Harley-Davidson faced extinction in 1983 but has since built a strong brand. They analyzed differences from Japanese competitors, listened to customers who preferred Harley's strong character. Harley created H.O.G., a company-sponsored rider's club, to change the rough image from movies. They launched a clothing line in more styles and colors to broaden their audience. Harley also added toys to cultivate passion in younger customers and ensure future growth of the brand.

1. HARLEY-DAVIDSON CASE STUDY
“Let’s be the alternative and do the things others can’t do.”
What can we learn from them?

2. In 1983, Harley-Davidson faced extinction. Today,
this company holds world-recognition and
everyone wants to own one Harley-Davidson bike.
It has created its own culture and built its brand
value from scratch. But, how did they do this
when few years back they were facing stiff
competition from Japanese companies and there
brand value was going down?
They first did an analysis on how different were
they from the Japanese. They listed out their
strengths and weakness and compared the
Japanese bikes and themselves.
How did they do it?

3. Listen to what your customers want
The head of the design department, took to the
road and personally met with the customers and
asked for their opinion.
Customers voiced positive opinion for old Harley
models and negative opinion for slick Japanese
models.
Harley bikes were known for their strong character
which they continued to create, proudly!

4. Enter the H.O.G. Community
For the longest time, Harley had its own
community that had a negative connotation, but
they used it in their favor and created a company-
sponsored club for Harley riders- H.O.G. or Harley
Owners Group.
Thanks to many American movies, Harley riders
were seen as these rough, brazen men who are
out there just to cause trouble.
The company aimed to change this image by riding
for charity. It worked, image changed, and today
everyone wants to be a H.O.G. member.

5. Fashion Re-vamp
The company also realized that their fashion sense
of black leather jackets and black t-shirts had a
negative impact on the company.
Hence, they launched Harley-Davidson
Motorclothes, which offered shirts with collars,
denim blue jeans, baby clothes and bright-colored
fashion items for women.

6. Cater to your younger audience
The company even added Harley toys, that
became an excellent way to extend the passion for
Harleys to a younger customer-base.
This was also done keeping the future plans of the
company in mind. The current customer-base was
aging and the next logical step is to cater to the
future generation and give them the complete
‘Harley Experience’.

7. THANK YOU