Harley-Davidson gets investors' motors running
Promoting its products as the ideal Mother's Day gift.
Organizing a mass motorcycle blessing from the pope.
Biker brand Harley-Davidson has veered down unexpected path of late. But those routes have helped the Milwaukee-based company get on the right track after some bumpy years during the financial downturn.
Sales are up. And its stock — which trades under the ticker symbol HOG —soared 26% in the past year to trade Monday around $72.
Harley marketing honcho Mark-Hans Richer recently swung by Paste BN's New York City video studio, where he talked about the company's plans for global expansion, described the market for its trike and shared details about Pope Francis' bike blessing.
And just because Richer participated in the papal blessing, it doesn't mean he has special privileges in the eyes of the Lord — or the law.
A few years back, he was slapped with a speeding ticket while cruising the winding "Tail of the Dragon" route while in Tennessee.
The chief marketing officer is headed back to that area this summer and has this prediction about the policeman who pulled him over: "I'll be seeing Officer Chester again."