Running head; HERLEY-DAVIDSON COMPANY
Harley-Davidson Company
Name
Institution
Date
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Harley Davidson the Leader as a Strategist Report
The company dates back to 1907 when it was established by two automotive enthusiast
and childhood friends William Harley and Arthur Davidson. Their first design was made in 1901
and it was commercialized in the year 1905. The first model was launched by the company in the
year 1905 and by 1907 formally launched the company by the name of Harley Davidson. The
company grew rapidly in production and development of motorcycles and by the year 1920 they
had become the largest motorcycle manufacturers globally (Harley Davidson, 2013).
Over years, Harley emerged as the most focused and powerful motorcycle brand in the
United States. The strategy of the business was mainly based on focused differentiation where its
target was specific groups with those products. Through unique differentiation, Harley aimed at
gaining a competitive edge and be different in its industry. The company exclusively switched its
attention to the heavyweight motorcycle segment. It dealt more on mini niches such as
customized, touring, and standardized motorcycles in the division of heavyweight. The
company's family of motorcycles included the Sportster, the VRSC, the Dyna the Softail, the
Touring, the CVO, and Treke motorcycles.
On the other hand, for many years the company has gone through many economic
downturns and has maintained its unique image and reputation among its loyal audience around
globally. The company is popular for customization offered and its heavy chopper style bikes
and accessories. The company manufactures bikes of at least 750 cc. Currently the company is
making total revenues of over £ 3.4 billion (Harley Davidson, 2013)
The aim and Mission of the company
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The company needs s to closely assess the market condition in Brazil and analyze it while
introducing a product to the customer. Harley-Davidson has to determine the needs of the
citizens of the country and search for a product that feeds their needs as shown by their demand
for less expensive, convenient, product that is economical because of ever rising fuel cost
globally. Harley can fulfill that need in Brazil reaching the demands for these products. In
particular most consumers purchase motorcycle for various reasons and some individual opted to
buy them while looking for low cost transportation especially in the developing countries.
Organization s Vision, Mission, and Objectives
The Harley-Davidson's vision is as follows: "Harley-Davidson, Incorporated, is an
action-oriented, international company-a leader in its commitment to continuously improve the
quality of profitable relationships with stakeholders (customers, dealers, employees, suppliers,
shareholders, government, and society). Harley-Davidson believes the key to success is to
balance stakeholders' interests through the empowerment of all employees to focus on valueadded activities."
Harley-Davidson's mission statement is "We fulfill dreams through the experience of
motorcycling, by providing to motorcyclists and to the general public an expanding line of
motorcycles and branded products and services in selected market segments"(Harley-Davidson
2013). The mission statement focus on organization is on customer growth and development.
Harley-Davidson's statement of company philosophy contains a separate list of the values of the
organization. The values listed in this statement are, "Tell the Truth, Be Fair, Keep Promises,
Respect the Individual, Encourage Intellectual Curiosity"(Values).
Competitive Overview
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The first penetration of motorcycle in the country occurred when “Honda dealerships
around the country, sponsored by strong management efforts at Honda, spearheaded the
country's motorcycle boom and created a completely different niche. Firms such as Honda noted
that there was a large market to be won you moved to the interior of the country, where a
population with immense acquisitive power is largely confined in 14 towns with poor roads, and
since the late 20th century they have gone after motorcycle with a lot vengeance by using
motorcycles as a new method of transportation. The company’s history shows the No. 1 in sales
in Brazil, Honda controlled 90 percent of the market by 1997, mostly at the expense of its only
real competitor in the country, Yamaha.
SWOT ANALYSIS FOR HARLEY-DAVIDSON
STRENGTHS:
Harley-Davidson has a good publicity brand image: The Company has many member
who are proud of being part and parcel of the company. Customers also are loyal to extend that
they tattoo their arms the name of the company.
2.) Performance improved drastically after leveraged buyout by 13 of its managers in
1981, Harley-Davidson pointed quality issues their customers possessed by adopting Japanese 14
management practices. Products were promoted at motorcycle rallies, alongside with
improvement of their dealer network in an attempt to attract new customers.
Harley-Davidson has various varieties of products to offer their customers. The joint
ventures, and buyouts of companies such as Buell Motorcycle, offers performance bikes. The
Buell brand varieties have exceptionally done well against foreign competitors, such as Yamaha
Honda and Suzuki
WEAKNESSES:
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The price of Harley-Davidson’s products is generally higher in price than those of their
foreign competitors. The firm ought to consider introducing cheaper model or offering a
premium such as a HOG membership to the market in Brazil that the local consumers can afford
and are willing to pay for. Harley Davidson’s Buell product frights around $4,595 for the Blast
perfect and costs approximately $11,000 for the faster, larger models. These models should do
well in Brazil (392).
