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A while back I was spacing out watching TV when something caught my attention. At the bottom of my cable guide menu was a Victory Motorcycles banner that ran the width of the screen. When I clicked in the banner, it opened up another screen with a description of a promotion Victory was running offering $100 if you testrode a Vic and then bought another manufacturers bike. Honestly I couldn’t tell you the name of any other company that had ever run a banner ad in that spot, and I don’t think I even realized that ads were ever running in that location prior to seeing the Victory ad. I guess it worked because while having lunch with some of the staff a few days later, I was talking about the ad, and Nick (our managing editor) mentioned he had seen it too, as did Jordan. Actually I guess all three of us were surprised to see the ad because all three of us took pictures of it to bring in and show each other. While Nick and I have the same cable provider, Jordan has a different cable service and was able to click on the banner which opened up an interactive menu that allowed him to scroll across the Victory lineup of bikes and click on each bike for more information. Pretty damn slick.

A few weeks later while skimming through the commercials for a show I had recorded on my DVR, I noticed a Harley commercial. I quickly hit the rewind button and watched the commercial in its entirety. It was the one where people wander the streets locked up in cages and a guy comes cruising between them on a Sportster. The ending hypes up Harley’s new H-D1 customization program.

With Harley finally getting into customization at the assembly stage with its H-D1 program, this commercial would be a great opportunity for the user to hit a button on his/her remote control that would bring up a menu screen allowing him/her to customize/accessorize a bike right on the spot. When they are done, they could save their parts/accessories list or email the component list to their local dealer to get the new bike purchase/customization process started. Once finished, they’d just hit the play button and go right back to watching their TV program.

While I’d rather be riding or wrenching, sometimes its nice to just zone out in front of the TV for a bit. When it comes to the commercials, I tend to tune out or channel surf. But if I start to see more ads for companies like Victory and Harley showing up, maybe I’d be more inclined to tune in, especially if they have more interactive capabilities.

Until next time,

Eric