Harley Davidson Has Traditionally Targeted an Audience

Harley Davidson has traditionally targeted an audience of middle-aged men, in recent years targeting "older white male boomers" specifically (Hagerty, 2011). The company's demographic is usually wealthy, since the bikes are not primary means of transportation for most riders. The company has now begun targeting other audiences as a means of sustaining sales levels. Although the company sells its bikes in overseas markets, 71.3% of the company's business comes from North America. Most of what Harley sells is motorcycles (75.5%) with parts and accessories making up the bulk of the remaining sales for the company (2010 Harley Davidson Annual Report).

Harley is positioned as a luxury good, and sells primarily in the heavyweight and superheavyweight classes of motorcycles. The company markets its products to its customers as something of an escape from everyday life, a means of freedom from drudgery. The size of the bikes is also part of the positioning -- Harley does not compete in smaller bike categories, but rather markets as a bike that is for fun, as opposed to daily use. Lifestyle marketing is critical to Harley's strategy. Customers identify with attributes such as freedom, and a zeal for life with the Harley brand, and view the brand as quintessentially American (CDF, 2012).

2. Harley Davidson's approach to marketing towards women is not to change its positioning but to "be our thing to more people." Thus, the brand does not want to eschew the image it already has in order to market towards women. Instead, Harley Davidson is specifically targeting women and in the process of doing this is attempting to convey that the traditional attributes associated with Harley's bikes apply to women as well.

With respect to product, Harley still markets heavyweight bikes to women, but as Hagerty (2011) notes, the company focuses on marketing its smaller bikes to women, and is even considering introducing yet smaller models to deliver bikes that more women can handle. The company is not ready to eschew the heavyweight division of bikes yet, however, so it has taken steps to show women how they can handle heavier motorcycles.

To reach more women, Harley Davidson needs to advertise and promote on television shows that cater to this demographic. The company could market on shows ranging from the View to Wheel of Fortune in order to get its message out to the female audience better. Traditionally, however, Harley does not do a lot of television advertising so it is more likely to use print publications. The company could focus on women's magazines -- there are many ranging from fashion to celebrity gossip to household magazines. The former might be the best place to start, because Harley can maintain its premium image better by associating itself with lifestyle elements like fashion, art, architecture and fine dining. The target females are more likely to be empty-nesters than housewives, so it is important that Harley target publications that specifically serve women who like and can afford the finer things in life.

3. One of the biggest concerns that Harley Davidson has when marketing to women is that it feels it might experience some backlash from its traditional male audience. This could happen if Harley makes the wrong moves, but with the right approach to marketing to women, this is easily avoidable. Harley Davidson should perhaps consider segregating its bikes so that there are few overlap bikes -- this way men do not feel as though they are driving a woman's bike. More important, however, is the marketing message. Harley needs a message that maintains a sense of achievement, fun, and other lifestyle elements that it uses to appeal to men. These elements, with the more masculine elements taken out, will still appeal to women, and because they have always been a core part of the Harley message and appeal, they will not dilute the image of the company for men.

A key element in avoiding backlash is perhaps to stay away from marketing the bikes as something that can allow wives to joint their husbands on adventures; better to market girls' weekends away, to maintain the spirit of independence with which Harley is associated.

4. It is not at all surprising that Harley shares demographic and psychographic characteristics with ballet patrons. Like Harley patrons, they are older, have a fair amount of disposable income and are predisposed to living well. Harley's lifestyle marketing focuses on freedom and having fun, and middle-aged people who fit these traits and have disposable income for a bike will often be interested in other aspects of better living -- fine dining, arts and culture, and travel. Thus, it should be expected that there is considerable crossover between Harley riders and ballet customers. Most Harley riders do not belong to motorcycle gangs, after all, and the company does not market itself to those people as a general rule.

It is important when getting into the field of marketing to take away one's presumptions about who buys a product, and why they buy it. Ultimately, a company like Harley would not be huge or iconic if it only sold bikes to actual outlaws. The company has long been forced to court baby boomers as a large generation with significant disposable income. The reality of weather in most parts of the U.S. is that motorcycles are not a primary means of transportation for people in most of the country. The same can be said of the company's customers in Canada and most of Europe as well. Therefore, most motorcyclists use the bikes for fun, and only ride when the weather is good. They must therefore have money, and leisure time. Harley has long recognized that in terms of demographics, this group skews older, whiter and richer than the general population.

Harley, in working with the ballet, clearly understood its target market. When seeking out marketing opportunities, it is important that companies have a good understanding of how else their customers spend their money. Harley focuses on travel as part of its lifestyle image not because bikes are a mode of transport but because its customers spend a lot of money on travel.