Re: RAT Pack

[Eric Sheley <eric@xxxxxxxxxx>]

At 06:36 PM 9/5/00 +0100, jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>     I know next to nothing about HOG, except that it exists.  But when I
>first heard about RAT and saw the logo I thought "oh no, Triumph is
>trying to be Harley".  To me, the name "Riders' Association of Triumph"
>reeks of a contrivance to use an animal's name and get an easy logo out
>of it.

ok - you win - based on the Chuck E Cheese Logo rip off, I will grant you 
the "contrived" status.....

Damn - I keep forgetting about that RAT.....

>engaged in Triumph activities.  It just feels like brainwashing to me.

It's not - now sit back and watch the spinning pattern. Your eyes are 
getting heavy .......

>     If I had to guess, I'd say that number four is the most important -
>people seem to buy Harleys for the image, the lifestyle, and that
>includes belonging to a club.  So Harley even has a ready-made club to
>join!

exactly

>     With HOG, was it a case of the factory starting up, building a few
>bikes and then forming HOG?  Or was it more of a case of building up a
>large user base and then filling a vacuum, giving the user base
>something they wanted?  As you said yourself, Triumph hasn't yet got the
>large established user base; they may be trying to run before they've
>learned to walk.

Well, they started it in 1983 - primarily to increase brand loyalty after 
the AMF era. Almost 20 years later they now boast over 550,000 active 
members......  Even they started slowly, building it into a juggernaut 
riders organization, offering everything from rallies to travel bookings to 
insurance.

>     So is it worthwhile to use the same marketing techniques on the
>Triumph market?

yes - I was referring more to the points I did not cover.

>  I'm just being awkward now :-)

and I appreciate it ;-)

> > The next thing is that they need to stop trying to make every event
> > one pace / style for every owner out there. [...]
>
>     I've seen a similar situation with a group I've been involved with.
>The solution was to organise different events to appeal to the different
>subgroups.

exactly my point.

>     What I still don't "get" is why RAT is needed at all.  But if the
>people want it, it will happen.

Right-o

- - Eric


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