Harley-Davidson is an American icon. A cornerstone of global motorcycle culture for over a century. Yet despite its iconic status, the brand was facing new challenges - its riders were aging out, global sales had slumped and sadly, riding itself was becoming less relevant as a sport. We needed to make riding matter to a new generation. So in a world of tidal waves of technology, rising levels of anxiety, phone dependency and rare personal freedom how could we frame riding as the all-encompassing solution? Simple. Only riding’s strange mix of clarity, calm, focus and exhilaration delivers the release many people are desperately craving. With this in mind, we set out to re-contextualize riding for the modern era and make riding an experience that everyone could aspire to.

We started with a simple truth, when you’re on a Harley the world melts away, it’s transformative. And in a digital world that’s always ‘on’, it’s this ‘off’ that people are craving. With that, a new idea was born: Full-Throttle Wellness. A philosophy that explored the physical, emotional, mental, even spiritual benefits of riding. Our work celebrated not what the bike can do, but what the bike can do to you. Across film, print, online, OOH, social and events worldwide we celebrated this new philosophy, debuted a new identity and evolved our tone, visual language, and photography to bring people closer to the experience of riding a Harley, before ever getting on a bike.

Harley-Davidson was at a pivotal inflection point. Their target audience was aging, their relevance was fading with the next generation, and fewer people overall were riding. This pointed to a bigger issue: the whole category was in decline. People perceived riding to be dangerous, expensive and intimidating. We needed to re-contextualize riding and make it matter to a new generation. So we explored not just riders’ personal relationship with the sport but the staying power of motorcycle culture as a whole. Our research uncovered that despite perceptions, riding is the most holistic answer to today’s cultural and human craving for wellness. In a world of tidal waves of technology, rising levels of anxiety and phone dependency, day to day, personal freedom is rarely a reality - but riding can be an all-encompassing solution. By creating a radically new wellness category, we could transform riding into an experience that everyone aspires

We launched with two films. ‘Magic Hour’ celebrated the physical, mental and spiritual benefits of riding in an accelerated stream of quasi beat poetry. A second film, ‘Breathe’, positioned the adrenaline rush of a ride as a cure for the modern condition. Next, we debuted a new minimal identity, a modern distillation of the well-known heritage logo to appeal to Harley traditionalists and new riders alike. We then evolved our visual language, introducing a new photographic library that blended blurred landscapes, bikes and real riders with gritty depictions of the sights and sounds that stay with you long after a ride has ended. Across print, online, OOH, social and events worldwide our tone of voice and visual language shifted from stories about products to stories about people riding. The campaign permeating every customer touchpoint worldwide from catalogues to bike designs, apparel launches to radical online redesigns.

The work struck a chord, reflecting something older riders knew and newer riders were soon to find out: riding is good for the soul. People not only championed the message of WHY riding matters, they actively embraced the brand encouraging more people to ride for the wellness benefits. Both brand videos gained 3.5x more video views in the first 52hrs live, 72% higher than standard benchmarks. The re-invigorated brand led to a 56% increase in conversions, 74% increase in revenue per website visitor and a 17% increase in engagement with Harley-Davidson content. Our new take on wellbeing informed every customer touchpoint, from new product launches and dealerships, to community strategies and brand summits, as Harley-Davidson began the journey to a unified brand experience - one to restore their place within American culture.