Brammo Empulse Discussion > Brammo Empulse

Empulse Marketing Boo Boo

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machone:
I know other threads have covered this and I've said it before but I think it's worth going over again.
 
I think Brammo have the marketing for the Empulse all wrong, certainly for Europe and here's why:
 
Thanks to very technically astute people on this forum and elsewhere we know that the technology is the best in production but still not on a level with mid or high end sport ICE bikes. We KNOW this. However, we don't know exactly where it will be placed in terms of comparison. This is mistake number one, and it is a big one IMHO.
 
We should know EXACTLY where to place this bike in terms of ICE performance and Brammo should have done the comparison before releasing it to the press. That way, the comparison debate would be over before it starts and people could focus on the fantastic technology that enables this bike to be the leader amongst the electric offerings in terms of both range and speed. The Empulse is amazing - it has the best range and speed available in electric motorbikes, without a massive price jump, and it looks great and can carry two people. Show me another electric bike in that price bracket to do that? – there isn’t one.

However, interviews with the CEO continue to play, comparing the bike with Triumphs and Ducatis. The re-sellers are mentioning RSV4 in the same sentence. This is all pure fantasy. Even some forum members deny the fact that this bike is not as fast as the ICE bikes that Brammo would like it compared with. It's great that National pride has been stirred and people are behind the company but this isn't a 'back yard outfit' with no sales; it has international partners and major government contracts abroad. It's odd that in the launch speech CB said some feedback was fantasy, denying the laws of physics, when his own marketing interviews and re-sellers are peddling the same junk. These are intelligent people and so I don't believe it can be put down to hopeful thinking or ignorance. It is deliberate marketing of the lousy kind.

Whilst I don't feel I have 'had my face spat in', I also don't think it is 'mean spirited' to be critical of the way the consumer was and still is being misled about the capabilities of this product. To think so is akin to those people who stomp on children in their rush for one of the first cabbage patch dolls. It's obsessional and frankly unhealthy.

Most bikers I have contact with are practical down to earth people. There are those who love to dress up and wheelie at every light before doing 200mph on public roads but their licences and lives tend not to last long. In the main, the people I know who ride do it for fun or to get to and from work cheaply. All share the sense of community it brings, probably borne out of a shared suffering of inconsiderate 'cagers' and inconsiderate weather. They like technical figures and practical comparisons. Most like tinkering with their bikes to either fix or upgrade. All accept the limitations of their vehicles and very few seem to be in denial of it's individual shortcomings. They like to call a 'spade a spade'.

So please, Brammo, you've got a great spade, stop digging and pretending Rossi and Hayden are bursting to get their hands on your new superbike and it's fancy forks. We don't think we're going to be jumped on by a Brammo bikini girl because we're riding an odd sounding two wheeled golf cart.
Just sell us this great looking, practical and cheap to run leader in it's field and do it quickly!

Deadly Silent Ninja:
Well, everyone knows what I think about Brammo's communication department, but for what it is worth, I think you are right. Brammo's entire communication (marketing, PR, advertising, etc.) is not really focused. They shoot themselves in the foot with very basic things over and over again. It doesn't seem that they have a solid and cohesive strategic plan to address all the issues you raised (plus the issues people keep raising in many different websites). The most amazing is that they seem to have a great customer service department, but the marketing and customer service seem completely disconnected. 
They keep alienating potential clients and people who could be making their lives easier (or even helping promote the bikes) by sending out conflicting messages and they are not really positioning themselves to avoid problems. Actually, I think they are doing the very opposite.
To compare the Empulse R to any Ducati at this point is asking reasonable ICE riders to laugh and move on. The pricing put them in a tough spot that could have been avoided with solid communication. If they had clearly positioned themselves based on their strengths and not their failure, they wouldn't have to be explaining themselves and hearing so many people complain. They created too much expectation in the wrong way and keep doing so even after they failed to deliver on that expectation.
If they sell the Empulse for what it actually is, a good-looking, top-notch, electric motorcycle that can perform almost as well as concept elmotos that cost more than double its price, and compare its performance to "fun to ride" entry-level ICE's like the Ninja 250R, they would have met and surpassed most expectations. Nobody would complain or dismiss it. People who are interested would praise it and people who are not would take it for what it is and not go out of their way to point out all the flaws, especially in comparison to a Ducati.
Framing a brand or product is both an art and a science and can't be taken lightly. Brammo needs to take control of the communication process not by hiding information until the last minute, but by providing a very constant and cohesive stream of information. Honestly, as I said before, I believe many people in this forum are doing that much better than the professional communicators at Brammo. I have seen protomech, Empulsebuyer, and Brammofan literally "schooling" people about the actual purpose of the Empulse in other sites. That purpose should be clear in every piece of communication, especially Craig's interviews. People who are confused by the bike and see no good explanation coming from the published articles will tend to make their own assumptions and that's usually detrimental in any business.
Summarizing, as I said before, Brammo needs a specialist in risk communication and strategic planning in charge of the whole marketing effort. I know they are relatively a small company and those specialist are not cheap, but that's a priority once you go global. I hope they can get one sooner rather than later (or ask Polaris for help). And I also hope the overall quality of the Empulse will help them survive the first bumps, but there is a lot that we need to see from the reviews. If the magazine reviewers go in thinking it's going to be a Ducati or a Triumph, I expect to see a lot more of the kind of reviews those guys from Hell For Leather did on the Zero http://brammoforum.com/index.php?topic=1270.0.

Deadly Silent Ninja:

--- Quote ---I also don't think it is 'mean spirited' to be critical of the way the consumer was and still is being misled about the capabilities of this product.
--- End quote ---

I think that the very fact we came to this forum (and not other sites) to point out what we see that needs to be fixed is evidence of good intention. Only saying good things about everything doesn't help Brammo (or anyone for that matter) evolve as a company. Good supporters need to be the first ones to point out any problems exactly so they can be addressed before the detractors can use them against the brand.

flar:
I think the comparisons to Ducati and Tiger make a contextual sense.  Within the world of electric motorcycles, this model is to the field of existing models what a Ducati monster is to the general IC bike world.  It's more "the Ducati Monster of the ebike world", but not "just like a Monster, but electric".  Perhaps their mistake is in assuming that everyone who is listening hears an implicit "as much as an electric motorcycle can be" in every statement?

machone:
Hi flar,

I see what you're saying but in the electric bike context I'd say the Empulse was higher than that at this time. Name me another Production electric bike that could be placed above it?

Also, listen to this interview from 55 seconds in and I don't think there can be any confusion as to the implied context:

First Look
 

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