How Did Ducati Become 2nd Most Profitable Motorcycle Maker in the World?

Being aware of our external environment and constantly striving to adaptation and customer satisfaction will allow Off The Chain Bikes to maximize our revenue, shareholder value, and brand popularity. These maximized components will allow us to stay at the top of the industry and create healthy longevity for our company and its employees.

Access-based positioning: Ducati widened the offering by introducing entry-level models coupled with new high-end models expanding their customer base. [p 34 What is Strategy?]

Allstate has taken a qualitative approach to developing marketing strategies aimed at the non-traditional market. Qualitative measures are targeted at finding out what customers think or feel about certain products or brand names. In past years to gain market share in the motorcycle industry, Allstate developed “Allstate Garage”. (Crepeau, 2008) This fun interactive website employed the qualitative approach of visualization to allow users to customize their own motorcycle by choosing different models, styles & accessories. Within the customization process, Allstate would indirectly emphasize perks about their insurance policy options. This visualization measure also provided apps for planning scenic rides and safety tips for motorcyclists.

Consumers are not limited to a single market, many of them will be purchasing multiple bikes, but all of them have specific preferences. Successful company will meet customer’s needs and maximize sales by growing the potential market size as well as taking sales from competitors.

According to me, the motorcycle industry is very attractive. The main reason to back my claim is the level of competition in the industry. There is a very high level of completion between all the companies present in this particular segment. The main factors that drive this rivalry are different positions of different players within the industry, differences in technical know-how, different marketing campaigns, differences in core nature of the products and differences in strategies. The players in this particular industry don’t fight over price of their products, they rather compete with each other in terms quality of their products and the nature of their services to different segments of customers. Each player had its own unique strategy and nature of the product for a particular segment of customers, this tends to intensify the competition amongst companies in the industry.

The three statics of Harley-Davidson’s is; revenue, growth rate, and number of units that are sold. The manufacturer of the United States heavyweight motorcycle division has obtained, arrested, and achieved approximately fifty-four percent of the broad United States motorcycle exchange. Harley-Davidson has fifty-two percent share of the broad motorcycle exchange in which IBISWorld INC. has estimated that it will generate six point nine billion dollars in revenue this year, (Forbes, (2014).

Historically, how did Harley‐Davidson manage to dominate the US market? How did it do so and what were its sources of competitive advantage?

Firstly, picking up Ducati as its target company is quite opportunistic. From the traditional investment style’s point of view, TPG is interested in those companies that had grown rapidly but still had the corporate structures of very small companies which caused great stress to the management of the business, and the assets of their target companies always being considered to be divided in order to improve the business riping for LBO. Besides, TPG is expecting to add complexity to the doing the deals and realize fiscal efficiency. Ducati is thus to be an ideal target from these

1. What is the nature of the opportunity? Could the Ducati brand be expanded beyond motorcycles? Why or why not?

Historically Harley-Davidson to be a Niche Marketer, which is they had focused in on one particular aspect of the market. Kotler and Keller identified the following characteristics of niche marketing; customers have a distinct set of needs, they are willing to pay more to the firm that best suits their needs, it is not likely to attract competitors, gains economies through specialized products and it has a size, profit and to grow. Almost all of these hold true for the “heavyweight” segment of motor cycles that Harley-Davidson produced.

This essay examines Harley-Davidson's use of the Internet as a strategic marketing tool. Unlike their competitors' websites, Harley takes advantage of every online opportunity to build relationships with customers, promote their brand, and market Harley offerings. The Internet in particular is an effective promotion medium for Harley because it extends their efforts to market the company's products and services.

The success of Harley Davidson (HD) is due to the American motorcycle icon’s effective Strategic Management. HD’s vision, mission, goals and objectives strive to exceed the requirements of its main stakeholders. Although these needs are not always met, the company has unique relationships with is stakeholders. The company stays on course with its strategic plan, despite the economy and the decline of American manufacturing and what might be considered its dwindling U.S. consumer base.

| * Only motorcycle company that dominated the World Superbike Championship in years preceding 2003 * Broad range of bikes (dual sport, sport touring, super sport) with leading edge technology * Its development in the U.S. in early 2000’s has supported Ducati steady growth

Before to Ducati’s acquisition by Texas Pacific Group, a deep financial crisis affected Ducati, undermining its production and consequently negatively affecting its market results. Production was less than production capacity and therefore it was clear that a relaunch of the company was necessary. The strategic plan carried out by Ducati Group, with the help of newly appointed Minoli, focused on the idea of increasing the company's value through a growth in turnover volume and protection of product profit margins. One of the most interesting aspects of the changes embraced by the Ducati, is the restructuring of the production system which began in the mid-1990s in order to maintain the product margin and increase the level of sales and turnover.

Conversely, German automaker, BMW, has been successful at capturing the hearts and minds of consumers through its “Ultimate Driving Machine” campaign which feature its vehicles driving through opulent scenery with a focus on posh and luxurious interiors, suggesting that their cars are the ultimate status of success and that working hard deserves to be rewarded with the best. Moreover, BMW’s commitment to post-purchase service and customer experience (BMW offers owners “Driver Training” where they can drive their cars around a closed track at ungodly speeds) has had significant returns, with the brand experiencing the highest rates of repurchase of any luxury car brand. Similarly, VW’s “Das Auto” and “Drivers Wanted” campaigns, were wildly successful at attracting