Web Marketing: Harley Davidson vs. Indian
Web marketing is a medium that is constantly evolving to cater to the needs and desires of the public. With the rise of the internet and the rapid development of user interface, companies that wishes to make a dent in their industry use snazzy websites to attract consumers. This is not as easily done as said. Not only do they have to be navigable but they also have to be eye catching. With a site absent of attention grabbers, it doesn’t matter how helpful the information displayed is. There are a lot of factors that attribute to a company having a successful website; when critiquing these sites it is important to keep in mind that each component should be looked at in the eyes of the target market. In terms of a target audience, Harley Davidson and Indian motorcycle companies tailor sales to mid-aged men craving a little excitement in their generic “9 to 5” lives. With this in mind, the sites rely on accessibility and easy navigability, as most of the consumers probably have experience with webpages but not to the extent of most millennials.
Context
As a whole, Harley Davidson’s website looks more appealing to the consumer, with the black background, overall color scheme (black, white, orange) and classy minimalism of the site. The dark theme helps portray the adventurous look that Harley is trying to play off of. However, the margin by which they won the design aspect was small; Indian proved to be a strong competitor.
Evaluating two websites allows the benefit for an individual to understand the approach of it's intended audience. Therefore, we will analyze into how this has come to fruition. So, let us evaluate these to websites to help us grasp how they approach their audiences and what messages they specified to their customers.
Riordan Manufacturing has developed the website to ensure that its customers and employees are aware of the internal happenings of the company. Educating your company’s community is an excellent way to ensure job satisfaction and promote the feeling of security for your customers, but you should put more effort into this than simply writing out the information in memo format and posting it. A company’s community should be allotted the same considerations as a potential first time customer. This means the same rules apply for this portion of the website as the public portion of the website. The website should be designed to entice the target audience into reading the information. This can be done with the proper color schemes, visual aids, and effective navigation.
We believe that the firm must find ways to broaden the appeal of its brand without alienating its core customer base. Harley has grown in recent years in the international market , and revenues generated abroad have risen to 25% of total revenues in 2007 from 19% in 2004. Although the firm has recently introduced a performance motorcycle for the European market, I think that it may find it difficult to deliver customized products for overseas markets while supporting its brand franchise.
This paper will concentrate on two web sites. The fundamental difference between the two is how much one advertises, and how the other sets the viewer in the right direction. The better of the web sites, in my opinion, is the one
Knowing the demographics of the clients we wish to seek, behaviors, surfing practices, and attitudes are key for success. The navigational ability of the website, choice of languages, useful images, and ease of finding information are all necessary with
I think you mentioned very important features. Every website should have a design that projects the image of the brand. Also, contact information is a must, every website must provide a contact form easily accessible and visible.
However, Harley Davidson faced various difficulties when entering into international market such as life style, multicultural environment, expectations and requirement of customers, support from the market etc. Harley Owners Group (H.O.G) was created to update about the brand and mainly Harley Davidson members focus on to provide brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. More over movie industry helped potential Harley Davidson bikers to visualize themselves through “bad boy” image characterized in the movie (Mulder et al.,
Upon initial review of this evidence, it would appear that Harley Davidson has two distinct market segments, with differentiated needs. While there are clearly two segmented markets that need to be addressed, many of the needs of each segment can be handled with a single strategy. Finding the right bike, creating a culture for riders, and providing a means to get away are all important to the current prime market. It just so happens that these features are also important to the new target segment: young people. Fortunately, with some tweaking, current products can be made appealing to a totally new audience. There are three main areas of focus for this new brand management strategy. First, the barriers to entry and perceived barriers to entry must be lowered. Second, riders and potential riders must feel that they will have a place within the culture. Finally, riders must feel that they are being offered an opportunity to find their own experience.
rather customized styling and brand heritage. The disadvantage was that for this strategy to be
Mercedes Benz has ensured to use various types of media in order to reach its target audience. Mercedes Benz is known for having successful and popular online platforms where they post pictures, videos and information about their events. They use various e-marketing communications such as websites and social media. The use of these e-marketing communications enhances Mercedes Benz interactivity with its audience. In addition, it increases the awareness and growths of their events. In this section, we will analyze the various e-marketing communication tools that Mercedes Benz through The Fashion Week and The Evolution Tour. Moreover, we analyze the different types of e-marketing tools that Mercedes Benz will be using in order to promote the charity event, ‘Mercedes Benz Helps Nepal!’
The motorcycle market is broken out into the U.S. and International markets with a focus on males between 18 to 24 years-old and totaling and estimated 35.3 million people in 1980. As previously mentioned, 6% of the sales have been to women and this number appears to be increasing followed “by professionals and business people in their late 40s and 50s…which is older, more conservative, and often rides long distances with their spouses on luxury vehicles.” (pg 639) Internationally, the percentage of sales from exports has increased from 13.2% in 1983 to 30.9% in 1990, which shows significant potential for growth of market opportunities. The market demographics spans from 18 to 60+ years-old and both men and women in all climates that have
Harley-Davidson uses their Web site to successfully market to their niche. Even though Harley-Davidson customers come from diverse backgrounds including those who do not ride the brand lifestyle appeals to them (Cooney, 2005). Harley-Davidson customers belong to a specialized market, and the company uses informational content and targeted offerings that connect
So, through these first elements of explanation of Harley 's success, we can clearly see what Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson has primarily a focused differentiation strategy. It is important to the company that they focus on leisure riders and that their products are viewed as being unique from their competitors. Their scope is very narrow because they are only selling to riders that want the heavier more traditional type of motorcycle and they are unique because their competitors focus on other types of motorcycles. Harley-Davidson considers themselves as selling a lifestyle, rather than a form of transportation (Harley-Davidson, 2014). They support a variety of social groups and clubs in order to create that lifestyle. Also, by focusing on an unique product, they are able to attract employees and consumers that support that lifestyle and appeal to each other. This helps them build loyalty amongst employees and customers.
Defining the audience is among the most important steps in designing a website because this determines how the layout and the content should be constructed. However, the target audience can be composed of many different groups of consumers, investors, or other interested parties. The example provided uses potential car shoppers to illustrate how different groups can be constructed (Webmonkey Staff, 2010). Some consumers might be ready to purchase a vehicle now and will require different content than others who might be preparing for a possible purchase a few months for now. For example, people who are actively searching for a vehicle to purchase may be looking at cars for sale now at deal sites or through classifieds. While people who are preparing for a purchase down the road may be looking at research about different car models and are probably not as interested in cars for sale today.