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Brand Promotion Strategies
Brand Promotion Strategies: A Study of Harley Davidson (HOG:NYSE)
A Special Report for Dynamic Market Alert
August 24 , 2006
by Andrew Snyder
Executive Editor, BreakAway Investor and Fear and Greed
Most folks would never call William Shakespeare a brilliant investor, but he was onto something. When Juliet asked the world, "What's in a name?" in Act II of Romeo and Juliet, she may not have been cursing the Montague name, but giving investors a subliminal message. One that could lead to big profits.
Recently President Bush was in my hometown of York, Pennsylvania, touring the local Harley-Davidson (HOG:NYSE) plant. The company has one of the most prominent names on the globe. The White House calls the company, which manufacturers bikes with names like Fat Boy and Night Train, "a great American company."
The morning papers are dotted with photos of the president, with dorky safety goggles and all, sitting on a "hog," fresh off the assembly line. Images of the leader of the Free World grinning ear to ear on a product, once associated with dangerous gangs and anarchy, kick-started my brain. As an investor, a brilliant marketing scheme gets me drooling.
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Brand Promotion Strategies: Selling a Lifestyle
When it comes to marketing its name, Harley is one of the best, if not the best. McDonalds and Coca-Cola are right up there, but I haven't seen many folks with the Golden Arches tattooed on their forearms.
The company's success started when its decision-makers decided to capitalize on the lifestyle of owning a Harley. Selling the biker lifestyle adds immense value to its products but costs the company absolutely nothing.
Harley fosters the biker lifestyle in various ways. It started the Harley Owners Group (HOG), which has a membership of nearly 700,000 bikers. It also makes sure every bike it sells comes with a subscription to Enthusiast magazine, a publication dedicated to fostering the biker lifestyle.Building the Brand Market Strategies
with Customers Advertising Harley's Products
Finally, it sells every accessory and piece of clothing it can put its brand on. Not only does this effort further embrace the Harley lifestyle, it also turns every biker and wannabe biker into a walking billboard.
Harley and its employees know the value of its apparel lineup. I was at the plant chatting with a senior engineer about the company's recently opened store in China. The company spent millions entering a market where it is not even allowed to sell a single bike because of engine-size restrictions.
The goal is to warm the market by first selling apparel. By the time it develops bikes it can sell in the country, China will be covered in Harley's trademark orange and black. And tattoo shops will be booming.
Because it has developed a brand far larger than its motorcycles , Harley can walk into Asia and sell its bikes without spending millions on advertising costs. It lets its consumers spend their money to advertise for the company.
Making Investors Rich with Solid Brand Marketing Strategies
Marketing like Harley's is what makes investors rich. It is why I am constantly looking for up-and-coming companies with a unique marketing angle. In today's world, strong fundamentals don't always cut it. Investors need an edge.
Unfortunately, there is no line on a balance sheet that measures the worth of a company's brand.
So at my service BreakAway Investor, I use a unique formula that helps to weigh the value of a company's branding and marketing efforts. By comparing market share statistics with industry valuations and size, I can get a strong grasp on the value of a brand. Never overlook the value of a brand.I will leave you with one statistic. Harley-Davidson went public in 1986. One hundred dollars invested in the company would now be worth over $16,000. The same amount of money invested in the S&P 500 would be worth less than $600.
That, my friend, is what's in a name. Shakespeare would be proud.If you enjoyed this report, join Andrew Snyder and his team at BreakAway Investor for their investigation into a new profit opportunity in energy. The opportunity could deliver 324% gains to you in the next 12 months. Learn how to profit here.
This report is brought to you by Dynamic Market Alert - the premier FREE investment service delivering just the news you need to profit when the market changes... long before the rest of the investing herd can act.
Copyright 2006, The Taipan Group, LLC and Dynamic Market Alert, 808 St. Paul St., Baltimore, MD 21201
All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced or placed on any electronic medium without written permission from the publisher.
Information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed.