The goal to amplify interest in the innovation of Tough Turban, and how it addresses a unique challenge faced by Sikh motorcycle enthusiasts who are committed to protecting their safety while expressing their religious freedom, has fairly complex communication considerations to effectively drive awareness and engagement for the client.

While the project team was confident the Tough Turban creative assets would immediately stir interest and appreciation, strategic PR efforts helped build meaningful discourse and relationships with key stakeholders and valued influencers (Sikh community, automotive/safety industry, media outlets and storytellers) all linked back to the client/source of the innovation.

Canada is home to the world’s second largest Sikh population. In 2018, the Ontario government passed legislation to exempt Sikh men from helmet laws, on the grounds of religious freedom, which empowered Sikhs to wear their turban while riding. For many riders, this new freedom is deeply valued, yet creates a difficult personal choice between the protection offered by a helmet and the deep significance of riding while wearing their turban.

Pfaff Harley-Davidson, Canada’s largest Harley-Davidson dealership, serves Toronto, one of the world’s most multicultural cities in the world. While Harley-Davidson has a diverse ridership, it is often perceived to be the choice of older, white men. The goal was to change that entrenched perception, with relevant evidence about Harley-Davidson’s growing focus on inclusiveness, and clearly communicate that the experience at the core of the brand – the freedom and adventure of the open road – is open to all.

We created an innovative solution to an issue affecting the Sikh ridership community. Research uncovered that in ancient times, Sikh warriors going into battle with chain mail woven into the fabric of turbans for protection, a protective action that also respected religious tenets. That key insight sparked the idea to leverage advances in protective gear to develop a personal protection device, to protect Sikh riders while respecting Sikh beliefs.

Tough Turban unites ancient tradition and expression with modern, high-tech engineering and fabrication. Made of impact-resistant materials that fully respect the requirements of the turban in the Sikh faith, the outer layers of Tough Turban include military-grade Dyneema composite fabric, a 3D-printed take on chain mail, and non-Newtonian foam. The material is initially pliable to create a turban, yet instantly hardens on the force of an impact should a fall or collision occur.

The initiative gained traction by recognizing a unique opportunity to evolve the representation of a Harley-Davidson rider and to act on the brand’s purpose and enable a group to experience the freedom of the open road. To accomplish our goal, the brand would need to lead a tangible action, not just announce facts or commitments.

Expressing evidence about a diversity commitment meant the opportunity to engage a larger audience so they could relate to a challenge and support a relevant solution. We focused on a solution that would demonstrate how Harley-Davidson leads with inclusiveness and make it clear that the experience at the core of the brand – the freedom and adventure of the open road – is open to all. The Sikh community was at the heart of our efforts, but the campaign made a statement with relevance to a wide audience.

Communicating the effort started with a website featuring a compelling video that profiled Sikh riders, highlighting how the turban benefited them and was engineered, complete with downloadable open-source designs allowing manufacturers to produce the turbans for riders in their region, with the potential to benefit millions of riders worldwide.

On launch day, a well-crafted media release was broadly shared, driving to a library of images, video footage, and long-form content profiling Sikh riders. The press release included supportive quotes from the Sikh Motorcycle Club of Ontario and the marketing team at Pfaff Harley-Davidson.

Press contacts, within three categories, were targeted and offered media interviews: mainstream Canadian media, outlets for motorsports enthusiasts and international outlets popular with the Sikh diaspora such as The Hindu and The Times of India.

A persuasive key message effort was the fact that Tough Turban is an open-source design, available to any manufacturer worldwide.

Following the launch of the program and PR assets, media response was significant, including coverage by 171 U.S. media outlets, 54 in Canada, 18 in the UK, and 11 in India, totalling 238.8 million earned impressions with an advertising value of $2.19 million.

As reported in The Times of India, The Sikh Federation UK was so inspired by Tough Turban that they asked the British government to re-examine turban laws in the workplace, sparking a conversation even larger than the motorcycling world.

Quantitative research with people who own or are planning to buy a motorcycle showed a significant shift in perception after they’d been exposed to the initiative:

• 87% saw Harley-Davidson as more favourable (52% much more favourable and 35% slightly more favourable)

• 86% saw Harley-Davidson as more innovative (54% much more innovative and 32% slightly more innovative)

• 83% saw Harley-Davidson as more inclusive (54% much more inclusive and 30% slightly more inclusive)

• 85% were more likely to consider buying a Harley-Davidson (47% much more likely to consider buying and 38% more likely to consider buying)

Tough Turban’s open-source schematics have been downloaded over 2300 times. Several manufacturers are exploring large-scale production and distribution, including Hero Motor Corp – the world’s largest two-wheel vehicle distributer.

Expressing evidence about a diversity commitment meant the opportunity to engage a larger audience so they could relate to a challenge and support a relevant solution. We focused on a solution that would demonstrate how Harley-Davidson leads with inclusiveness and make it clear that the experience at the core of the brand – the freedom and adventure of the open road – is open to all. The Sikh community was at the heart of our efforts, but the campaign made a statement with relevance to a wide audience.