Harley Davidson Marketing Strategy Essay

1. Executive SummaryHarley Davidson is an Ameri female genitalia pedal comp both founded in 1903 by William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson. In the following 108 years of hindquartersing, the Harley Davidson line of work has endured the peaks and troughs of economies to be recognised as an iconic brand in the motorbike industry. After breaking records on the race track, Harley Davidson secures contracts to supply 60000 motorcycles American forces during World War II, exposing thousands of servicemen to the Harley Davidson brand. Through clever foodstuffing and sicing, Harley Davidson has shed the bearded biker image, and now appeals to people from varying backgrounds all over the globe. The following calculate provide provide a situational analysis of the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Company and contend some of the food market placeing strategies that submit en up to(p)d Harley Davidson to adapt to its market place and take client loyalty rargonly guessn in todays busin ess environment.Oliver as cited in Sorce (2002) discusses the aspects of developing node loyalty, and four elements that are required in beau monde to do this 1. The product must be perceived as superior by a large enough separate of the blind drunks clients in order to be profitable. 2. The product must be subject to adoration (or localizeed commitment). 3. The product must come the ability to be embedded in a social network. 4. The firm must be entrusting to expend resources to create the village (Sorce, 2002). The discussions in the following report will establish without incertitude that Harley Davidson has in accompaniment achieved a remarkable level of customer loyalty. By creating this loyalty Harley Davidson engages their customers and enables them to focus on developing long condition human relationships with them. It would be easy to judge that HarleyDavidson is a company that sells motorcycles. In reality they are non incisively selling motorcycles, they a re creating images of a lifestyle the motorcycle is merely a representation of this image. The motorcycle does not project the image it fills the image. (Frat, Dholakia & Venkatesh, 1995)2. Situational Analysis2a.StrengthsHarley Davidson is favored to hold a market position that boasts multiple strengths and opportunities that potentially surmount their flagellums and weaknesses. In 2010 Harley Davidson gained approximately 55% of the ponderous weightiness motorcycle market in the the States, a marginal increase from 2009 and substantially higher than 2008 (Harley Davidson, 2011). This is a promising trend in sparingally uncertain times. The brand intuition of Harley Davidson continues and remains a distinct advantage over its competition, especially in the American market. In recent years, Harley Davidson has do a concerted motion in targeting a wider array of customers with their range of motorcycles. By the end of 2010 Harley Davidson has also become the number 1 selle r of heavy weight motorcycles to women, Hispanics and African-Americans. some other triumph has been in a market of which they had been previously criticised for not targeting well, preadolescent adults mingled with the ages 18-34 as of 2010 they now hold that number 1 position as well (HD, 2011). on that point is little doubt that the real success in target marketing has been the development of the Harley Owners collection ( hogg). HOG membership is given with all purchases of a new Harley Davidson motorcycle affording the members benefits such as roadside assistance, HOG magazine, Fly and ride rental deals, touring information and feature information. The HOG group sums it up well on their website the Harley Owners Group is much than than just a motorcycle organisation. It is one million people close to the world united by a common passion do the Harley-Davidson dream a way of life (HD, 2011). 2b.WeaknessesAlthough the ground forces market is in truth strong for Harley Davidson, they are making slow progress in gaining market share in the international market. The customer loyalty that Harley Davidson enjoys in the USA is challenged internationally by rival heavy weight manufacturers such as BMW, Triumph,Honda and Kawasaki. Internationally, Europe has the largest demand for heavy weight motorcycles in which Harley Davidson has only managed to bewilder less than 13% of this lucrative market (HD, 2011).2c.OpportunitiesOne of Harley Davidson biggest opportunities is intrinsically relate to its major weakness. Internationally there is a large bit of a very big pie that Harley Davidson has not managed to attain. Although Harley Davidson has less than 13% of the heavy weight motorcycle sales in Europe, they manage to hold the number 2 ranking in this market. This ranking indicates that no one competitor owns the heavy weight market in Europe and suggests that the customer loyalty amongst the competitors is far-off from what Harley Davidson enjoys in the USA. Having achieved the number one ranking for sales to women, Harley Davidson still have a large potential customer base in attracting more(prenominal) than(prenominal) women riders. Since 2007 Harley Davidson has doubled its marketing spend and released bikes more suited to women riders, who now handbill for 12% of Harley Davidson sales in the USA (Clothier, 2010). 2d.ThreatsAside from the usual threats present by competitors in the heavyweight market, Harley Davidson will face the same threat that looms for most manufacturerseconomic uncertainty. Although the current economic situation in the USA is unlikely to threaten the current Harley Davidson market share in its essence market it may certainly threaten its financial stability. The loyal customers in the USA may not turn away from Harley Davidson, only if they will be more likely to delay their planned upgrades and apparel purchases. The economic threats in the international market may pose a more serious threat to Harley Davidson. Not only are there financial pressures present in all international markets, but they are more susceptible to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. If these pressures cause Harley Davidson dealers to close their doors it can lead to a downward pressure on motorcycle prices, reduced retail coverage, reduced servicing capabilities and a general negative pattern on Harley Davidson as a brand. (HD, 2011)3. Analysis of Harley Davidson Case StudyJoanne Bischmann, VP of merchandise for Harley-Davidson identifies the companys time value proposition by stating We fulfil dreams stimulate by the many roads of the world by providing extraordinary motorcycles and customer experiences. We fuel the passion for freedom in our customers to express their own individualism (Pearson Prentice Hall,2011). The viewer is left with a clear understanding that Harley Davidson