Harley-Davidson Incorporated, the iconic American motorcycle manufacturer is doomed. This is what was said on the Facebook Page of White Trash Networks; a forum for bikers. The original article was on a website called The Aging Rebel. You can read the article in its entirety by clicking the links.
Me, myself, I don't think this will be the case for Harley-Davidson if they reorganize their marketing to attract the major consumers today; who are women, African Americans and the Urban market as a whole, adjust their credit guidelines, take in less inventory and lower prices on motorcycles and Harley parts and accessories; then they will become more attractive to us.
As I read the article it confirmed my feelings about why all -white outlaw bikers and motorcycle clubs don't concern themselves with multiracial motorcycle clubs or black motorcycle clubs. They have felt for a long time that they were the only consumers of Harley-Davidson and with this being the case they feel Harley is doomed since they aren't purchasing as they used to. Harley has for so long relied only on their buying power to sustain their company and now things have seriously changed.
Last week Harley announced that it lost $218.7 million between Labor Day and New Year's Eve. Last year, when the economic meltdown had everybody in a panic, Harley made $77.8 million during the same three months. Sales were 40 percent lower this autumn than last year. Retail sales of "authentic Harley-Davidson" overpriced stuff fell 28 percent in the United States and 10 percent overseas. Twenty-eight Harley dealers closed in 2009. The company expects 15 more dealers to close in the next three months. Earlier this year the company dropped its Buell sport bike line and announced it was doing away with half the workers at its York, Pennsylvania plant.
Now Harley with all this in mind if you analyzed your business from the top to the bottom it is obvious to me; I don't know about you but I see demographics that you've continuously overlooked; who are at the top of the list of America's largest consumers today; women of all races, African Americans, Latinos and Asians.
Harley boss Keith Wandell told investors last week, "As we look at the year in front of us, we expect 2010 to continue to be challenging." This week Wandell very publically demonstrated his confidence in Harley's robust future by buying a thousand shares of his company's stock, which probably cost him something like one half of one percent of his annual salary. I guess that was a solid demonstration to him to show that he is buying into the company and others would see his faith in H-D becoming profitable again.
Harley has always been identified as the Outlaw's first choice in motorcycles. Back in the 1990s Brock Yates, the screenwriter who gave the world Cannonball Run, very memorably named Harley-Davidson motorcycles the Outlaw Machine. It was a brilliant and incisive turn of phrase that described both the motorcycle and the real subject of Yates' book which was actually "the long ride of the Harley-Davidson into the mainstream."
I am trying to write a new book for Harley, actually it's not a book it's a group of African American Women who will be riding all H-D bikes from Atlanta to Los Angeles; which will be called the Harley-Davidson "Urban Street Team".
I haven't heard of any war surplus Harleys being made available for purchase here lately. During WWII the article states those bikes were dirt cheap, easy to work on, went anywhere, ran pretty good and they were American. Just as the former vets did after the WWII more vets will be coming home from the Middle East interested in joining clubs with the same rebellious spirit of "freedom and doing things my way" and who will be the most cost effective choice in motorcycles? Not Harley-Davidson. Unfortunately for Harley they will have to adjust their prices and credit policies to be the number one choice. Jap bikes are still more cost effective and Harley should no longer allow them to acquire their share of the market anymore.
The rule for the first patch holders in outlaw motorcycle clubs was that prospects had to own a bike "manufactured by one of the allies in World War II." Beezers, manufactured by British Small Arms, Trumpets and Indians were all okay. The Pagans started as a Triumph club. Harleys were the cheapest. After the hated Japanese started selling cheap bikes in the United States in the 1960s the rule eventually became you had to ride an "American motorcycle." It was common in the sixties to hear, "I would rather see my brother dead than on a Jap bike." After Indian went out of business that more or less meant you had to own a Harley.
There's a term used in business called subcultural commodification. Harley hasn't approached this concept to reach its current overlooked market. Their initial approach should be to adapt their marketing focus toward what will attract or encourage long thoughtful visits from us as opposed to quick consumption of the lower valued items such as t-shirts. The atmosphere of the dealerships should be one that will entice the prospective customer to want to stay a while.
The question Harley-Davidson must ask itself is what exactly is biker subculture and who does it serve? Why are bikers always talking about having a certain lifestyle? What role does a biker play in the selling of merchandise in our dealerships? Is it tied to particular places, or is it placeless, a style and lifestyle engaged in the homogenizing of places? Humm…questions that need to be researched and answered.
One of the things that fell apart after Vietnam was Harley-Davidson's business. All those war surplus bikes got used up. The new bikes were no longer cheap or particularly good. Only the outlaw mystique endured and when Harley came back to life in the 1980s it was because the company was selling the idea of the outlaw as much as it was selling motorcycles. Harleys became the Outlaw Machine because that is what Harley-Davidson wanted you to think.
With this in mind about the condition of Harley-Davidson's business falling apart after Vietnam due to surplus army Harley-Davidson bikes not being available as they were after WWII; Harley should take a look at what they did to revive their business back then. They used magic and credit to come back last time. The mystic of being an Outlaw motorcycle company will not be enough today. New magic and new relaxed credit policies must be created.
Since they now consider Gangster Rap a close cousin to the biker lifestyle it would behoove H-D to research the demographics of the people who are comprised within this culture and go after them. This doesn't mean just the entertainers; it means marketing to those who listen to their music and the nationalities of the rappers.
I'll give you an example in California most people know that the largest population is Mexican and there is a vast majority of them who aren't legal citizens of the US; so Bank of America made it easy for them to get accounts without having the necessary papers to open an account. So guess what happened, their customer base increased exponentially. They relaxed their terms to get more of the share in the market of their competitors.
Hey Harley, research your competitors and learn what to do and what not to do in times of market share trouble. I guess you're wondering how I know so much, well I am a creative geek who just so happens to also be a business analyst and I too belong to the market Harley-Davidson has overlooked; black female motorcyclist.
Those days when at the drop of a hat you can instantly create an identity based on a subculture is waning. Harley you can no longer build solely on the backs of one culture you must reach out to all of us. This is now the twenty first century. Being able to make changes on the fly and I contribute this to the growing industry of interactive advertising and marketing.
The magic this article speaks of isn't the only magic H-D needs. Harley must be creative in their approach to the urban and female market. I want to help as best I can and I do hope they are listening.
The Easy Rider Generation has aged and this is why Harley has had a massive drop in sales. There is a prequel to this movie called, "The Ride Back". Harley if you take heed to the name of the prequel you too can take the ride back toward a stronger business. This will happen only if you listen to what your forgotten market is saying.
I wrote in a previous article that H-D's key Baby Boomer customer base, which are white males; are no longer beating down their doors to purchase motorcycles. Their new alternative to roaring down the road is on an electric golf cart and to not sound a bit sadistic an electric wheel chair; shifting those gears to the next hole at the golf course or the next bingo game at the Senior Living facility.
The best answer I have for Harley-Davidson is take heed from those of us who have our ear to the streets and know firsthand how to attract the market you so purposely overlooked over the years. I will always be a diehard Black Female Harley Rider.
Goldie~P.O.H.K
Iron sharpens Iron…especially on Steel!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment