As many enthusiasts tell it, the pride of owning a Harley-Davidson is the pride of having an “American Icon.” Harley-Davidson’s (HD) strategic position can best be defined from its mission statement: “We fulfill dreams through the motorcycling experience, providing motorcyclists and the general public with the expansion of motorcycles, and branded products and services in selected market segments.” Now in its 100th year, the concept of having an “American Icon” is slowly fading from the public mind, mainly due to competition from Japanese manufacturers like Honda and Yamaha. HD’s strength of its strong brand image, maintaining good customer relations, strong finances, superiority of technology and design is hampered by its weaknesses related to product capability and unfulfilled demand for their products.
Strategic Direction and Marketing Objectives
HD has chosen the strategic direction of the younger, technologically conscious market to increase its share in the performance market space. With the introduction of the new V-Rod motorcycle, HD is in a position to gain a significant share of the performance cruiser market. To target the younger market with a new product line, the company has the following marketing” objectives: to expand currency (market expansion), its product line ( diversifying the product) and changing its marketing mix to target a larger demographic.
During the 1970s, HD was declining in market share due to increased competition with Japanese companies. By developing weaker models, becoming more selective, and limiting sales and promotions, HD was able to carve out the niche in the market that it enjoys today. Now again facing a period of decline, HD based newly adopted marketing objectives. First, HD needs to expand its potential customer base to include enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts of the male genre in the 35-44 age group. (INSERT MEDIAMARK DATA HERE) This is accomplished by introducing the V-Rod and positioning it in the market for a younger demographic. Second, HD needs to position the V-Rod as a first-time home buyer. HD’s strong brand identity can help draw in new customers. Third, HD mix appropriately marketing mix that will help attract younger consumers base. By using a low-end approach that involves attracting a young audience to a brand name product with a small price tag. HD can increase its popularity in the domestic and international market.
Marketing Mix Elements
For Harley-Davidson’s marketing purposes to be good, the company must implement four elements of the marketing mix for the V-Rod. These four elements are strategies that involve production, sales, promotion, and distribution.
Product planning is all planning that helps the company continue to develop new products around its signature American image and position the company in the market as such. The main reason for the introduction of the V-Rod was the need to create a bike that would appeal to a younger demographic and achieve a larger market share for the company. By using the low-end targeting method (as previously discussed) with the introduction of the V-Rod, this can be considered HD’s first step towards implementing its strategic and marketing objectives.
As for the strategy pricing, HD should be careful to make a decision based on the low-end targeting method. Priced at $17,000 MSRP, the HD V-Rod is the second highest priced performance cruiser on the market. Although HD has a share of 22% of the total market, HD’s pricing policy has three main factors that affect how the V-Rod is priced: 1) the used motorcycle market, 2) lower priced motorcycles, and 3) HD’s incapacity. as with demand4. In order for HD to achieve a larger market share, the company must explore how these three factors continuously adjust their roles in pricing and accordingly.
Harley-Davidson Corporation has found several ways to implement its promotional strategy. The first HD promotional tool from 1983 was HOG. The company’s posters and commercials are centered around images of women. Since 93% of runners are male, the SUS advertising campaign has been successful for decades. HD also uses another strong promo campaign through its cases, located in most dealerships. HD also developed an interactive website (www.harley-davidson.com). The website gives the company an opportunity to expand its operations online. Finally, HD is a very important promotional tool for the brand image of a truly American product. Such a tool challenges the domestic market, and owning a Harley-Davidson bike is well suited to fostering feelings of national pride for America.
HD’s distribution strategy can best be described by its credit found on its website: “Harley-Davidson dealerships are a lifeline company for our customers, with a wide variety of product offerings, dealer knowledge, service, and information to send riders on the road.” Network dealers from HD have been established in locations that provide access to the largest concentrations of potential customers. These businesses are used to distribute used products, accessories, and merchandise. HD also promotes its motorcycles through dealer programs, exhibitions, and public relations programs department stores like Costco and BJ. These issues are meant to appeal to the non-enthusiast.
Timing, Price, Return, and see about the marketing plan
Before the HD strategy and marketing plan can be introduced, an analysis of the direction in which the plan is to be implemented, the cost and return of the plan and the opinions that are needed in continuous improvement must be done.
Timo is especially suitable for planning during peak buying periods such as around bike demo events and seasonal shopping. These days, people are especially interested in new products, such as the V-Rod, and are more likely to have things to buy the products. The cost of implementing the marketing plan is to refer to the goods involved in development and research, as well as V-Rod production and promotion /marketing involved in making the V-Rod popular among motorcyclists and non-fanatics alike.
The best return, which is obtained from the implementation of the desired marketing plan, is a significant and useful partner in my marketing performance. A substantial share in the market would be attributed to the strategic design of HD to attract new low-end buyers. This group of consumers is a smaller demographic compared to the traditional HD consumer base. Achieving such a group most certainly guarantees the future of HD business, it strives to achieve brand loyalty.
The most important part of understanding the functionality of a marketing plan is the feedback from the consumer. To understand why or why not a certain type of marketing mix is working, it is necessary to product consumers their input. Continuous and effective gathering of information from the customer, whether through surveys or through questionnaires or any other technique is critical to see if the marketing plan is being implemented as planned.
