Harley Davidson vs. Surtees

1:32 p.m. Mon 12 Jan 2009 | Author: By Marketing Guy

 

What has Harley Davidson got in common with Surtees Boats?

 

Well, at first glance absolutely diddly squat.

Harley D is a global power brand and they make motorcycles not aluminium boats!

To you Harley Davidson might conjure up images of ‘cool dudes’ cruising the highways, loud roaring engines, or even the smell of burning gasoline or premium leather

The important thing in successful branding is what do you feel?

Branding is about tugging at your senses. Harley Davidson is a powerful brand because it grabs the senses and evokes strong emotions. That is what a strong brand does. It has little to do with tactical stuff like the company name, the logo, the fonts, the ads and whether the website is cool or not.

Branding is about building emotional wants that triumph over mere logic. After all branding is about making you do illogical things. No one needs a Harley Davidson motorcycle, but many want it.

Most importantly branding is about creating (as my previous boss at Saatchi & Saatchi always bangs on about) ‘LOYALTY BEYOND REASON’. If you are a motorcyclist and you own a Harley you will most likely feel an enormous, often unreasonable and unexplained sense of pride and loyalty.

This is where I get to my point.

Surtees boat owners, without exception (and by the way I am not one), all seem to have an enormous amount of pride in owning a Surtees and are so loyal to the Surtees brand that they often can’t see the ‘wood from the trees’. They, just like Harley owners, feel like they are part of an exclusive club – that they belong in a magical community of like minded people.

To that end well done Surtees. I have been on a couple of their boats (I have  to put up with a couple of mates that have them!) and they are definitely very fine craft but more importantly they have managed to create an emotional connection with their customers that most others can only dream of.

MG

Comments

• Great new site well done the Surtees Team. I'm a hard core Surtees fan to say the least and own one of the last Surtees 6.1 Workmates they ever built, great boat that has given outstanding service and performance. I will be seeing the team at Surtees about building my next boat later this year, possibly a 7.3mt hull in a center Cabin configuration

  Replied by: Men In Black, 10:21 a.m. Wed 21 Jan 2009

• No doubt about the brand passion in NZ- I am in Oz and can feel it all the way across the ditch! Would love to get into a Surtees but no dealers within cooee of me on the Gold Coast and of course that not quite as inovative Barcrusher mob sem to be the alternative - carlton@bigpond.net.au

  Replied by: Mal Emmerson, 1:57 p.m. Wed 21 Jan 2009

• Hey Men in Black, Paul here from Surtees. Thanks for posting such nice comments. Please stay in touch and let us know when you need that custom 7.3 - always happy to help, Cheers, team Surtees

  Replied by: Paul, 11:44 a.m. Tue 27 Jan 2009

• Hi there Mal. Thanks for posting and great to here your passion for Surtees across the ditch. We are always on the look out for great dealers in new locations so if you know of anyone suitable on the Coast let us know. Of course, in the meantime, we'd get you sorted into a Surtees if you would like one - either out of NZ direct or from one of our other Aus dealers. Stay in touch. Cheers Paul

  Replied by: Paul, 11:49 a.m. Tue 27 Jan 2009

• Just want to say that I have had the chance to ride in both a stabi carft and a surtees in the last two week and hands down loved the surtees for ride fetures and profermance. Well done, great to see a kiwi company taking pride in there work. I am at present saving to get a boat and I can tell you right now it will be a surtees.....

  Replied by: Convert, 2:20 p.m. Wed 4 Mar 2009

• Just a line to let you guys know at surtees the hard top we put on the 5.5 has made the boat We finally named the boat "Gummy two" because the boat is now complete.We would like to thank Bones and the team for making it a no hassel easy thing to do. Cheers Steve from Tauranga

  Replied by: Gummy two, 8:33 p.m. Tue 24 Mar 2009

• Cant wait to get my 6.7 Gamefisher which I am picking up on the 30th May. Great article about the 6.7 Gamefisher in the latest NZ Fishing Coast to Coast.

