Harley-Davidson

Résumé du document

The Harley-Davidson brand was created in 1903 by William S. Harley and the Davidson brothers. At the beginning, Harley-Davidson was built to be race motorcycles. As soon as 1907, the brand won several races, which allowed for the recognition from both professionals and customers. Harley-Davidson is one of the most famous brands of bikes, with a strong image, built during its entire story. Despite the economic ups and downs of the Harley-Davidson company's history, like the Great Depression in 1929, the brand is still alive. Today the Harley-Davidson Company is composed of Harley-Davidson Motorcycle, Harley-Davidson Financial Services and Buell Motorcycle. The brand is present in 60 countries with more than 1300 retailers. In the first part, we will speak about Harley-Davidson's values and products to understand well the development of the brand.
The two part will be about the marketing strategy: first, image advertising and then relation to the customer.

Extraits

[...] It is interesting to note that no huge advertising campaign had been made. In effect, everybody knows the brand and there is no need to remind its existence. The notoriety of the brand may be established, but it kept away numerous potentials customers. We can ask ourselves if this fact is a volunteer part of the marketing plan. [...]

[...] Moreover, they offer a lot of activities every week end targeting only the owners of Harley-Davidson: Trip, Parties, Showrooms, and Barbecue . The fact is here: more than motobikers are members of H.O.G of them went to Milwaukee, where the constructor organized a party, end of August 2003, to celebrate his 100th Birthday. One record again, the Harley-Davidson brand is still here and has future! One of the main values of the brand is the collectivism, illustrated by the feeling of community shared by all the Harley-Davidson owners. [...]

[...] III) Marketing strategy: relation to the customers By selling motorcycles, Harley-Davidson delivers three things. First, an image and a legend; secondly, a personalized motorcycle and finally a belonging to a community. Each bike produced by the Harley-Davidson brand has a special place in the consumers mind, and represents a dream to be attained. A ) A personalized motocycle It is possible to choose colours, optional extras but also specific accessories to customize. For instance, mirrors, bags, decoratives, seats and chrome covers. [...]

[...] Employee Involvement One of the things that set Harley-Davidson's culture apart from other businesses is employee involvement. The participation of the employees in the business has been an essential component of their success. Harley- Davidson employees are considered as being the greatest competitive advantage. Traditional hierarchy has been minimized and they have established what they call an “open door” policy, which means that every employee is expected to communicate and contribute his thoughts and to take the initiative to identify problems and solve them. [...]

[...] Harley and the Davidson brothers. At the beginning, Harley-Davidson was built to be racer motorcycles. As soon as 1907, the brand won several races, which allowed the recognition from both professionals and customers. Harley-Davidson is one of the most famous brands of bikes, with a strong image, built during its entire story. Despite the economic ups and downs of the Harley-Davidson company's history, like the Great Depression in 1929, the brand is still alive. Today the Harley-Davidson Company is composed of Harley-Davidson Motorcycle, Harley-Davidson Financial Services and Buell Motorcycle. [...]