2.) Size: Foreigners tend to view motorcycles as a means for inexpensive transportation,
not as a way to belong to a group, such as the American “HOG” club. Large, expensive custom
bikes will not be as marketable in Brazil as a smaller, more economical model.
3.) Slow production times: Harley has been known to take up to a year to produce certain
models of their motorcycles and loyal American customers are usually willing to wait; however,
since most foreign customers purchase motorcycles to fulfill the need for convenient, low-cost
transportation, they would likely want their product to be more 15 readily available although
waiting in Brazil shouldn’t be an issue due to consumers’ long-term orientation
OPPORTUNITIES:
There are various untapped markets that Harley-Davidson can explore to promote
products. With high gas prices being a worldwide concern, the company can address the
necessity for more economical transportation.
2.) Harley-Davidson has been venturing successful at expanding their brand through joint
ventures, buyouts and by introducing new products to the market. This strategy can be tailored to
fit the demands of foreign markets, the same as that of Brazil.
THREATS:
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1.) Foreign competition poses a threat to locals, in this case companies such as Suzuki,
Honda Kawasaki, and Yamaha. Foreign companies have a reputation of producing solid, lowcost bikes that appeal to across all classes of people.
2.) The firm must heed to the foreign governments’ regulations and address changes
when necessary. For Harley-Davidson in particular, such regulations pertain to environmental
issues, granting bikers a license to drive motorcycles, and safety.
3.) National discord: There is always a chance of uprisings, overthrown governments, or
other conditions in foreign markets. Harley must keep a close eye on national conditions and
keep a good relationship with local and national governments. In particular, the Harley-Davidson
brand, often associated with the notorious Hell’s Angels, could fall into the incorrect influences
of rebellious customers and such a negative image could rematerialize.
Marketing Program
The four main marketing mix components of the Harley-Davidson marketing program in
Brazil are listed below:
Product Strategy:
The Harley-Davidson brand of bikes, world renown for high quality and a sense of
collectivism, are a solid global brand that has appealed to several markets worldwide. While
marketing in North and South American country such as Brazil, the firm will spur on to maintain
prestigious, high quality products, and overall satisfaction of consumers. Though it has
occasionally been suggested to market a motorcycle of low quality Harley-Davidson to satisfy
the northern consumers who have less purchasing power and search for low-cost transportation
motorcycle, such a strategy would destroy the global brand and also devalue the credibility of
the product . However, consistent, prestigious, and products of high quality attributed as being
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vital to Brazilian consumers, and is found globally, will be continuously be manufactured in this
country; in addition, as the economy grows at significant rates, consumers will go on to
improving their standards of living and subsequently seek a quality product to fulfill the their
raised standards of living.
Place Strategy:
Brazil composes of five main regions varying in their cultural and economic factors.
From an economic point of view, research shows historically that the North contains more
impoverished locations as opposed to the 19 wealthier industrialized South, thus the brand will
penetrate more into Southern locations such as the city of Sao Paulo. Although it seems a
possible objective in the near future to penetrate to northern territories, the current decision is not
to sale out the brand in regions with low income stems from the firm’s necessity for consistency
with its brand. Moreover, for the company to be successful in northern areas, a low quality
motorcycle brand will likely be manufacture and that is very inconsistent with the global position
of being a high-quality motorcycle company.
In summary, the short-term gains are not worth the risk of destroying the global image;
nevertheless, because the government of Brazil launched a four year plan in 2007 to spend over
$300 billion to standardize its road network to modern level, the long term objective of the
company is to finally broaden the targeted market and produce heavyweight motorcycles for
northern regions a period of four years since those economies will truly grow due to improved
infrastructure and technology.
The plan for the company is that for the next four years is that the company will partner
with local dealers in Southern Brazil in order to make the motorcycles easily accessible to those
consumers with a fair purchasing power. Seemingly, joint ventures is a good way for Harley-
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Davidsons company to introduce itself to the Brazilian market because joining an existing
company in the local Brazilian culture can give the company an advantage and will help them to
gain the trust and confidence of new customers. This idea has been working previously
successful as way for many upcoming companies to explore the new markets.
Pricing Strategy:
As the economies most developing countries improve, local incomes for their respective
citizen increase, therefore they have more expendable income for purchasing new products
which will provide good opportunities for Harley-Davidson to explore the new market share.
