Focusing on these parameters takes the marketing of Thorr Motorcycles in a new direction to reach a greater customer base. Lifestyle image influences consumer buying power. Customers buy into what the company represents in the industry rather than the functionality of the product. Thorr Motorcycles’ image rates high, at 9.2, in the market research study. Service offering ensures consumer loyalty.
Marketing Simulation Tammy Harris MKT/421 March 26, 2014 Chris Hudson Marketing Simulations As a marketing manager for Cruiser Thorr who sells high end motorcycles and we see that business is expanding at a rapid pace. Indeed there is more structure needed to the marketing piece to sustain a successful business and seeing that the industry of motorcycles is increasing annually. We must admit that the organization has to work to satisfy the needs of their target consumers. The organization must also work to differentiate themselves from other similar organizations in order to remain vital. Key components in my opinion are the product uniqueness, safety, quality engineering and price.
Management feels that staffing changes and investing in new technology can increase production to 50,000 a year. Competitive pricing and maintaining high production standards is paramount to keeping ahead of the competition, particularly since 80% of bikes bicycles are outsourced. BB’s unwillingness to relocate leaves them at a disadvantage on keeping costs low (wages and overheads). However they outsource non-core elements of the manufacture and developing internal staff to carry out the skilled tasks i.e. machining and complex engineering locally which allows for consistency in quality.
“Harley-Davidson Wheels Into India” Summary Harley-Davidson has continued it’s global expanse and they’ve set their sights on India. Though they face challenges particularly with gaining market share from their competitor Royal Enfield who has established themselves well, covering the entire country with their dealerships and offering a lower price point than Harley-Davidson, with the right marketing approaches they have a huge opportunity to be successful before them in India. By focusing their efforts on marketing their ability to customize their motorcycles to be individual to each customer they are able to help minimize the impact of having a higher price point. Also, they should advertise the entire Harley-Davidson and HOG experience, from group ride events to rock concerts, you gain access to as a Harley-Davidson customer. By making sure to keep focused on these selling points for the Harley-Davidson brand, they are sure to become a success in India.
Susan Schreter’s second step is to target new customers from within groups. This tip can be useful for company A. It mentioned earlier that people now use iPod/iPhone headphones most of the time. Company A could join its peers to make these headphones. However, that market is high competitive and almost commodity-like.
First and foremost, Wawa had put significant emphasis on its ability to continue to change with the times and identify emerging trends in their industry. One of the company’s core values is actually “Embrace Change”. An example of Wawa embracing change is when they moved from relatively small stores with limited parking spaces, to increasingly large four acre lots with greater parking capacity and the ability to sell gas. Their chairman, Dick Wood, justified this strategy by stating that big stores mean flexibility, and since you don’t know what you’ll be doing ten years from now you will have much more options with a larger area compared to the previous smaller legacy stores. Although this isn’t exactly an example related to technology, Wawa wanted to stay true to
3. Sales Quotas A “tried and true” strategy for motivating dealerships to increase sales of a product is through sales quotas. By setting a sales quota for the dealers to meet each month, Company S will encourage the dealerships to increase sales. This method has the distinct advantage of not costing the Company and funds. However, the disadvantage of this strategy is through the
In this ad Triumph uses that reasoning by telling you about the specifics about the bike like, “67hp, precise handling, oceans of mid-range torque, dime-stop breaks.” Triumph knows that motorcycle enthusiast hone in on power, precision, and safety before buying their bikes. They also know that by giving you the facts and details about their product, and some negative ones about their competitors, that it will pull you in. Next we will talk about the ethos involved in this ad. Ethos is appeal based on the character and reputation of the company. As for the Triumph’s reputation, it is well earned.
Threat of New Entrants The cruiser market has important entrance barriers. First, entering it requires high investment (17 million euro), substantial costs (26 million euro) and high mechanical expertise. Those first barriers make it difficult and risky for small or starting organizations to enter. Then, the strength of Harley Davidson’s brand and heritage in cruiser segment built a high customer loyalty and a strong association between the brand and the cruiser bikes in customers’ mind. However, the market size of the segment, though decreasing, remains approximately one fifth of the global motorcycle market making it therefore attractive to new entrants.
The company is the only major American producer of motorcycles and operates globally, with sales mostly in North America, Europe, Asia/Pacific and Latin America. Although in the past the company has experienced growth and continued success, attributed to its brand loyalty, in 2009 Harley Davidson (H-D) had to shut down and consolidate factories due to the effects of the recession and the fall of the US housing market. Strategic options can only be developed after the company’s strategic position is known. Thus the first section of the report uses tools and concepts to determine H-D strategic position. In light of the company’s strategic position strategic options are then formulated; this is presented in section 2.