The first Harley Davidson TV spot from crowdsourcing agency Victor & Spoils has made its debut. The new campaign promotes Harley’s HD1 customization program, which lets bikers design and build their own bikes. Custom bikes are ready in about 4 weeks. No other bike or auto brand can claim that kind of customization turnaround.
The concept and insight behind the “No Cages” campaign came from Whit Hiler, who is part of Victor & Spoils’ creative crowd. The first spot in the campaign does a great job of visualizing the emotion tied to owning a bike. Hiler got it. And Harley got a good campaign based on Hiler’s insight. Good use of crowd, Harley.
But not all brands have something to gain from turning to the crowd. That’s pretty obvious to anyone who suffered through Doritos’ user-generated Super Bowl spots.
Doritos is a snack, bought with minimum thought and effort. There are people out there who love Doritos, but there’s no such thing as a Doritos expert. There is no deeper understanding to a low-involvement product like Doritos that would give the crowd an advantage in developing good conceptual work. Turning to the crowd helps Doritos in one way: quantity of ideas. But it doesn’t improve quality of work. For Doritos Super Bowl spots, the crowd didn’t provide insight. It provided gags.
Now look at Harley’s first user-generated spot. It works on two different levels. It captures what it means to be a Harley guy. It also demonstrates the flexibility and freedom of Harley's new HD1 program. Effortlessly accomplishing multiple objectives in one execution isn’t easy. But Harley’s crowd is well equipped to help Harley develop more focused advertising. There are legions of Harley fans who live and breathe the biker lifestyle. Harley's crowd also consists of any motorcycle expert who understands bikes better than the most tatted-up creative.
Whit Hiler, the man behind “No Cages,” isn't your average creative. He’s an owner of a Vespa dealership in Lexington, KY. He lives and breathes the biker lifestyle. This background gave him an advantage. Most creatives would have to put themselves in the shoes of a Harley guy. But Hiler has been wearing those shoes all his life.
Harley is the perfect brand to turn to consumer-generated content. It's a high-involvement brand with a highly educated crowd. For complicated products that require careful consideration before purchase, greater insight can come from the crowd. With a brand like Doritos, there is no level of education that could give the crowd an advantage. There’s nothing to learn about Doritos asides from the flavors.
It was an advantage that Harley's crowd had a better, more focused brief than the crowd working on Doritos. But that doesn’t change the fact that an educated crowd working on a high-involvement product can be a powerful asset for a brand. Nothing against pugs or pants-sniffers.
High-involvement brands with educated crowds have a lot to gain from user-generated content:
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The same can't be said for low-involvement brands:
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