Modern American Muscle
Client: Victory Motorcycles
Modern American Muscle
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Strategy and creative leadership for brand positioning and brand campaign
Polaris sales reached $603 million in 2016 (in conjunction with the campaign), up from $192 million in 2012, with the bulk of sales reported represented by Victory Motorcycles
Strategy and creative leadership for quarterly multilingual direct mail, digital, video, print, and digital audio promotional campaigns.
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As an American heavyweight v-twin competing against Harley-Davidson, Victory Motorcycles (a Polaris brand) needed a compelling approach to communicate the brand’s unique differentiators. My team and I created a foundation to show that Victory redefines the modern heavyweight v-twin for high performance risk-takers. The creative strategy informed and guided a full, multi-channel branding campaign and ongoing promotional campaigns that included national television, print, photography, point of purchase, direct mail, social media, digital, PR, events, partnerships, and sales enablement and dealership support.
Victory needed to gain share of the heavyweight v-twin market. In leading the creative strategy, the project started with a qualitative brand health study, customer focus groups, stakeholder interviews and workshops and internal club member research. While the business problem was about market share, the human problem was that the American heavyweight v-twin motorcycle category was OWNED by Harley-Davidson, limiting riders who don’t identify with the brand’s heritage culture.
The key advantage was that Victory is designed and built with new technologies, creating performance-bike behavior with a heavyweight. Audience and category analysis led to the human insight that metric (performance) bike owners “grow up” or graduate to heavyweight bikes, but they’re not the Harley crowd and they still crave connection to the performance culture.
While technology was represented in the heavyweight category by Japanese bikes, American bikes were underrepresented, revealing whitespace for positioning. The strategy created a foundation to show that Victory redefines the modern heavyweight v-twin for high performance risk-takers. The creative strategy, “Modern American Muscle” was loved by the client and later became the brand’s tagline.
The creative strategy informed and guided a full, multi-channel campaign that included national television, point of purchase, direct mail, social media, digital, PR, events, partnerships, and sales enablement materials. All aspects of the creative were developed to align with the spirit and style of the performance bike culture. We created brand materials and activations for partnerships with Bellator MMA, National Hot Rod Association, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and the Victory Stunt Team.
The making of the “Inside” tv spot.
Victory Motorcycles Account Highlights:
Strategy and creative leadership for brand positioning and brand campaign
Polaris sales reached $603 million in 2016 (in conjunction with the campaign), up from $192 million in 2012, with the bulk of sales reported represented by Victory Motorcycles
Strategy and creative leadership for quarterly multilingual direct mail, digital, video, print, and digital audio promotional campaigns.
Led event strategy for Daytona Bike Week, including creation of custom fit shop and demo ride truck activation.
Led strategy for new Magnum X-1 motorcycle product launch at Daytona Bike Week. Plan included photoshoot, sales kit, press tour, rock concert, and more.
Strategized launch and unveiling of new Gunner motorcycle at Chicago International Motorcycle Show with press event at Las Vegas Air Museum and drumline reveal. (Gunner became the top-selling cruiser/bobber in company history).
Led strategy for creation of a national dealer program, including 257-page dealer handbook, as well as product, apparel, and accessories catalogs and POP kits
Developed unique strategy for female demographic, creating custom nail polishes and mani-pedi experiences to introduce new colorways for Victory motorcycles and intrigue “back of the bike” demographic.
Creative direction of marketing efforts for Victory Motorcycle Stunt Team, featuring Joey Carbajal and Joe Dryden.
Strategic and creative leadership for Victory Endurance Racing, with races at Isle of Man TT and Pike’s Peak Hill Climb, partnering with Roland Sands for a custom motorcycle design.
NHRA, IAVA and Bellator MMA partnerships, creative direction and strategy for partnership marketing communications plans.
About my role:
As AOR for Victory Motorcycles, my agency was responsible for a broad scope of strategy and creative. Because of the agency’s boutique creative firm ecosystem, I served the account in my key areas of strength, leading the development of Creative Strategy, followed by a heavy lift in Creative Direction. I worked very closely with the VP Marketing Director and his team, and developed a trusting and agile relationship that fostered good work for the brand.
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