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HOG
Harley Davidson has traditionally targeted middle-aged white men. This target arises out of a couple of factors. The first is that most users do not rely on their Harley Davidson as their primary means of transport, so the purchase is discretionary. This skews the target demographic older because younger demographics do not have thousands of discretionary dollars to spend. The bikes are also priced at a premium, which further pushes them into an older target market. The image of freedom that the company projects is also symbolic -- Harley wants customers to reconnect with their youth now that their children have left the home, and to reconnect with the spirit of freedom in their lives.
The company has utilized both the cost element and the freedom element in its positioning strategy, but the product itself also reflects the positioning. Harley makes heavyweight and superheavyweight bikes, which inherently carry a higher cost. This all but forces the company to adopt premium positioning in the market, which in turns leads Harley to target a specific demographic that can afford such luxuries.
2. The animal that I would most associate with Harley Davidson is the wild hog. It's a big, burly animal, doesn't go fast, but has a certain freedom and wildness that its more domesticated cousins lack. It can snarl when threatened, but is generally interested in its own freedom.
3. Harley...
Both of these markets require lighter, easier-to-handle Harleys. The company has toyed with building these kinds of bikes. With women, a higher degree of customization would probably be a good tactical move as well, so that they can create Harleys in their own image, rather than having the image dictated to them.
4. Harley could experience some backlash from targeting women, yes, because the company's image might lose some of its macho factor. A female wild hog is just as gritty, snarly a beast as a male wild hog, but if the company makes smaller, prettier bikes to appeal to women, that could dilute brand image. There is a fine line that the company must tread, but it can do it with careful branding and positioning.
5. It generally does not make sense for Harley to use celebrities to endorse the product. Harley Davidson has a strong brand personality of its own, such that it is a celebrity; any other celebrity would distract from the personality of the bike. Remember that celebrities lend personality and credibility to a brand -- these are not things that Harley Davidson lacks. There is also risk that the celebrity's image changes, which is more likely to happen than the company's image changing. For example, there might have been a point where Clint Eastwood was a good…
Works Cited:
Fournier, S. (1998). Consumers and their brands: Developing relationship theory in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research. 24:4(March):343-72. Available 5/5/12 through ProQuest database.
Hagerty, J.R. (2011). Harley, WIth Macho Intact, Tries To Court More Women. Wall Street Journal (October 31). Available 5/5/12 through EBSCO database.
Harley Davidson. Accessed 5/5/12 at http://www.harleydavidson.com/en_US/Content/Pages/home.html
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