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Simulation: CruiserThorr

The situation

The situation profiled in the case study is that of CruiserThorr, a motorcycle company that once had an illustrious reputation, but has since fallen upon hard times. CruiserThorr is known for its dominance of the 'luxury' motorcycle market, offering high-powered vehicles to baby boomers. However, these consumers are gradually 'aging out' of the motorcycle market. Either they are no longer riding at all, or they have decided not to acquire as many new vehicles as they did previously. This means that CruiserThorr must find a way to lure in younger consumers and encourage them to identify with its brand. However, these potential buyers are often a bit reluctant to purchase one of the company's vehicles because of price considerations. Also, the brand name of CruiserThorr is associated with an older generation. The case study suggests that CruiserThorr should focus first on the core considerations of the target purchase such as lifestyle image, quality engineering, services, and price. CruiserThorr must out-position its competitors in these key areas to remain solvent.

Recommendations

The decision which CruiserThorr faces is: should it completely reposition its brand, or should it launch RRoth, a lower-cost motorcycle designed to appeal to younger customers? The downside of launching the RRoth is that it may run the risk of diluting the company's brand image, which it has diligently crafted for so many years. However, repositioning is an even more risky...

Being an imitator of one's competitors is not viable. Thus, launching the RRoth was selected as the best option.
At the time of the simulation, CruiserThorr is in a 'mature' product market. It has established its brand and there are a number of notable competitors against which it must vie for consumer attention. Mature markets are extremely price-sensitive, given the availability of many options. This is why launching a low-cost motorcycle is the best alternative, rather than simply rebranding the company. Rebranding would also divert the focus of the company away from the components of the marketing mix it should emphasize, like price, and instead encourage the company to spend too much attention on attributes such as brand image.

This is not to say that brand image is not important to the RRoth. Advertising through channels likely to be patronized by younger consumers is essential, such as using Hollywood films as a form of promotion, versus traditional dealers. However, low cost is a critical component of what younger buyers are looking for, so offering the low-cost RRoth is needed. Internet marketing is an important part of promoting RRoth, given that this is where young consumers do most of their shopping.

Ultimately, promoting the RRoth will not compromise the CruiserThorr brand because of the principle of differentiation. CruiserThorr can retain its quality-based image amongst baby boomers and existing, older loyal customers by reaching them through more traditional marketing channels such as dealerships. It can leave these models relatively unchanged in terms of the image projected of them to consumers. However, the RRoth can be launched with an 'edgy' marketing…