[The CyberPoet]

Suzuki is a car/motorcycle/heavy equipment company. It's not a lifestyle. If it were, your Kat would have cost twice as much, and the Busa three times it's asking price. Be thankful and suffer.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[zenjim]

I totally pulled that number out of my butt..

I'll trade you for some of my Old School tattoo thongs..
You can bring them to your haircut..

Warning! Warning! Too many butt references. Must...remove...mental image. Selma Hayak, Selma Hayak...
ah that's better.

[zenjim]

Suzuki is a car/motorcycle/heavy equipment company. It's not a lifestyle. If it were, your Kat would have cost twice as much, and the Busa three times it's asking price. Be thankful and suffer.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

So true. I guess I'll just shut up and pass on that Suzuki tattoo.

[BJSim]

I'd like to turn your Suzuki marketing question around. I'm only asking to show what the marketing guys have to go thru...

Who are you targeting with your Suzuki gear?
(Remember the cars now use the same 'S')
Is it the cruiser line? The sportbikers? The off-roaders?
Where are you going to sell this gear?
(HD sells more gear in their own dealerships than anywhere else.)
What's the profitability level of this gear?

[zenjim]

I'd like to turn your Suzuki marketing question around. I'm only asking to show what the marketing guys have to go thru...

Who are you targeting with your Suzuki gear?
(Remember the cars now use the same 'S')
Is it the cruiser line? The sportbikers? The off-roaders?
Where are you going to sell this gear?
(HD sells more gear in their own dealerships than anywhere else.)
What's the profitability level of this gear?

OK, I'll bite. For now, I'll concede the cruiser line to HD, despite the noise made about the M109R. I want to sell shwag to the sportbike/ standard riders. I'm guessing it's a mostly male population age 18-35, though I would be encouraging the women as well. It would be sold in dealerships, but my original point was that it should be in Target and Sears, Walmart, etc. too. Profitability can be low since this is part of a marketing campaign to get the name out. However, I have a friend who does this for a living (you know all that shwag that says Hollywwod on it, or California shot glasses, etc?) and he says the mark-up on this stuff is sky high, while the products remain cheap. Hence my post.
I'll now wait to be told that sportbike riders constitute a slim demographic of octagenarian women.
I want my Busa lunchbox!

[BJSim]

I want my Busa lunchbox!

Heh, I like that. I was wondering what your thoughts were because I've wondered about it myself. Back when I was riding Hondas I was looking for stuff to wear to the bike weeks I go to. Now I'm in the same boat as you, hey I want to show off the bike I'm riding now with cool swag.

All that said, and having recently escaped retail employment hell, I can tell you some things about why it won't fly in Sear, Macy's, Walmat, etc..

Yes, retail marks stuff up rediculously high, so INTITIAL profitability is high. But the reason why everything is marked down so quickly, is that you're always making way for new stuff.
Second, the market for alot of this stuff is very limited, and you're talking about a foriegn company. No a good old U.S. of A. company that gets a good amount of promotion from the TV shows (that have nothing to do with HD, but joe idiot doesn't know that) out there.
Third, sales. Suzuki doesn't have them. HD is second behind Honda in motorcycle sales (per 2004 year end figures). Suzuki was fourth behind Yamaha but ahead of Kawi. You can't market fourth. Sadly, add in the figures I found for Suzuki auto sales and you STILL don't out-sell HD or Honda motorcycles. HD=250,000, Suzuki M=115,000 + A=84,000. So you want products made for 0.07% of the population?

So no, the big retailers aren't going to go for it. Too risky, and risk is something retailers HATE.

Now lets talk dealerships...I hate them.

Sorry, but unlike HD dealerships which sell 'only' HDs, most 'powersports' dealerships sell two plus brands. Most don't have large open spaces for retail style swag, again unlike HD dealers. Have you been to an "official" HD dealer lately? They now have regulations on how large their dealerships must be, how much space is specificaly for retail merchandise, and to keep the places well lit and clean. They're a treat to go into (Give me a break on this, my dad has 3 HDs, so when I visit it's where he wants to take me. And no not to get them fixed, three bikes NO problems). My local powersports dealer tried to keep up and is still smaller with Honda, Suzuki, Yama, Kawi, Polaris, KTM all being sold there.

How do you convince a smaller overcrowded, and usually understaffed, parts department it need to buy more cool chochkies to take up valuable helmet/gloves/leathers/accessories space? You can't, not unless the parent corporation is going to take a page from HD and force dealerships to or risk losing thier franchise rights.

I think the only way we're going to get cool clothing, lunchboxes, etc. Is to keep complaining to the company until change SLOWLY happens. Maybe we'll see more stuff online as the years progress.

[StevieB]

Size zero? Is she hot?

Of course. Well, if you like size 0 women with very over-ample chests and about 5'4" of height, blue eyes and dirty-blonde hair... Everyone's taste is different.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

Come ON, Cyber!

[StevieB]

Size zero? Is she hot?

Of course. Well, if you like size 0 women with very over-ample chests and about 5'4" of height, blue eyes and dirty-blonde hair... Everyone's taste is different.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[zenjim]

Size zero? Is she hot?

Of course. Well, if you like size 0 women with very over-ample chests and about 5'4" of height, blue eyes and dirty-blonde hair... Everyone's taste is different.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

Come ON, Cyber!

+1

[The CyberPoet]

UPDATE: Joe Rocket will have a line of Suzuki logo'd merchandise for their '07 line-up. Here's a preview:

http://www.joerocket.com/jrf/07Suzuki/slideshow.html

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[zenjim]

Cool!

Although I still don't see the t-shirts and thong undies, it's obvious they've been paying attention to the lamentations of their customers and they are making the proper restitution.

I'm putting away the photo shop and ink jet iron-on transfers now.

Thanks Cyber.