HARLEY DAVIDSON

The brand awareness that belongs to Harley Davidson has been earned through decades
of diligence , and determination. Though this company has teetered on the brink of
bankruptcy, struggled with marketing mishaps, and risked everything quite once, it
continues to be one among the foremost powerful brands in history.
Whether you’re a die-hard rider with the Harley Davidson logo tattooed on your arm, or
you’re someone who can simply admire the design efforts of these unforgettable hogs,
there’s no denying the fact that few motorcycle ventures have achieved the fame and
success of this 114-year-old giant.

- History

Harley Davidson is arguably the world’s most iconic motorcycle brand.

However, it'd surprise you to find out that the Harley Davidson brand story didn’t start
with fame and fortune. the corporate was founded during a small shed by brothers Walter
and Arthur Davidson, and William Harley during 1903.

When the Harley Davidson history began, the organisation was only one of the various to
start selling motorcycles across the country. Today, the Harley Davidson brand is one
among the foremost well-known in history.

The century-old Harley Davidson story began in 1901, with a design

for alittle engine that would attach to a typical bicycle frame. William Harley refined this
design over the years together with his friends Arthur and William Davidson, to
develop the primary Harley Davidson bike in 1903. Unfortunately, the primary model
was rejected as being too weak to handle the roads of Milwaukee. However, that didn’t
stop the team from investing in their first factory in 1906.

By 1907, Harley had achieved an engineering degree, and therefore the factory had

begun to develop 150 motorcycles a year. During that point , the signature V-Twin
engine was born. the approaching years saw production increase dramatically, with
16,284 units recorded in 1914.

-When the going gets tough

Of course, like many brands in need of guidance, this famous motorcycle company
encountered a couple of roadblocks on the trail to success. to mention that the Harley
Davidson history had taken a bleak turn by 1981 would be a significant understatement.
Japanese companies had began to outsell the business with better pricing, and therefore
the Harley Davidson brand bikes had lost the standard that made them so appealing.
The executives were faced with an easy choice: drastically improve their motorcycle
quality and satisfy their customers, or leave of business. Quickly, the Harley Davidson
brand began to copy Japanese internal control and production techniques, releasing a
replacement engine that abolished oil leaks and other common problems.

Since Harley couldn’t afford a standard ad campaign at this stage, they announced the
launch of the Harley Owners Group in 1983 – how to reconnect the Harley brand with
customers through affinity. Though HOG wasn’t accepted initially, it eventually  began
to earn more customers, and reposition the Harley Davidson brand story of 1 of customer
loyalty and success.

Harley Davidson branding: The power of

personality

Perhaps one among the foremost important lessons any company can learn from

Harley Davidson branding is that the incontrovertible fact that you would like to
be willing to adapt to your customer’s needs while keeping your essential values
in mind. Harley risked everything once they stopped delivering quality in their
bikes, so once they planned to start out marketing themselves again, they needed
a personality and image that might regain their audience’s trust.

Fortunately, the Harley Davidson image managed to beat the issues it had around
connections with motorcycle gangs and potentially poor quality, by engaging in
some brand refreshing efforts. By finding their own set of unique values, the
Harley Davidson brand ensured that they might change effectively with the
requirements and trends of the time while remaining faithful a definite identity.

The Harley Davidson brand value

When the long-lasting Harley motorcycle company began, it suffered from a

drag that’s common with many startup businesses, a scarcity of identity. The
Harley Davidson brand promise had yet to be established, which meant that the
business struggled to compete with other organisations in their industry.
Fortunately, after a while , the Harley Davidson brand manifesto began to
determine itself, allowing the founders and executives to make marketing and
communication strategies that would truly speak to their audience. Today, the
Harley Davidson brand values that drive the corporate forward are:

 Freedom: 
 Harley promises its customers a lifestyle that ensures they can go anywhere, any
time they want to – without restrictions.

 Heritage:

Harley Davidson is distinctly American, they rally the American flag in their
marketing, and appeal to their long-standing history in the USA.

 Community:

 The Harley Davidson brand relies on customer loyalty to thrive. Word of mouth

marketing and a cult-like community of followers gives their business strength.

 Quality: 

Though the business had a few quality hiccups along the way, customers can now
rest assured that if they buy a Harley, they’re getting an incredible ride.

The Harley Davidson Brand Strategy: Lessons

To Learn

The Harley Davidson brand story may be a complicated one. Few companies within

the marketplace today are ready to weather numerous financial and cultural storms, and
still maintain an area together of the foremost successful, and memorable
businesses within the world.

With quite 100 years of innovation under their belt, the Harley Davidson

brand remains going strong – a sure sign that marketers and corporations across the
world have something to find out from this iconic American brand.

1. Create a community, but don’t be restricted by it:

Harley Davidson may be a company that knows who they're . They’ve embraced

their personality as an enormous , bold, and assured motorcycle company, and
that they preserve their identity as a rebellious brand, dedicated to the look
for freedom.

According to the experts behind the Harley Davidson brand, a motorbike from

this company isn’t just hardware, it’s a life-style and an emotional attachment.
 This focus has led Harley to pursue various unorthodox marketing tactics over the
years, designed to harness their status as an outlaw.

What makes Harley Davidson special, of course, is that the incontrovertible fact

that they don’t allow their identity to limit them. While some people might still
associate the bikes with a particular stereotype, the reality is that the Harley
family is hospitable anyone who wants to seek out freedom on the roads.

2. Emotions are powerful: find out how to use them:

While Harley Davidson products could be automotive in nature, the brand

isn’t curious about just selling motorbikes. Harley can’t compete with the
standard and costs of the opposite bikes available on the market, which generally
have more advanced mechanics and lower cost tags. That’s why the director of
communications within the 90s decided to rework the brand into one centred
around emotion. Harley Davidson brand ambassadors don’t just buy bikes – they
believe they’re purchasing passion, freedom, power, individualism, and courage.
The roar of the Harley helps customers to really come to life on the road, as they
share their experiences with other members of an outsized , global family. Unlike
other manufacturers, Harley Davidson teaches us the worth of using the emotions
that are related to your brand.

3. Sell a life-style , not a product:

As we’ve mentioned several times throughout this text , one among the key things

that has kept the Harley Davidson brand getting into its darkest days is that
the incontrovertible fact that the motorcycles they create are quite just a product –
they’re the centrepiece of a whole lifestyle.

This is epitomised by the Harley Owners Group, a community that brings Harley
lovers together to assist them share what they love most about their bikes.
Through H.O.G, Harley has been ready to sponsor bike rallies, offer free
promotions to its fan base, and even deliver on drives for charity.

People who buy from the Harley Davidson brand know that they’re becoming a
neighbourhood of something bigger, and that’s important for any company who
isn’t relying exclusively on price to differentiate them through their marketing
mix.

4. Always learn more about your customer:

In the past, Harley Davidson has struggled to remain ahead within the market

because they lost specialise in what mattered most to their customers. The Harley
Davidson brand extension may be a perfect example of a time when a looking
for profits overwhelmed the company’s ideas on what was right for his or
her customers.

Since then, the Harley Davidson brand has began to make a change to the way
that they address the requirements of their customers, gathering ideas and
knowledge through social media, also as other sponsored events and organised
efforts. as an example , the Daytona Bike week may be a gathering that takes
place per annum for Harley Davidson brand fans. During this event, thousands of
data-gathering employees interact directly with both new and old customers to
conduct real-time marketing research into what’s needed to offer the corporate a
foothold .

-HASAN WAHEEDI
20MBA030