Harley-Davidson Tries to Rejuvenate Motorcycle Sales

Harley Davidson's Rider Image Then

Harley Davidson's Rider Image Now

Harley-Davidson motorcycles have historically had an image of making motorcycles for hardcore outlaw bikers and hell raisers. Even someone who knows nothing about motorcycles knows who Harley-Davidson is. Over several decades the company has diversified, but the average Harley-Davidson owner is still a middle-aged male looking to relive his youth. Due to lost market share and declining sales over the past decade the marketing department at Harley-Davidson is faced with the problem of figuring how to appeal to the younger market and women. While maintaining the market and image that shaped the company since its inception. Many younger men and women question whether they fit the image of the Harley rider. The company definitely has a culture and an image they do not want lose, and could potentially be detrimental to the company if they did. Harley-Davidson has made transitions and come a long way over the past 30-40 years, they offer smaller and sportier bikes for younger guys and women riders, which was almost unheard of 30-40 years ago.

Harley Davidson's marketing department is facing a major dilemma with their sales and market share dwindling they need to act quickly. The marketing department stated in the article that Harley will be increasing their marketing budget, but would not disclose what exactly their course of action was going to be. With other American, European, and Japanese companies ready to fulfill Harley's piece of the market, Harley needs to rejuvenate its sales and take some kind of action. Harley will always have a cult following by certain enthusiasts and be relevant in the motorcycle world, but may have a difficult time gaining a new more youthful generation of buyers and keeping the older buyers too.

The relevance to marketing in the article is implementing a new marketing strategy using segmenting and targeting to gain the desired target market. This will more than likely be used by introducing new products to their line at a lower price or appeal to a different demographic in order to attract a different market. It could also include new promoting in uncharted territory, but this is risky and could potentially back fire sending the wrong message to their image and deter die-hard loyal buyers.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/harley-davidson-tries-to-rejuvenate-motorcycle-sales-1452552030