Harley-Davidson Essay

ASSIGNMENT 07 BM350 Marketing Management Directions: Unless otherwise stated, answer in complete sentences, and be sure to use correct English spelling and grammar. Sources must be cited in APA format. Your response should be a minimum of one (1) single-spaced page to a maximum of two (2) pages in length; refer to the "Assignment Format" page for specific format requirements. Case 11: harleydavidson.com and the Global Motorcycle Industry (pp. 354-358) This case discusses the success of Harley-Davidson and reviews its global position in 1998. It discusses the company's initiatives that continued a thirteen-year record of growth in revenues and earnings. The company had a phenomenal 74 percent increase in the value of the firm in 1998 alone. It offers market share and sales information for global competitors in three regions, North America, Europe, and Asia/Pacific, and briefly discusses the product offerings of competitors including BMW, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha. The case has been kept relatively short since the Web sites for Harley and its competitors contain abundant additional information. The major objective of the case is to get you to visit these Web sites, compare them, and evaluate them as strategic marketing tools Questions 1. Why is the Internet a particularly good promotion medium for Harley-Davidson? Discuss at least three (3) reasons. (55 points) 2. What different roles could Harley-Davidson's Web site play for Harley owners, for people shopping for a motorcycle, and for people just interested in motorcycles in general? (45 points) 3. THIS IS THE END OF ASSIGNMENT 07. Lesson 7: Case Analysis, Promotion Strategy For the remaining two lessons of this course, we will focus on case studies. In Lesson 7 our case deals primarily with promotion strategy. The name of the case is Harley-Davidson and the Global Motorcycle Industry. The Lecture discusses Internet-based promotion strategies. Learning Objectives Upon completion of Lesson 7, you should be able to: - Discuss a recommended case analysis framework that can be used for marketing case studies and problems. - Explain the key methods of financial analysis including break-even analysis, net present value analysis, and ratio analysis. - Describe the kinds of information that are typically found on corporate Web sites. - Compare and contrast the experiences of shopping online versus shopping at traditional retail outlets. - Explain the Internet's impact on the consumer decision-making process. - Discuss the variety of products and services available online. - Explain the importance of brand equity on the Internet. - Evaluate the use of the Internet as a marketing tool. What To Do Next Reading Assignments Click on the Reading Assignments link above to access your textbook reading assignments and lecture notes. Assessment After you have completed the reading assignments for this lesson and feel comfortable with the material presented, go to the Assignments tool on the left navigation panel underneath the QUICK LINKS section and complete Assignment 7_07. Congratulations! Once you have completed these items, and have received a passing score on the assessment, you are ready to move on to your ne Reading Assignments Below Text Readings Marketing Management: Knowledge and Skills, Case 11, pp. 354-358 Lecture Notes Internet-Based Promotion Strategy As we have learned, marketing strategy includes "advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and personal selling, and refers to the various methods of promoting the product, brand, or company” (Wikipedia). For now, let's focus on methods of promotion. There are several new and highly effective promotion strategies that have evolved along with the Internet. These strategies are the result of new technologies and the introduction of such things as blogs, RSS feeds, and podcasts. You may ask, what are all of these new technologies and how do they fit with promotion? A blog is a type of Web site where entries are made, such as in a journal or diary. Blogs are often topical, with commentary on everything from personal matters to politics and news events. “A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are primarily textual although many focus on photographs, videos, or audio” (Fleischner, 2007). Bloggers can be extremely influential, in part due to their ability to reach a broad audience with similar interests to their own. As such, marketers are joining forces with influential bloggers to get their message out. For example, in an effort to promote a new television show about the joys and challenges of motherhood, “Warner Bros. identified 12 blogs about motherhood … and invited the writers to spend the day on the set. The bloggers got free DVDs, watched a rehearsal, and made videos with … cast members to post on their sites” (Barnes, 2007). This effort resulted in mass exposure to the right audience. The bloggers were delighted by their experience and told all of their fellow bloggers about it. RSS feeds, also known as "Web feeds," are used for Internet syndication. Fleischner (2007) describes Web feeds this way: Web feeds provide Web content or summaries of Web content together with links to the full versions of the content and other metadata. When used to inform your prospects, customers, or stakeholders of valuable information, RSS feeds combine convenience with quality. Best of all, it lets the user be proactive and select the specific content he or she is looking for. Other uses of the Internet to deliver marketing messages include banner ads and other types of advertisement on the major search sites, such as Yahoo! and Google. These ads can, as with RSS feeds, link back to additional information. Let's look at one example of how the Internet can reach a desired audience this way: To attract Internet users to an educational Web site on colorectal cancer, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) posted advertisements on