Why Brands Fail: Harley-Davidson and Buell

Harley-Davidson is an iconic brand in America. The brand represents something of the Wild West spirit - proud, independent, free-spirited. Harley-Davidson’s core products traditionally have been large motorcycles for touring on highways. In the past many buyers were younger consumers. However, in recent years, the core target has become older and is now middle-aged. Harley-Davidson was concerned that as the core market became older and moved into the silver generation, these consumers would stop purchasing Harley-Davidson motorcycles because of safety concerns. So, in order to introduce new, younger consumers to the Harley-Davidson brand, Harley-Davidson bought several motorcycle brands that were targeted at younger consumers and offered these brands as part of their brand portfolio. The largest of these new brands was Buell Motorcycles, in which Harley-Davidson invested in the late 1990s.

“Belief” Brands and “Experience” Brands: The Case of Coca-Cola’s Aquatherapy Minaqua and ILOHAS

A brand is a knowledge product. The brand is comprised of both beliefs (explicit knowledge) and experience (tacit knowledge). Among consumers, beliefs about a brand include topics such as quality, benefits, imagery, etc. Experience with a brand includes emotions, usage, sensations, etc. A goal of the brand marketing strategy is to identify the type of knowledge that is valuable to consumers and to plan a way to create that knowledge. In terms of capturing value in the market, some brands rely more on beliefs, and some brands rely more on brand experience.