Zen and the Art of Motorcyclist Hospitality
I love it when my personal and professional life converge.The Wise Marketer reports that Harley-Davidson and Best Western are co-promoting a loyalty program aimed at H-D motorcyclists. Benefits include, according to the article, “special wipe-down towels at check-in, access to a bike wash, tar remover, lip balm and sun tan lotion” among other things.
Why is this so cool (other than the convergence of my favorite pastime and my favorite business topic)? Because Best Western has delved deep into segmentation or other market assessment work and came up with motorcycle touring as an opportunity. The loyalty of Harley-Davidson customers is renowned throughout the marketing business. Many companies would hand off first born progeny to have access to that loyalty.
However, among the many co-promotions cooked up by companies and The Motor Company, most simply use H-D logos, or make weak attempts at biker chic to win over the notoriously skeptical H-D customer. I will tell you from personal experience, people on motorcycles ARE often discriminated against at public conveniences. Seems that the biker mystique has its positive and negative edges.
So, when Best Western announces that they are now “biker friendly” and promise tangible benefits to motorcycle tourists and travelers, they will quickly find out whether their customer experience is up to the road test of real bikers.
If they meet this challenge and provide the kind of customer experience they promise, word of mouth will surely do the hard work of validating this brand promise in the motorcyclist community. Other hospitality chains will follow suit, perhaps going after the same Harley-Davidson customer, perhaps going after different parts of this travel segment. Regardless, Harley-Davidson customers win.
Conversely, if Best Western drops the ball and are unable to meet expectations or deliver poorly, they will likely do themselves long-term damage, as the word of mouth spreads that Best Western is a “poser” (the worst insult a motorcyclist can level at someone else).
It will be interesting to see how Best Western keeps track of their success in this new endeavor. Clearly loyalty will be a core customer metric to watch and measuring positive impressions or intent among prospective customers will also help gauge how well they are doing.
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2 Responses to “Zen and the Art of Motorcyclist Hospitality”
May 7th, 2008 at 10:32 am
I am surprised that more hotel chains have not understood the potential to market to motorcyclists. I have had an idea for a website to help motorcyclists find rallies, and sign up. This would be great place for hotels to advertise. We bikers need a place to rest our heads…..smile.
May 7th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Experience is the mother of invention. Bikers do stay at hotels now, and the list of benefits likely has more to do with seeing how inadequate the service has been rather than proactively looking for value added services.
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