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Huffy Bicycles
virtual tour
by Chana Mayefsky
July 29, 2010
Brandchannel's weekly Digital Watch feature takes a deeper look at brands’ digital strategy. Our latest case study, Huffy, shows how the classic American bicycle brand, is using its website and Facebook effectively to engage cyclists of all ages.
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Overview
The first Huffy bike was designed and built in 1892. Since that breakthrough achievement over a century ago, Huffy has seen the expansion of its brand through production of the Huffy Radio Bicycle, which, as its name suggests, had a radio built into its tank; the Huffy Dragster, which pioneered the banana seat and raised handlebars in the 1960s; and then the Huffy Scout in the 1970s which offered a narrow racing saddle and dropped handlebars. Today’s new designs include the ergonomic Green Machine, a low ride bicycle that uses two big levers to turn the rear wheels, and Panama Jack Cruisers, a laid back, easygoing bike with some cool trappings.
WEBSITE
Huffy’s website does a fine job of appealing to individuals of all ages and interests. After selecting your region and while the website loads, we are presented with a picture of a preteen boy leaning back, aggressively clutching the joystick in his Green Machine Xtreme Ride, as he zooms onto the page. There’s a wild air about him and he’s donning a helmet/mask that’s reminiscent of a superhero (or a villain, for that matter). With a recommended age of six to adult, Huffy cleverly markets this product to the “wild ride” in everyone, child or grown-up.
After a few seconds, a second image appears on the homepage. This one, in contrast to the first, more aggressive scenario, invokes a feeling of relaxation and leisure. The motto for the Cruiser line is: “I want to have fun. I want to slow down. I want to see it all. I want to Cruise.” And the pictures of adult bike riders laughing and smiling as they coast comfortably on the beach, the street, and near the shops emphasize just that. The Cruiser bike wants to take men and women back to the days of their childhood, to remind riders that bike riding is fun and easy to do. They are “made for folks who want to enjoy the ride as much as the destination.”
Huffy’s newest addition to its Cruiser line is the Panama Jack Cruiser. Its recent partnership with Panama Jacks in April 2010 adds a twist to its line of Cruisers. With contemporary wood-grain components, cork grips, a beverage opener, and a beverage holder, the Panama Jack Cruisers are meant to be the ultimate in bicycle recreation. Huffy understands that people are increasingly aware of their health and of the implications of a healthy lifestyle, yet many are still reluctant to endure the monotony of a treadmill or the high impact effort required by other exercise routines. Cruisers get that, and that’s why Huffy’s license agreement with Panama Jack further gives an aura of pure pleasure and fun (and yes, you’re still getting a workout) to its bicycles.
The website is easy to navigate and allows visitors to quickly find their bike of preference. There is a drop-down menu of bicycles categorized by gender, age, characters (Disney’s Princesses and Hannah Montana and Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer, for example), bike size, and type of bike.
Capitalizing on environmental concerns, Huffy’s website explains why riding a bike is good for our world and us. It also provides health tips for riders, links to bike trails, and bike games to be enjoyed by the entire family. The Huffy site even offers its very own Huffy University, a virtual school for learning the basics of bike riding and bike safety, where successful candidates can earn a Huffy license.
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SOCIAL MEDIA
The Huffy website has icons for Facebook and Twitter on the upper right hand side of its pages; strangely enough, however, they are not visible on the home page itself. In order to see them, visitors have to click on one of the secondary pages. Furthermore, the icons do not take viewers to Huffy’s official pages. Rather, they take viewers to a page where they can post a comment. Interestingly, even though there is a Twitter icon, there does not seem to be a Twitter page. Perhaps Huffy simply wants consumers to post comments on their own Twitter pages.
Huffy’s official Facebook page claims 1630 fans, but that small number belies its growth. Since June, when it reached the 1,000 mark, viewership has grown dramatically, and has generated over fifty percent more volume by mid July.
Huffy engages its visitors with posts about healthy biking tips like how to stay hydrated while biking on mountain trails and offers advice for keeping your bike properly maintained and safe to ride by providing links to appropriate websites. It recently ran a competition where the winner won two bikes, a clever marketing maneuver to encourage visitors to its website.
The Facebook page also serves as an easy forum through which customers can enter queries and receive a quick response. One visitor complained that the mint green Huffy Cranbrook was out of stock at her local Walmart and was eager to get her hands on one. The Huffy people promptly reassured her that new stock is shipped weekly.
Huffy could use a little more social media interaction and make itself known on Twitter, where it has a placeholder page. Although it has created a well designed, easy to navigate, and highly informative website for its brand, getting more invested in social media can help propel Huffy forward.
And then Huffy can take the ride of its life.
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Chana Mayefsky is a freelance writer. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Yeshiva University and holds a Bachelor's degree in English and a Master's degree in Jewish History.
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*Due to the constantly changing environment of websites, some reviews may no longer reflect the current website for this brand.
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KIND Snacks - digital altruism -- Sheila Shayon
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Kind Snacks shows how a health food brand can craft a cause marketing campaign that combines social media, moxie, and random acts of pay-it-forward kindness between strangers.
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