An iGoogle Gadget Gets You Directly To Harley-Davidson's Sturgis Rally.

Hi Bruce. Glad you enjoyed the Google Gadget for Harley-Davidson. To answer your final question -- The live banner ads and Google Gadget were designed by Carmichael Lynch, the brand building agency for Harley-Davidson. The agency has long been known for its award-winning creative work for the Harley brand. This first-of-its-kind live banner ad and Google Gadget is another aspect of innovative thinking at work for a brand. - Cheers! -Ellen

Bruce - Thanks for the comments on the Direct From Sturgis section of harley-davidson.com. The teams are working hard to bring this cool event to the Web. As with most complex productions, a variety of agencies are involved. The Direct From Sturgis site and on the ground daily coverage are produced by H-D's online firm, WhittmanHart, while the Google Gadget and live banners are being managed by Carmichael Lynch. Coverage runs through Saturday the 11th. Ken

Bruce,

I wrote about this as well as it's a brilliant way to give outsiders an inside view into the world of Harley-Davidson, the brand and legend. And it's also a great way to distribute content which I've done by embedding it onto my blog:

http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2007/08/harley-davidson.html

And who knew you rode a bike? We need to talk.

@Ken Ostermann hello. We met a while back when I worked at agency.com (we discussed the Harley-Davidson "lead generator") Please pass on my compliments to your teams for an innovative idea that transcends advermarketing.

Bruce,
Harley-Davidson is a great maker of motorcycles, but much more than that it is an amazing marketing/branding/relationship/experience company. I ride a Suzuki and my next one is going to be a BMW, but I sneak into their stores once in a while, just to witness and experience once again how amazing they are. Just today I had an opportunity to meet with Jeniffer, one of their salespeson, who comforted me saying something like, "that's OK, as long as you ride a motorcycle" and then told me exactly where was the tattoo place in Wilmington, NC, where she got her own (really nice) one. well... you know what I mean when I say that motorcycles are the ultimate experience, and H-D is the best of them. I hope for them that they will know how to deal with 70-80 year-old guys and gals riding their bikes with big Harley tattoos on their arms. By the way, or not so much, I recently started a blog that attempts to talk about motorcycles in the context of product development and design. See http://touch360.typepad.com.

Last, have you noticed that many designers ride motorcycles. I did, but not sure it is true, but in any case would still love to hear from designers about their own observations on the topic.