Harley Davidson turns to Facebook fans for marketing ideas

Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson Motor Company recently launched a new Facebook application that sources advertising ideas directly from it’s Facebook Fans. The new application, “Fan Machine” allows the company’s Facebook Community to review an advertising brief, submit ideas and vote on ideas from other community members.
"This is not a publicity stunt, or a limited time engagement,” said Mark-Hans Richer, chief marketing officer of Harley-Davidson. “We’re committed to crowdsourcing, because these ideas naturally flow from our passionate fans. As the true stewards of our brand, our fans now have a huge new platform to share their ideas.”
According to Richer, the method works well for Harley-Davidson  because of its passionate fans.
“Their passion for our brand is second-to-none,” Richer said. “They’re going to light this thing up, and it will be fun to watch. Facebook also proves this passion is passing along to the next generation, where 40 percent of our fans are between the ages of 18 and 34."
Harley-Davidson’s first foray into crowdsourced marketing resulted in ‘No Cages,’ the company’s ad campaign that debuted in February.
"Getting a brand’s fans and followers involved in co-creating advertising ideas is the future of marketing," said John Winsor, CEO of Victors & Spoils, the agency that produced ‘No Cages.’ "We’re excited to work with Harley-Davidson as our first brand partner using the Fan Machine technology, a logical choice because of our deep partnership and their passionate fans."
After selecting and rewarding the winners, Harley-Davidson will work with existing marketing partners to create the ideas.