Yahoo! The six-week campaign included 12 advertisements in four formats … posted in locations throughout Yahoo!. Exposure to the advertisements was limited to health professionals and selected lay populations. Through a hyperlink … those who selected or "clicked" on an advertisement were transferred to the SFL Web site (Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign). (Cooper, Williams, Carey, Fowler, Frank, & Gelb, 2007). Another prominent Internet technology is known as podcasting. Fleischner (2007) describes podcasting as ... the method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio programs or music videos over the Internet for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. Those using podcasts successfully are providing audio feeds of “must-have” content for prospects and customers. Some of this content includes radio-type shows where industry experts respond to questions in a question-and-answer format. Such podcasts provide significant value to customers and give businesses the opportunity to serve as an ongoing resource for their industry. With a new technology-friendly generation, the use of Internet-based promotional strategies is the wave of the future. The brand message not only reaches a wider audience than many traditional methods, it reaches the audience nearly instantaneously, speaks to its individual needs, and allows the consumer to tailor his or her experience towards a continued, personal relationship with the promoter. Procter & Gamble's Online Branding Strategy Brand managers at Procter & Gamble Co., the maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers, are expected to devote much of their time to figuring out how to talk to consumers. Instead, they often spend nearly half of their time talking to each other. P&G thinks the Web can change that. (Nelson, 2001, p. B4) The Internet has, in fact, changed that! Five years ago the executives at P&G were concerned with how they would listen to, and ultimately reach, the end consumer. Today, the P&G Web site is a personal interactive experience for the consumer with outstanding results. From the warmth of the initial greeting where P&G enforces its mission statement -- Touching Lives, Improving Life, P&G -- to the "Ask Julia" column and other areas for gathering expert advice, P&G invites consumers in and then captivates them. As Wehling (1996) tells us, the Internet is the future of marketing: “More than 20 million people are on the Internet today, and that number is growing fast” (p. 171). To reach this immense population, Procter and Gamble has changed its online presence from basic informational pages to an interactive promotional experience. Chock full of information regarding every P&G product, the opening page of the company Web site provides the reader with relevant information about current trends in its market space, expert help, and solutions to everyday problems. P&G also promotes its socially responsible actions and gives the consumer contact information – right up front. One click away is a world of product knowledge, including the science behind the brand. If Ward & Lee (2000) are correct in their statement that “we conjecture that as the Internet population matures, brand reliance to assure product quality may give way to reliance on direct product information, more easily found because of the decreasing costs of search” (p. 13), P&G has the right idea! According to Kerry Olin, director of i-marketing at Procter and Gamble, We don't see traditional forms of advertising and marketing disappearing anytime soon. But as interactivity moves from the computer terminal to other vehicles, such as mobile phones, the number of messaging options a marketer has will continue to grow. This will put pressure on mass media to insure the value equation for the marketer is right. Moreover, very soon, digital technology will add interaction and targeting to traditional mass vehicles like television. This will open up new marketing model opportunities. (Bunish, MacArthur, & Neff, 2000, p. 75) These opportunities are apparent for a company that embraces the multifaceted options within Internet communication. The Internet is here to stay if for only this reason: traditional companies such as Procter & Gamble must embrace the Internet as a communication mechanism. But it is far more than for that reason we see P&G embracing the tool. Traditional marketing approaches are typically not interactive; they tend to be relatively static. Online the company can bring the consumer into its world in a myriad of ways. It can also provide an ever-changing environment of discovery that brings the consumer back again and again. Couple these with the online surveys which are invaluable to the company, and the company has a winning and cost-effective combination. According to Heun (2001): P&G spends roughly $150 million annually to conduct 6,000 surveys worldwide, half of them in the United States. It plans to increase its online market research because surveys are completed 75% faster over the Web -- and at half the cost of conventional methods, says Barb Lindsey, director for consumer research services and P&G's new technology group (p. 26). Despite the steep investment, P&G executives believe that conducting online surveys is cost-effective and expeditious. Heun (2001) also reports that the surveys are completed 75% faster on the Internet and at half the cost of more conventional methods. This, coupled with an increased response rate, makes the investment very worthwhile. Procter & Gamble will continue to experiment in cyberspace, and, as Kerry Olin told Advertising Age, “In many ways, the greatest opportunity lies in what we haven't thought of yet. We agree with the view that the Internet revolution is still in an early stage“ (Bunish et al, 2000, p. 75). From online surveys to detailed product information, expert advice, an online magazine, and even an opportunity to "meet the bears" – what will P&G think of next?