EDITOR’S NOTE

By Robin Hartfiel

YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY!

From small acorns come mighty oaks... certainly the seed planted by January’s focus on a National Powersport Dealers Association is leafing out and will be bearing fruit very soon. A group of diverse dealers have stepped up and will be taking over the association with the “of the dealer, by the dealer and for the dealer” mandate. While we can’t remake 100 years of industry history every issue, we can pay homage to the 100 years of the Suffragists movement during Women’s History month — the real March Madness.

Face it, without women we definitely would have no Dealernews. Lillian Farrow’s inestimable legacy — she was a Harley-Davidson dealer eight years before she even had the right to vote — originally drew Bob Althoff into the dealership and then into the Dealernews Top 100 program recognizing retail excellence, which ultimately resulted in Bob deciding to save Dealernews from the scrap heap of history. All while seated at Lilly Farrow’s desk — a desk she bought from the Globe Desk Company in Boston in 1916. #WomensHistoryMonth indeed!

In the 1960s and 1970s, the themes of feminism and women’s liberation, with the slogan “You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby” were used in Virginia Slims cigarette ads. This marketing campaign often featured anecdotes about women in the early 20th century who were punished for being caught smoking, usually by their husbands or other men. The ads were positioned at a time when more While various themes emerged in the Virginia Slims marketing campaigns over the years, the basic threads remained independence, liberation, style and a contrast to men’s cigarettes, according to Wikipedia. “Thus, Virginia Slims functioned as a pioneer brand, which successfully implemented an empowering female-centered marketing strategy, also known as femvertising.”

Whether it is the madness of bringing Dealernews back or an even crazier concept of bringing NPDA to fruition, our own Diversity Editor Alisa Clickenger challenged us to recognize the disenfranchised within our industry — including women and the dealers themselves — with this issue. As she notes, just over 100 years ago, women didn’t have the right to vote.

That didn’t change until the 19th Amendment — prohibiting the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex — was certified on August 26, 1920. However, motorcycling still has a maddeningly sexist and exclusionary past, according to Can-Am. BRP’s Can-Am On-Road Division chose International Women’s Day this month to roll out their latest women’s outreach program.

“Can-Am is celebrating women riders and challenging the played-out ‘biker’ stereotypes in order to make open road riding a more inclusive place for women every day of the year,” explains Amélie Forcier, Global Consumer Public Relations Specialist. “That is why Can-Am is taking action with a public commitment to increase ridership among women and offering $100,000 to the Women of On-Road program which will, among other initiatives, fuel projects that empower women within the riding community.”

Marketing to women has indeed come a long way. But it is worth it: By 2030, women are expected to control more than $30 trillion in US household financial assets. This March issue pays tribute to the better half of our industry… or at least the nearly 25% of the motorcycle market women now represent according to MIC stats.

1970s era cigarette ads not withstanding, women in the powersports industry really have made tremendous strides. But they have always been an integral part of the business, starting with Lilly Farrow as a dealer and who is still having an impact on Dealernews to this day!

Former Editor-in-Chief and publisher of Dealernews circa 19902003, Robin returns to the magazine. In addition to having been instrumental in creating the Dealernews Top 100 program (still the industry’s ultimate accolade for a motorcycle dealership), Hartfiel has worked for most of the B2B publications in the Powersports arena. Prior to the trade side, he worked as a beat reporter for a local newspaper and was an editor of publications ranging from All About Beer to VW Trends.