Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Submitted by:
Pranav Santurkar Rakesh Mishra Akshay Mahajan Anjanjot Singh Vinay Kumar
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Posse Rides
The high adventure-low cost success recipe of the rolling rallies led to the inception of the iconic HOG Posse rides. The first posse ride was devised as a coast to coast ride from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine. We wanted it to be a religion. A real challenge. A survival mission where every rider would look out for the other. Most importantly it had to be a one up on the Route 66 rally says Joe Dowd one of the pioneers of the posse ride. The number of registrations was restricted to 250 members to give the ride a sense of exclusivity. The members were an even mix of rally veterans and relative novices. This led to a sense of spontaneity and momentousness which became the face of the first Posse ride. Certain rituals like the story night and the Posse oath became rituals for all future posse rides. The challenging paths and the long journey coupled with the story nights and oath taking led to a tremendous sense of camaraderie among the Posse riders. Posse rides were a clear indicator of the core Harley Davidson philosophies of success and tradition which led to the inception of a sequel to Posse 1. Posse 2 was described as the border to border ride from Texas to North Dakota passing through the legendary, Road to Nowhere. The registration limit for this ride was increased to 400 to accommodate the increasing interest in the Posse Ride, while at the same time preserving the exclusivity of the ride. Though many members did not approve of the route for the 2nd ride, they were actively interested in coming for it because it was the ride and not the route which mattered for them. This very aptly epitomises the entire concept of the Posse Ride. The Posse rides thus went a long way in addressing the issues of customer loyalty faced by the firm.
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one of the riders, Alan Landry says that He considers himself to be Harley person. Also, one of the values associated with it is that Riding speaks of freedom. For many riders, riding the Harley is a lifestyle in itself and only another Harley owner can understand it. Also, the association with the group drives observational learning where the styles adopted by your co riders can influence the buying patterns as well. For most of the riders, the Posse ride represents an opportunity to break free and thus associating the brand with a carefree attitude. At the same time, the fact that a brand like Harley stands behind the biking culture gives you a sense of empowerment and pride. There is a patriotic sense that goes along with riding a Harley motorcycle, as one of the Posse riders Richard Parry aptly summarizes. When asked to give a reason that why would you recommend Posse ride to someone, Barbara Hammet remarked: If you have to ask you would not understand. There is not one reason. This statement clearly illustrates the deep associations and bonding that Harley owners have with their bikes which transcends across new bikers, old bikers, bikers across different income levels etc. These deeply held attitudes and perceptions about Harley are held because of its long standing lineage and its continued support of various rallies and gatherings and the continued efforts to make the Harley community feel special. This translates into the intended behavior of Harley riders eagerly signing up for more than one Posse ride. Some of the key persuasions that Harley riders hold about participating in the Posse ride which clearly encapsulate the understandings outlined above are:
Convenient Vacation
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REFERENCES
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCAh1Q71XSE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crhmiu_8CZ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9paQuKfr5Ag http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F9NPS7DaDM Paper by Schouten and Alexander(attached externally)
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