Marketing Management Report: Harley Davidson Marketing Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Harley Davidson's marketing management practices. It begins with an introduction and a synopsis of the case, highlighting the company's customer-centric approach through personalized interactions and social media engagement. The report detail...Read More

Running head: MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Marketing management
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Synopsis or Summary of Case Situation....................................................................................3
Statement of Corporate Mission.................................................................................................4
Statement of Corporate Business Strategy.................................................................................4
Statement of Corporate Marketing Strategy and Types of Marketing Strategy.........................4
Evaluation of Fit or Alignment of Corporate Mission, Strategy, and Marketing Strategy........5
SWOT Analysis:........................................................................................................................5
Assessment of Business Strengths and Business Opportunities.............................................5
Assessment of Business Weaknesses and Threats.................................................................6
Market research and business intelligence influencing marketing strategy...........................6
Current marketing strategy.....................................................................................................6
Recommendations......................................................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The report is prepared to discuss about the marketing management concepts
considering the business organisation named Harley Davidson in United States. The company
is known for its manufacturing and production of customised bikes with iconic engine that
are popular worldwide and have also gained global acceptance, which also creates a strong
sense of trust and loyalty among the customers. Harley Davidson has also managed to acquire
large number of customers by establishing good relationships with them, which has been
possible with the help of survey process and also by conducting face to face discussions and
through assessment of views and opinions from the clients on the social networking websites
too (Kotler et al., 2018). This is essential for understanding the changing demands and
expectations of the clients, furthermore, ensure delivering the best quality products and
services for creation of positive brand image and identity. Thus, the focus of this report is on
the management of marketing activities required to establish greater brand loyalty and deliver
a great customer experience. The report will also present an idea about the corporate mission,
the marketing strategies implemented by the company and also evaluate the fit or alignment
of corporate mission, marketing strategies and approaches to be undertaken by Harley
Davidson for creating a sustainable position within the business environment (Harley-
davidson.com, 2019).
Synopsis or Summary of Case Situation
Considering the case situation, it is believed that Harley Davidson maintains good
personalised relationships with the customers and it has been managed with the help of face
to face discussions and also by checking the views, opinions and feedbacks regarding the
products and services delivered, on the social networking websites. This has helped in
assessing the needs and preferences of the customers, furthermore, ensure serving the clients

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better and establish brand trust and loyalty too (Shaw, 2016). From the case study, it is also
understood that the company has been engaged in various activities and events such as
sponsorships by independent dealers, short rides, major destination rides and also local
charity events, which also ensures fostering positive relationships with the organisational
members as well as the dealers. With the extensive network of distribution, Harley Davidson
has created a string image, brand identity as well as focused on the quality of products and
services, which has further helped in meeting the lifestyle behaviours and even influenced the
clients to become engaged in the H.O.G membership activities too (Chernev, 2018).
From the case situation, it is found that for the purpose of proactive management in
the development of people, Harley Davidson in US has managed good shared values, beliefs,
philosophies and organisational policies to ensure that the employees are accustomed with the
brand experience and are more associated with the training and developmental sessions too.
This has also helped in improving their morale and confidence, furthermore satisfy the
expectations and demands of clients by establishing relationships with them and through
encouragement of behaviours of clients to facilitate delivering outstanding services and
increase the sales generation and revenue too (Baker, 2014). For accomplishing the goal or
objective of generating higher revenue and to attain competitive advantage in business,
Harley Davidson has also connected with the young generation customers by marketing
products and services with the use of social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, etc. This
is a great marketing effort put by the organisation for acquiring large numbers of followers,
furthermore ensure encouragement and motivation of younger generation clients to remain
engaged with the brand perfectly (Kotler et al., 2014). The company has also arranged music
festivals to draw in the potential riders and created interactive experiences for keeping them
influenced, motivated and inclined towards the brand much more comprehensively.