Marketing Communication Plan:
Upon carefully evaluating the economic and cultural conditions of Brazilians, it becomes
evident that several integrated marketing communications objectives needed to be established
before the brand slowly assimilated into the country mainstream method of transportation.
A. Marketing Communication Objectives
The main integrated marketing communications campaign’s objectives are as follows:
1. Increasing positive motorcycle awareness
2. Increasing Harley-Davidson brand awareness
3. Increasing number of trials of product by 10% during the first year of penetration and
exploration of a new market
. Advance relationships with local dealers as well as government officials with the aim
increasing penetration capabilities.
Integrate products into everyday consumer’s lives through public relations events such as
Carnival, futbol matches, “tour of Brazil,” and motorcycle rallies
B. Marketing Communication Strategy
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Although motorcycles exist worldwide, many societies reject such a method of
transportation for a variety of reasons. Whether because of the increased risk of injury, increased
image of rebellion and masculinity, or complete ignorance of the product, very few consumers
actually realize the main benefits of such a means of transportation and, in order for HarleyDavidson to succeed, it is vital that the company convince consumers the benefits of motorcycles
and the Harley-Davidson brand are very real and very beneficial by improving both product and
brand awareness. Many of the benefits of motorcycles comprise investments from a
meaningfully less expensive automobile that can get exponentially advanced gas mileage, a
sense of belonging to a club and culture, and 22
Sleeker, more agile transportation. In other cultures, “consumers typically evaluated
[motorcycle] brands by talking to other cyclists, reading product reviews, perusing company
Web sites, noting ads in print and other media, and noting a manufacturer’s performance in
competitive events” and such a strategy is essentially what Harley- Davidson will focus on in
Brazil (Thompson Jr., Strickland III, and Gamble, C-386).
Advertisements and Internet
To increase both product and brand awareness, the firm will employ advertisements
throughout the twelve daily papers, promote videos of the superior motorcycles on Youtube.com,
display Harley-Davidson motorcycles on billboards, and purchase internet banners on Brazilian
websites. After evaluating the country of Brazil, most local consumers often recall product
placements from the newspaper, billboards, and online, and for such reasons, those particular
media were selected.
The main purpose of advertisements in this campaign is to essentially inform the
consumers of the Harley-Davidson brand and to persuade the consumers to stimulate trial. In
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particular, the rapidly growing medium of internet will be emphasized as a tool that allows for
Brazilians to research the Harley-Davidson brand and gather requisite information to arouse trial
Since Brazilians are actual wary of new goods and subsequent promotion messages,
advertisements will be the least used of the marketing communications tools.
Business culture
Every member of Harley-Davidson wears casuals mainly jeans and (mostly) HarleyDavidson apparel to work.
What matters for the company is about working on the products that have given HarleyDavidson a following that is second to none. The company search for leaders and technical
experts in their applicants, with no exception of team members who know what it takes in
tackling a project. The employees live in the same communities where they work together having
a deep sense of belonging. We are not all from the same cookie-cutter mold, we come from
different backgrounds. What makes the H-D culture great is the sharing of floor by all official
from inter to the CEO. The executive easily mingle with junior without any border line. There is
typically a great deal of collaboration, regardless of what department you are working for at H-D
Company
Business structure.
Harley-Davidson s decision-making authority is decentralized into three standing committees of
twenty-five executives, known as the circles of leadership internally. They supervise the
company around issues of customers, production, and corporate support. Each group reports
directly to the CEO, Richard F. Teerlink. Successful implementation of this program occurs
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when there are commitment at all levels of organization. Top management must not only direct
but take direction from the lower level employees. In order for top management to feel
comfortable with this they must encourage education for employees of the company objectives
and develop a trust that employees will make the right decisions.
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Reference
Davidson, W. G. (2002). 100 years of Harley-Davidson. Boston, Mass: Bulfinch Press.
Schunk, R. (2012). How to rebuild and restore classic Harley-Davidson big twins 1936-1964.
Minneapolis: Motorbooks.
Petersen, D. (2012). Donny's unauthorized technical guide to Harley-Davidson, 1936 to present:
Volume V, part I of II. Bloomington, IN: IUniverse.
Hook, P., & Stuart, G. (2002). Harley-Davidson: The complete history. London: PCS Pub. Ltd.
Girdler, A. (2002). The Harley-Davidson and Indian wars. St Paul, MN: MBI Pub. Co.