Harley Davidson: An unbeatable marketing strategy

Loss of identity is death. Every brand has its own identity, its own personality and the moment identity is lost the brand dies. Harley Davidson a motor cycle company which is now one of the best brand in automobile industry was going through a tough time during the great depression period (1929-1939). The company in these tough times never compromised on its brand identity even if that meant taking a major risk by letting go a huge order given by Ford, where ford wanted its own name on the vehicle. The battle of this tough time was fought by the “knucklehead” from the stable of Harley Davidson. With so much at stake launching of knucklehead was a prime concern.

So how did they launch it?

If it would have been any other company in that era it would have been launched in any of the famous flat track races. But it was Harley, they launched it in a race which was supposedly, the race of the outlaws. This was done because these people were the real auto enthusiast. Harley realized that the best marketing is through people and its people that build the brand.

This was not a new trend at Harley Davidson. It was a legacy of people centric marketing that was continued by the company. The company was started in a shed and when it started production its biggest competition was Indian Motorcycle Company. During those days Races were the only way to reach the fans of engine powered bicycles. Even though Harley used to win races but the strong dealership network of Indian Motorcycle Company hardly provided any success to the sale of Harley who were relied only on a handful of dealers

Then How did Harley manage to increase their sales?

The opportunity came with World War 1. When every other company was closing down as men were sent to war. Harley managed to snatch a deal which worked like an oxygen to its survival. The deal was making motorcycles for the US army.

Harley Davidson came up with an exceptional proposal which the Indian Motorcycle company had never thought of. The proposal was that Harley will not only supply the motorcycles to the US army but will also train the army to repair or scavenge the parts from one to another motorcycle. They offered to open a cost free quarter master training school ( A training school of US army) for the army.

The Harley’s did this to build a brand loyalty, It was known that the war will be over anytime and when its over they will have thousands of Harley Davidson riders who will be comfortable with Harley's parts and its maintenance schedule. It was also an addendum to the original selling strategy of Harley which was forming Harley cubs and organize group rides to advertise the motorcycles by the customer themselves.

Today Harley Owners group has more than one million members and is not just a brand but a lifestyle.