Marketing
The star personality of the company's founder and president Jesse James is a key asset in the marketing of the West Coast Choppers image. Monster Garage producer Thom Beers describes him as, "the perfect Gen-X antihero. He doesn't want to be worshiped ... he really believes in what he does, and he has a great sense of style." Advertising Age Editor-in-Chief Scott Donaton says James is a, "relatable bad boy with blue-collar appeal" adding that West Coast Choppers, "has made a lot out of this bad boy image, has made a lot out of this connection to the name Jesse James and this sort of Wild West romance," which will remain profitable for years to come so long as it is "authentic." James is compared with entrepreneurs like Martha Stewart and Coco Chanel for his ability to turn an image into multiple lines of profitable fashions.
The celebrity clients who order WCC bikes are a main avenue of promotion. The motorcycle made for Shaquille O'Neal cost US$ 150,000 and was customized for the athlete's 338 lb (153 kg) weight and 49 in (120 cm) inseam, and enormous hands, resulting in a dramatic 11.5 feet (3.5 m) long bike with footpegs made for size 24 feet. The result was, "priceless publicity".
James sometimes displays a little unveiled contempt for his customers, as when he explained to Popular Mechanics how they conceived their US$ 3,000 kit for a chopper frame by saying, "We geared this towards the do-it-yourself motherfucker." Or when he joked with the Los Angeles Times at the high prices of his branded clothing, saying, "Wife beaters for $200 bucks, I'm like—sucker. I could get three for 10 bucks" at a swap meet.
This image is used mainly to sell clothing, the top moneymaker for the company. Sales in Europe are ten times the US, according to James. At one time, there were five clothing lines, including two sold by West Coast Choppers, two at Wal-Mart, as well as high-end lines available in more expensive department stores, such as t-shirts for "$100 a pop in Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's and Fred Segal". Koral Industries of Vernon, California is responsible for the design and manufacture of WCC cothing, as well as supplying the sales force to place the products in stores. Clothing items include hoodies, tank tops, t-shirts and jackets. There is also a line of Jesse James/WCC-branded bib overalls and other workwear.
Besides clothing, and the small scale production of choppers made to order, tie-ins with other companies were a major part of West Coast Choppers. One such tie-in was a 2004 contest to win a motorcycle, with entries contained in bottles of chocolate Yoo-hoo, which helped to promote the launch of a new flavor, Dyna-Mocha, which is Yoo-hoo and coffee. West Coast Choppers also signed a multi-year agreement with Huffy in which West Coast Choppers will design Huffy choppers, to be sold at Wal-Mart. The objective was to duplicate success of Pacific Cycles' Schwinn Sting-Ray model designed by rival Orange County Choppers (OCC). While the OCC and WCC branded bikes had some success, the kids' bikes' sales at Wal-Mart and K-Mart was a fraction of bikes branded with children's characters such as Barbie, Disney Princess, Dora the Explorer, Power Rangers and Spider-Man.
Other brand tie-ins are a plasma arc cutter and other welding torches made by ESAB, designed by and named after Jesse James. Airstream trailers had a deal as well, which included a WCC motorcycle with a sidecar made with a polished aluminum body to simulate the appearance of the iconic camper trailers. Besides Yoo-hoo, another beverage company, Coors Brewing Company, added West Coast Choppers logos and pictures of bikes to their product in a mutually beneficial brand tie-in.
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