Back to Indy for F1

A currency blog...making sure that I can still do it. Last June I blogged about my experience at the 2005 F1 race in Indianapolis, we went back and they actually raced.

Staying current in Blogger

A new article on the Boeing blog...

A Post For August...

Just making sure that I'm still proficient with Blogger, here's another article on blogging...

A GM guy's two cents on blogging...

A link to the GM blog and an article...

easyTwo Cents

I happened upon an article today in the Philadelphia Inquirer that highlighted Emil's friend Stelios Haji-Ioannou's new scheme...easyCruise.

A step in the right direction...

Although it would appear that Michelin is taking steps to recover, it remains to be seen what will happen with Formula 1 racing in the United States.

Product Report (2 of 2, MTMU): Harley's VROD

Until Harley-Davidson introduced the VROD, their motorcycles weren’t typically known for high performance. Harley-Davidson has strong brand equity (Pg. 249*) and customers typically purchase a name, a look and that classic sound. With that said, Harley’s have also been known to be a bit cantankerous and require more maintenance than many of the competitive European and Asian bikes. It is important to note that they are trying to improve this perception.

The VROD was a departure from the existing product line making it a line stretch (Pg. 247*) for Harley-Davidson. The product line at the time ran from the Sportster (street) to the Ultra Classic Electra Glide (touring). All used traditional welded tube frames, air cooled engines to name just a few of the model similarities. A “clean sheet” of paper was used for the design and development of the VROD…the engine is liquid cooled and horsepower was increased to 115 (other models were less than 100), the frame was hydroformed and the list goes on…

Brian Day’s Road Test article in the Minnesota Motorcycle Monthly summarizes the existing motorcycle market when the VROD was introduced. Because there were so many motorcycles available at a variety of prices, a new bike would be risky. Furthermore, the money needed for product development (Pg. 283*) was substantial. However, as they enter the 2006 model year with three bikes in the VROD line (VRSCA, VRSCB VRSCR), it’s safe to say that they’re entering the growth period of the product life cycle (Pg. 290*). With growth, come sales and profits.

As a Harley-Owner (Fatboy) myself, I was skeptical when I first saw the VROD, but I was pleased that Harley-Davidson engineered the bike. In some way it proved that they were capable of producing a performance motorcycle...and it's growing on me too. Great marketing by Harley-Davidson.

*Principles of Marketing, Kotler & Armstrong, 11th Edition

Some "wireless" legislation...

Some legislation related to Monday's conversation on the issue of marketing to mobile phone users...

Team Post (2 of 2): The Marketing Mix at P&G

As we finish up with our Introduction to Marketing class, the P&G team would like to offer this brief summary of the marketing mix currently being utilized by the real P&G team.

Thanks very much to Annamarie, Linda, Rambo and Xinkai for your hard work and enthusiasm.

An aviation passage to India

During our class discussion following Raj’s presentation, I briefly mentioned a rapidly growing aviation market in India. In reviewing the news this morning, I found an article (Indian aviation comes of age) that provides some of the details supporting the enormous aviation growth that is occurring in India and another (Now Boeing, Airbus fight over engineering centre) that speaks to the development of engineering (maintenance), pilot training and other educational facilities in the country to support this rapid growth.