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Statement of Corporate Mission
The corporate mission statement for Harley-Davidson’s is “We fulfil dreams through
the experiences 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.”
The statement of corporate mission represents the urge to fulfil the needs and
demands along with dreams of riders with the help of motorcycling, manage expansion of
product line and also target the various market segments for reaching to a wider group of
audience and ensure meeting their demands and expectations comprehensively (Meffert,
2013).
Statement of Corporate Business Strategy
The statement of corporate strategy aims at developing next generation riders locally
and globally and make the customers feel a sense of personal freedom while riding the
motorcycles. These goals and objectives include building more than 2 million new riders all
over US, manage international business expansion, introducing 100 new high impact HD
motorcycles, deliver greater rate of return on investments made for HDMC and create lesser
negative impact on the environment too (Bagozzi et al., 2018).
Statement of Corporate Marketing Strategy and Types of Marketing Strategy
There are different types of marketing strategy adopted and implemented by Harley
Davidson including relationship marketing, word of mouth, internet marketing and
transactional marketing. As it could be seen from the case study, the relationship marketing
strategy has been implemented by Harley Davidson to build strong relationships with the
customers to enhance the level of trust and loyalty towards the brand as well. The word of
mouth has been another effective marketing strategy, which has enabled the organisation to

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arrange various events and campaigns to raise the level of interest among the customers,
furthermore, ensure creating positive mind sets among them to influence consumer buying
behaviours and purchasing choices all over (Vargo & Lusch, 2014). The company has
encouraged the clients to make purchases with the use of coupons and with discounts and
offers along with arrangement of various events that are critical for influencing consumer
buying behaviours, furthermore, drive sales and increase the revenue generation capability
too (Harley-davidson.com, 2019).
The research and development strategies have also been effective for Harley
Davidson to manufacture and produce three wheeled motorcycles while at the same time,
maintained a strong culture aligned with the brand name, its constituents and products that
are also responsible for encouraging the customers to become a part of the organisation,
furthermore gain ownership and feel empowered to use the products and services much more
effectively (Peñaloza, Toulouse & Visconti, 2013). This has also strengthened the network
for distribution of products and services and allowed the company to grab the future scopes
and opportunities to make an entry into the international market segments too. The corporate
marketing strategy has also been facilitated with the help of attracting female customers
aligned with the diverse product line that has suited the needs of people and became
appealing with the diverse market (Homburg, Jozić & Kuehnl, 2017). The corporate
marketing strategy has been successful with the acqusitions of Buell Motorcycle Company,
which has been a major strategic move to enter new market segments and for maintaining
competitive leadership within the marketplace as well.
Evaluation of Fit or Alignment of Corporate Mission, Strategy, and Marketing Strategy
It could be evaluated that the business organisation has managed more of an
alignment rather than being fit of the corporate mission, corporate strategy and marketing
strategy associated with the various scopes and opportunities that must be exploited to

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accomplish the business goals and objectives efficiently. The vertical integration or alignment
should assist the company to make sure that the corporate and marketing strategies are
aligned with the corporate goals and objectives, which should be beneficial for achieving the
goals and objectives, furthermore, aim at managing the resources effectively too for gaining
success (Pasquier & Villeneuve, 2017). This would not only allow the company remain
focused on the vision and mission, but would also be beneficial for implementing a strategic
direction that is needed to be focused on for developing effective strategic planning and
ensure accomplishment of business goals and objectives with much ease and efficiency too.
The horizontal alignment is also managed to make sure that the strategies are implemented in
such a manner that those are aligned with the corporate values, beliefs and also the
organizational policies, philosophies and principles required to strengthen the workforce
performance and efficiency too (Zimmerman & Blythe, 2017).
SWOT Analysis:
Assessment of Business Strengths and Business Opportunities
Considering the positive brand image, name and identity Harley Davidson has
transformed its brand into something unique and innovative that has positioned itself in the
niche market segment of high cruiser motorcycles. The brand has managed rallies that consist
of the Harley Owners Group, also known as the HOGS and due to this, the marketing
strategies and promotional approaches are quite effective in creating a strong customer base,
which also strengthened the trust and loyalty among the clients (Aghazadeh, 2015). There is a
diverse range of products and services including the 500 CC and 750 CC motorcycles that
have encouraged the younger generation clients too for making the brand hold promising
aspects, furthermore ensure developing a niche position in the marketplace too. The rich
heritage and stable financial condition have further assisted in enabling growth, development
and success in business. Not only does the company deliver good quality products and

