Read these articles:
Hagerty, James R. (2011). Harley, WIth Macho Intact, Tries To Court More Women. Wall Street Journal (October 31). Available 5/5/12 through EBSCO database.
Johnson, Robert (2011). Next: Planning & Living the New Retirement (A Special Report): The Good Life — When Heaven Is a Harley: The 50-plus crowd is having a belated romance with motorcycles Wall Street Journal (December 19).
Available 5/5/12 through ProQuest database.
Check out the Harley Davidson website for information about its various models and the information it provides about them.
Harley Davidson. Accessed 5/5/12 at http://www.harley–davidson.com/en_US/Content/Pages/home.html
Review this article on brand personality:
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.
How do consumers relate to this brand?
Do they feel loyal?
What emotions are involved?
Assume that you are the newly hired product manager for Harley‘s Sportster line. The VP of Marketing wants a report regarding how this product or service has been branded.
Assignment: Develop a report with a brief introduction, using the items below as subheadings, closing with a brief concluding comment. Rather than write an essay, write a memo (750 – 1500 words) to the VP of Marketing that answers the following questions.
(1) Briefly describe Harley Davidson‘s traditional targeting and positioning strategy.
(2) How would you describe Harley Davidson‘s brand personality. (For example, what animal would you identify with a Harley? Is it the bully down the block, your best friend, or your younger sister?) Explain why you believe this personality represents the brand.
(3) How might Harley have to change its product management and branding strategies to reach women or older folks? Give some examples.
(4) If Harley aggressively targets women, should the company experience a backlash from ?males? and from its current buyers?
(5) Based on the assigned articles, does it make sense for this company to use celebrities to brand the company or for a particular product? What ONE celebrity might this company use and why? Based on the ?Teakettle? article, what are the pros and cons of using celebrities to brand a company/product?