is not just about selling motorcycles they are selling visions and lifestyles. It is interesting to eminen ce that even Joanne Bischmann has been sold on this she explains bluntly that she would rather give up most other things than her Harley. It is also customary for other Harley Davidson executives to attend HOG rallies, enabling them to not only get a feel for their product, but develop an understanding of the people that purchase their product. (Berry, 2002) There is little doubt that one of Harley Davidsons greatest successes in its marketing strategies has been the conception of the Harley Owners Group (H.O.G). H.O.G has given Harley Davidson continued and authorised access to their customers and helped the company to create a definite brand community.By establishing this brand community, H.O.G has nurtured a relationship between the customer and the company, the brand, the companys products and importantly, fellow customers. The rallies and functions organised by H.O.G has brought customers and groups in concert unrelated in any way other than the mutual tasting of a Harley Dav idson product (MacAlexander, Schouten & Keoning, 2002). In insideng this Harley Davidson has managed to deliver on the promises of benefits in their value proposition, making it a reality rather than just words. Harley Davidson has developed a customer loyalty that would make most manufacturers envious. Through clever strategical marketing Harley Davidson has established a quality product that provides the loyal consumer with on the nose what they are seeking. In essence they have created a following of true up Friends as described by Armstrong and Kotler (2011) The firm wants to make continuous relationship investments to delight these customers and nurture, retain, and grow them. It wants to turn true friends into true swearrs who come back regularly and tell others about their experience with the company. It would be difficult to fill the above definition any closer than H.O.G manages to do so.They bring together passionate individuals and groups who are fiercely loyal to th e Harley Davidson brand. It would be difficult to believe that the members do not waxlyrical about their adventures and travels with H.O.G delivering a firm new range of potential customers to Harley Davidson. When considering the Harley Davidson brand community it seems likely that the groups Armstrong and Kotler (2011) term Strangers or Barnacles would account for a minimal share of their customer base. With the carriage of so many True Friends, Harley Davidson has undoubtedly established a customer candor base of considerable proportion. It is not only the fact that a Harley owner is a loyal fan approximately 75% of them are repeat buyers. The customers have bought in to the romance and lifestyle of the brand accompaniment the idea that investment in a Harley is more than financial and the procedure of the bike is more than functional (Schembri, 2008). In addition to the customer justness, this linguistic rule may in turn lead to actual financial equity as indicated by Mac Alexander et al. (2002) many loyal customers have a magnetic dip to invest in the companys stock, their emotional investment in the welfare of the company and a desire to conduct to the success of the company.Although the customer loyalty factor no doubt accounts for substantial customer equity for Harley Davidson, the fact that they manufacture a quality product is of even more importance. If the product was not first rate, no amount of marketing would be able to attract new buyers and convince current consumers to repurchase motorcycles. Harley Davidson has made changes to its product range in order to meet the demands of what they call their outreach customers. By introducing a range of motorcycles that are more suited to women buyers they have been able to attain the number 1 status in that market. Some models of their Sportster range have had the seats lowered and weights reduced by 150lbs in order to appeal to the woman rider (HD, 2011). 4. RecommendationsHarley Davidson USA and Europe are the find out business regions for the company, accounting for 83% of the new motorcycle sales in 2010 (HD, 2011). It will be difficult to significantly grow the business in the USA due to their already large market share and the chronic unsettled economic conditions. 36 Harley Davidson dealers in the USA closed during 2010 with more stores expected to close during 2011 (HD, 2011). If any business growth is to be seen in the USA market, the outreach customers will be the likely sector that can contribute towards this. Harley Davidson needs to keep focusing onthe outreach customers and target their marketing to this group. There is still significant room for growth in the international market for Harley Davidson. The major risk factor associated with this market will also be the uncertainty in the economic conditions. Europe financial instability will be of concern to any company wishing to grow any business in non-essential items. It may be prudent of Harley Davidson to wait and see how the European markets recover from recent stresses. With Europe being the largest international market of heavy weight vehicles (HD, 2011), Harley Davidson need to keep a strong front end in the region. In particular, there seems to be good potential in targeting the outreach customers in this region. Harley Davidson Finance also has some potential to grow in the near future. Internal finance options for buyers is important the business and the likelihood that funding options for buyers will be made easier due to this option.5. ReferencesArmstrong, Gary and Kotler, Philip 2011, Marketing an introduction, 10th var. (pp. 50-51), Pearson Prentice Hall, USA. Oliver, Richard L. (1999). Whence Consumer Loyalty? diary of Marketing, 63, 33-44 Sorce, P. (2002). descent marketing A research monograph of the printing industry center at RIT. sensitive York, USA Rochester Institute of Technology Firat, F., Dholakia, N. & Venkatesh, A. (1995). Marketing in a postmodern world. European Journal of Marketing, 29, (1) 40-46 Harley Davidson Inc. (2011). Harley Davidson Inc. 2010 annual report. Retrieved from http//www.harley-davidson.com/en_US/Content/Pages/home.html Clothier, M. (2010, September 30). Why Harley is cover its feminine side. Bloomberg Business Week. Retrieved from www.businessweek.com Pearson Prentice Hall (Producer). (2011). Creating & capturing customer value Video. USA. Berry, L. (2002). Relationship marketing of services perspectives from 1983 and 2000. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 1, (1) 59-77 MacAlexander, J., Schouten, J. & Koening, H. (2002). Building brand community. Journal of Marketing, 66, 38-54 Schembri, S. (2008). Reframing brand experience The experiential meaning of HarleyDavidson. Journal of Business Research. doi 10.1016/j.jbusres.2008.11.004