 1950s 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

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
Media Objectives (What tasks the media are expected to carry out?) 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 Motorcycles reputation to what it once was. Other Media considered, but not recommended - Telemarketing (People with a higher income dont have time to listen to telemarketers.) - Direct Mail (Clutter and consumer resistance.)

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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 officers with their fleet for motorcycle cops. They also provided rides for the military during World War I, and World War II. By the 1920s they had dealers in 67 countries. They were the leading industry until the early 1950s when they had strong decline, but they regained their status in the 1980s. 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 Davidsons 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 Audience
Primary 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 hes 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 hes 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
Television
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 weve

decided to limit the use of television commercials to reach our consumer.

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Radio
On the opposite side of the broadcast fence is radio. Since the invention of the television the inhome 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

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Television Stations
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) Mon-Fri 8PM-9PM (492, 451, 335) Mon-Fri 9PM-10PM (489, 454, 345) Mon-Fri 10PM-11PM (474, 428, 321)

Dayparts:

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 Indians 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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Magazines
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) Mens Health (178, 280, 165)

A Sample Magazine Ad

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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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.

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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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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Media Rationale
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.

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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

Budget

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Evaluation

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Alternative Recommendations

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Closing Statement

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