Knox pointed out a post by Chris, a graphic designer in Denver, about the intro page on the official Lamborghini website. I’m working on a new real estate site and so I’ve been looking at a lot of web design with a much more critical eye. Chris’ post is funny and he argues that a cowboy riding a bull is not the type of image to sell a fast luxury sports car. He also points out a major flaw in the web design that allows the user the choice to exit the site even before they get past the intro page. 
I don’t know much about Lamborghini’s or sportscars in general – all of the cars at my house are some variety of Toyota - however I did find out a few interesting things about people who visit the Lamborghini website. According to quantcast, a service that tracks website use, 69% of the visitors (I believe this is US visitors only) are between the ages of 12-34. I could not get quick demographic information on actual US buyers of these cars but my guess is that the average age of a Lamborghini buyer is much older.
So is the bull or more specifically, the cowboy on the bull, an appropriate image for a sportscar company or an appropriate image for 2009?
From a brand standpoint, the bull seems to be an appropriate image. The company’s 
roots started with an Italian tractor manufacturer- Ferrucchio Lamborghini who became inspired to create his own sports car after visiting Ferrari’s factory. The company logo also features a bull.
I have another theory that came to mind when I first saw the site. Buyers for this car are very likely to be very aware of the stock market and a bull market represents a return to strength. There may be some subtle attempt to instill confidence in potential car buyers that they can afford to spend over $200,000 on a new car. But since this is a European brand – would they really play to an American consumer?
According to this article, there were 2430 Lamborghini’s sold worldwide in 2008, and 741 sold in the US. The United States makes up the largest share of the Lamborghini market (followed by Italy) so it is likely than the web designers would at least have Americans in mind. The company does no print or TV advertising-so besides the race cars, the website is the company’s most public image.
It will probably take someone with more insight than just a quick google search to figure out if this imagry works for the typical Lamborghini buyer – my guess is someone looking to buy a high end sportscar does not spend a lot of time on the internet doing research. Beyond the bull or the cowboy is a bigger question - should the site appeal more towards the majority of the younger website visitors in an attempt to build long-term brand loyalty?
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I think they’re trying to appeal to Americans, but only seem to watch films! I was a little confused as to why there was a massive statue of a bull in NY, never really understood it myself.
The fact is, people with ridiculous amounts of money are still going to buy Lamborghini’s because they’re a status symbol. Also the people driving them are most likely in a mid life crisis, and the image of a manly man manning it up on a bull makes them feel better about their beer gut. Or perhaps I’m just a little cynical