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services, but also the good rate of return on investments made by the shareholders or
investors have influenced the strengths and capabilities of the company and allowed for the
reinvention of product segments too (Le Meunier-FitzHugh & Lane, 2013). Considering the
product plan, which is quite aggressive within the industry, Harley Davidson has managed to
bring uniqueness to the products for catering to the needs of people in different market
segments and thus ensured higher level of satisfaction among the customers too (Harley-
davidson.com, 2019).
The opportunities of the company include gaining growth in the emerging and developed
markets both locally as well as internationally. This has also extended the brand outreach and
enabled creating more brand awareness among the clients so as to influence their buying
behaviours largely. With the introduction of HOGS and constantly developing new riders, the
company has also aimed at cruising in the upcoming years and thus should inspire people to
become associated with the brand more often (Ren, Eisingerich & Tsai, 2015). The increase
in demands for the Harley Davidson motorcycles in the European and Asian nations have
also created attractive scopes and opportunities to capture the new market segments in an
aggressive way. The company introduced lower CC bikes, which could also create good
numbers of opportunities for increasing the customer base, which could also help in attracting
new clients who were mostly concerned with the low end motorcycles and those that are
mileage friendly and consume less power and fuel (Venter, Wright & Dibb, 2015). The
targeting of the market segments consisting of female riders has also helped in creating great
scopes and opportunities for extending the customer base, furthermore ensure influencing the
consumers’ buying behaviours.
Assessment of Business Weaknesses and Threats
The weaknesses of the company include a narrow product mix, limited market reach
and poor management of supply chains, which has also affected the business functioning and

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distribution of products and services. The narrow product mix has not only prevented the
company to reach new market segments, but also the limited supply chain has hampered the
ability for potential expansion considering the brand name and image. The organisation’s
revenue generation is largely depended upon the US market, which has some limitations as
well in terms of growth and development while the higher dependency on the suppliers could
also result in increase of input costs along with higher costs incurred while managing the
business functions and processes easily (Magnusson et al., 2013). This might also lead to
dissatisfaction among the customers, furthermore create complexities for the company to
sustain in the competitive business environment.
The threats of the company could be the emergence of competitors and also the
market oriented approach that has been considered by the company. Due to this, there has
been limited reach to the global marketplace and thus the entire profit is based on how the
brand fares in the US market (McDaniel & Gates, 2013). There has been emergence of
substitute products and services in the marketplace, introduced by the competitors in business
such as the Vector Motorcycles, Triumph motorcycles, Indian motorcycles, etc. Therefore,
these are the threats and opportunities that are faced by Harley Davidson in US (Harley-
davidson.com, 2019).
Market research and business intelligence influencing marketing strategy
Yes, the market research and development has helped in the assessment of market
conditions, which also contributed to the management of various scopes and opportunities
required to understand the needs and preferences of the customers accurately. The market
research also could support the decision making by the manager and create scopes for the
employees to participate in training sessions and strengthen their skills, knowledge and
expertise (Gangeshwer, 2013). This would also help in exploiting the opportunities,

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furthermore assist in delivering good quality services along with responding to the queries of
the customers to meet their demands and expectations largely too.
Current marketing strategy
Based on the information provided in the case study, outside researches have also
been done to reflect upon the impact of customer segmentation on the marketing strategy, due
to which, the company has targeted the right market segments for increasing the number of
customers and generate higher revenue too. The current marketing strategy could be the
global marketing strategy or the differentiation strategy, which could allow for sustaining
globally as well as implement unique and differentiable features in the product, so that the
customers can easily distinguish between the products of HD and other companies (Corley,
Jourdan & Ingram, 2013). The online marketing strategy could also be effective for
enhancing brand exposure, furthermore increase the scopes for creating positive mind sets
among the customers too. The strategies are aligned with the mission and vision, which could
also be effective for the implementation of effective strategic planning along with the
development of an effective marketing plan to reach the business aims and objectives
comprehensively (Dahnil et al., 2014).
Recommendations
 It is recommended to manage global outreach by targeting the market segments
outside United States for ensuring global business expansion
 The management of cost leadership and differentiation strategies is recommended as
well for keeping the prices of products and services reasonable and also make it easier
for the customers to differentiate between the products of HD and some other
company products

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 The company is recommended to connect with the younger generation customers
through assessment of opinions, views and feedbacks provided in the social
networking websites for enhancing global followership too
 Lastly, it is recommended for the employees to remain aligned with the values, beliefs
and philosophies, which can improve the brand experience as well as the consumer
shopping experience
Conclusion
The report was prepared to discuss about the management of marketing by Harley
Davidson, US, which was aimed at gaining global acceptance and at the same time, meet the
changing demands and expectations of the clients with ease and efficiency. The case
summary was analysed, which depicted various aspects and also the marketing efforts that
had been put while the corporate strategy and marketing strategy were aligned to make a
strategic move, furthermore ensured alignment of corporate mission, strategy and marketing
strategy to ensure strategic planning. The use of social media marketing and assessment of
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats further could help in making global outreach
and enhance the revenue generation capability too.

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