How Harley Davidson Can Save Itself
11/12/08
For some, the Harley-Davidson brand still conjures dirty outlaws on the open road. Transform that tarnished image by releasing current data on the company's actual customer profile: Upper-middle class suburban white guys with a median age of 47.
The trademark growl of the V-twin engine -- said to resemble somebody saying "potato-potato" -- can be too raucous for more demure bikers. Modify the engine to produce a sound more similar to a British aristocrat's pronunciation of "potato-potato."
"Born to Be Wild" and "Highway to Hell" are played out as motorhead anthems. In the next advertising campaign, give "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" by McFadden and Whitehead a whirl.
From mugs to belt buckles to Christmas-tree ornaments, Harley merchandise has been spread much too thin to be profitable. Limit products to bikes, jackets and the all-important teddy bears in leather vests.
The late Evel Knievel's infamous, death-defying stunts, performed on his Harley-Davidson XR-750, are now a distant memory. Introduce a line of red-white-and-blue stunt bikes aimed at the lucrative daredevil market.
Product placement can be effective - but try to at least find a film better than Wild Hogs in which to feature your wares.
First off, we have to ask DOES Harley Davidson need to update its image? DOES Harley Davidson need to be saved?
Well, it depends on who you’re asking. Wall Street thinks so -- and the company’s last financial statements over the past year or so (starting with the collapses & other problems I’ve written about here, and here) seem to agree that the old Haley brand image is not cutting it anymore...
And to add on to Harley Davidson’s economic troubles, their most recent 3rd Quarter financial statement is even worse... Harley-Davidson's (HOG) third-quarter earnings dropped 37% to $166.5 million (earnings totaled $265 million in the same period last year).
And today, November 12th, Harley’s stock just posted a new 52-week low of $17.57 a share. To put that into perspective -- one year ago, Harley Davidson’s stock was worth $48.24 a share.
That means that if you had invested $1,000.00 in Harley stock a year ago, you would now have $364 (not including dividends -- which, luckily for Harley shareholders, the company still offers).
Anyway, doom and gloom aside, Harley has a lot of potential, as a company. But it may require some uncomfortable changes to get the company & the brand back into shape. Here’s a list of suggestions that I found here. Some of them are right on -- like the idiocy of making “HD” branded versions of everything... From Christmas ornaments, to socks, to pens and most any other tchotchkies you can imagine. If you can get HD versions of everything and anything, then that “HD” isn’t very special anymore, is it...? At that point, when you get stuff with the Harley branding, you don’t feel cool...you feel like a tool.
Here’s what Minyanville (a financial/market news publication) thinks Harley should do to save itself:
I’m a member of:
