HARLEY DAVIDSON- MARKETING STRATEGY

Independence, Freedom, and Power are words that are being used to describe the personal theme of Harley Davidson Motorcycles and their owners.  How has Harley Davidson become so successful?  The key lies inconsumer perception.  More importantly, the image consumers have of themselves and who they want to be, known as self-concept (Arens, Schaefer, & Weigold, 2009).  Unfortunately, consumer perception is one of the largest challenges facing marketing and advertising.  The goal of this article is to demystify the self-concept and redirect efforts to mirror the consumer’s self-concept.

Amazingly, the average American is being bombarded by thousands of advertisements every day.  Of thousands, only a handful is noticed and even fewer are remembered (Arens, Schaefer, & Weigold, 2009).  The reason only few of these are recognized are due to psychological screens we have set in place.  These screens evaluate, filter, and personalize subjective material based on the persons: attitudes, personality, beliefs, and experiences (Arens, Schaefer, & Weigold, 2009).  The process that we evaluate and comprehend these stimuli is called cognition.

An interesting process occurs in the human brain when the positive aspect of a product mirrors that of the self-concept.  The executive within our mind kicks in.  Suddenly the ventromedial/ orbitofrontal cortex, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and the anterior cingulated cortex begin passing chemicals back and forth aiding in decision making and regulate thoughts one has of themselves (Cacioppo, et al., 2007).   Even more interesting is the same areas of the brain are directly responsible for our interpretation of rewards and punishments.  When we see an ad that appeals to our self-concept, these areas of the brain ignite, releasing oxytocin (a stress inhibitor) anddopamine (feel good chemicals) thus leaving the consumer feeling good about themselves with this product.  Is it starting to come together?  Let us look at the example of Harley Davidson Motorcycles.

Harley Davidson Motorcycles have become more than just a great motorcycle, they have become a symbol, an idea, a feeling.  When researchers at Harley Davidson polled their customers about their feeling on the brand, three separate themes manifested: independence, freedom, and power (Kotler & Armstrong, 2008).  Looking at the example ad, we see part of a portrait of a main with long hair and a beard with a clever tag line.  This represents the independence and freedom idea that represents the Harley spirit.  The mirror representation of this idea appeals to the self-concept, releasing these powerful those powerful brain chemicals and thus creating a positive response to the Harley Davidson brand.  The thought of a Harley rumbling through the neighborhood exemplifies the freedom, announces independence, and boast the self-expression.  This is how Harley has become so successful in American.  Rationally, a human would experience the same pleasure from riding a Honda versus a Harley but we associate Harley with emotion. Its not a motorcycle, it’s a Harley, it’s an idea.