  Replied by: Hekerua, 6:22 a.m. Wed 22 Apr 2009

• Hi Team Received 4.7 Centre Console early April 09 completed fit-out and have to say this boat Rocks!!!!!! Smiling every time I get out on the water. Exceeds expectations, out and out a fishing weapon. Like you say "Built to Fish" & that statement is front and center on console. Very happy with Surtees & Family boats service. Thanks for helping me realize a dream. Scott Stonex aka Nirai, Mr Smith

  Replied by: Scott Stonex, 3:26 p.m. Wed 29 Apr 2009

• Hi Guys, Busy week at the factory as we get ready for the boat show. Sooooo good to get your positive comments. Steve owning a hardtop ourselves I know exactly how you feel. Makes it a winter boat as well as a summer boat.Scott sounds like you have already been hard out, you are obviously going to be a formidable opponent in the next Surtees fishing contest! Hekerua, I am going to have a walk out into the factory and view your boat, it is great to get an idea of where some of these boats go and connect the people with the boats. If you get to the boat show come up and say hello. I will be there Sat & Sun with Surtees polo shirts for sale.

  Replied by: Toni,Surtees Management, 10:47 a.m. Thu 14 May 2009

• My 6.7 Gamefisher was delivered by Andrew from Family Boats North Shore on Tuesday night. What a great guy you have selling your boats. Kids slept in the boat Tuesday night and she is off to Orams Drystack next week. This has been the greatest purchasing experience of my life. So many people in my neighbourhood came forward saying they are very jealous or that they are part of the Surtees Cult and own one of the Surtees products. One guy almost fell of his racing bike stopping in the wet weather to drool over the boat. At the boat show in Auckland today Surtees had much much more activity and interested customers than any of the other stands. Rayglass looked like a ghost town. Good on you for changing dreams into reality!!

  Replied by: Hekerua, 4:59 p.m. Fri 15 May 2009

• Hi Hekerua, No wonder I couldnt track your boat it had already gone.Thrilled to get your comments about how much you like it. Now just bring on some of those gentle winter boating days! Andrew is a great guy. He is having a demo day this Sunday 24th in Auckland where you can try the boats on the water to feel the difference. Call him at North Shore Boats to find out where. The boat show was HUGE. We worked hard the whole time but very rewarding talking with like minded people. We made plenty of sales over the weekend which is the ultimate for making more dreams into reality for others.Hekerua, I hope you make it down to Whakatane for the annual Surtees fishing contest. It is held around the beginning of April each year and only for Surtees Boats. It is a fantastic event and always nice to try fishing somewhere a bit different. Local Surtees owners are happy to share their local knowledge.Check the website for the dates.Only $15 pp to enter and all the money goes to charity. Hey enjoy your new boat and I hope you have many happy hours fishing on it!!!

  Replied by: Toni,Surtees Management, 5:04 p.m. Tue 19 May 2009

• Boat Shows Coming up!! Surtees will be at the following shows with a sample of our range as well some of our experts to ask questions of. Ask the difficult questions and make these guys work for their money!! Ha ha. (I tell you that you will be hard pushed to find a question that Phil can't answer) For our Australian fans we will be at the Melbourne Boat Show 2-6th July 2009 and then at the Perth Show 12-16th August 2009. We are then back to NZ and at the Hamilton Boat show 16-18th October. Come up and have a chat with us at these shows. We love talking boats, see ya there!

  Replied by: Toni, Surtees Management, 1:17 p.m. Wed 17 Jun 2009

• Hi Guys ate Surtees Still loving my boat!! I want to add some more fuel tanks on mu 6.7 gamefisher, thinking of my local fabricator to produce a tank that retrofits into the underfloor bin close to transom / stern. ADVICE PLEASE GUYS!! jacquesd@format.org.nz

  Replied by: Hekerua, 8:54 p.m. Sun 19 Jul 2009

• Hi Hekerua. I have passed this on to Bones at the factory. If you dont hear from him in a few days then call him direct on 07 322 8461. Bones is in charge of production and one of the designers so can give you the answer you need.

  Replied by: Toni, Surtees Mgt, 3:26 p.m. Mon 27 Jul 2009

Post a Comment

Name: *

Comment: *