Wolfes worked with Harley-Davidson’s in-house marketing team on a new campaign entitled “Live Your Legend” which launches amidst a global agency review the brand launched back in December.
It’s also the first time Harley-Davidson has rolled out a campaign during March Madness, a bit strange given that spring is an important selling season for the brand.
“It is a premier media property during the start of our key selling season, and it appeals to a wide audience here in the U.S.,” Harley-Davidson U.S. marketing communications director Dino Bernacchi told Marketing Daily.
The 30-second launch spot, entitled “One Day” communicates a simple message. It opens on a young boy playing in the driveway, whose ears perk up at the sound of a motorcycle. He runs over to his bike and rides alongside his father’s Harley-Davidson Low Rider S into the garage. “A lot of people say they’re going to live out their dreams one day” says the voiceover, adding that people usually mean after their kids grow up. “If you wait until then,” it concludes, “your kids will miss the lesson.”
The new campaign arrives as part of the brand’s increased marketing investment, as it looks to target a younger demographic. “One Day” clearly fits into that profile, with its nod towards young and prospective parents. Still, Bernacchi insists the launch spot isn’t targeted specifically at any one demographic, claiming the ad’s “universal truth transcends age, gender and cultural boundaries, so there’s not one target for the campaign.”
Future spots in the campaign will focus on new and recently launched Harley-Davidson models, such as the Forty-Eight, Iron 883 and Street Glide Special. We were a but surprised to learn that Victors & Spoils, who the brand has typically worked with on creative in the past, did not handle the campaign. It is not the first time, however, that Harley-Davidson has worked with Wolfes, as the agency handled a “Roll Your Own” social media and print campaign for the brand last year.
Sources close to the matter tell us that agencies from nearly every holding company are currently pitching Harley-Davidson in its global creative review. We hear that much of the future work for the client will focus on the area in which it is expanding most rapidly: Asia.