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When Michael Priem visited Harley-Davidson 18 years ago to help the company in its digital strategy, the CEO of the motorcycle manufacturer asked him a question: do you know of another brand that has more tattooed people? Indeed, an investigation revealed in 2004 that Harley was the mark that more people wanted to tattoo on the skin, beating Walt Disney, Coca-Cola and Nike by a wide margin. "It's the passion that people experience for the Harley brand," said Priem, founder of a Minneapolis advertising company: "This is part of their personal identity."
The brand is also part of the national identity of many Americans. A Harley T-shirt represents this unique combination that the country has of freedom, patriotism and rebellion. This is undoubtedly the reason why the European Union has decided to impose rates on Harley motorcycles in retaliation. Being an "exporter of US assets" made it an excellent target, says Priem
The creator of Milwaukee is not a political recruit: Ronald Reagan set rates on rivals Harley's Japanese in 1983, and once the company came back to roar, he visited one of his factories to present his arguments against the trade wars.
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Politicians interested in connecting with their proud and noisy American motorcyclists have taken countless opportunities to take pictures with these amounts. When Senator John McCain spoke at a Harley-Davidson Motorcyclist meeting prior to the 2008 presidential election, he noted that Barack Obama, his rival, had attracted large crowds to Berlin. "I prefer the roar of the 150 Harleys," he said. "It's the sound of freedom."
The company is pushing the same message with its latest slogan: "All for freedom, freedom for all". When the design and development agency of the MBLM brand studied the emotions caused by brands, he noted that Harley conveyed not only a sense of American culture and nostalgia, but also an independent style proscribed, explains Mario Natarelli. 196519002] But MBLM also saw how the Harley brand fell in its rankings last year, which was due to the fact that young Americans do not feel the same affection for the company as their parents. "It's a mark of a time when the United States was something to celebrate," said Natarelli, but "I do not think it will gain much relevance over time."
American horsemen are aging and are powerfully men, which for the company represents a large demographic hill that must evolve. New motorcycle registrations are declining, as well as licensing revenues, as advertising spending has increased. Harley is now trying to broaden his appeal and invest so that more people are using his bikes, instead of just dressing his shirts.
European tariffs represent an unfavorable factor, and the company responded that it would move more production to its facilities in India. , Brazil and Thailand. Realizing this without harming his American image will not be an easy task.
That will not solve either the more widespread problem of Harley and other American flagship companies: polls like the Anholt-GfK Index of Country Brands and the Edelman Confidence Barometer show that the American brand " suffered some blows at the time of Trump. "
Harley's may not be the last classic American brand to brandish the flag as a patriotic symbol and pay dearly for US trade policy. implement his government.
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