The Failure of Harley Davidson Perfumes: Hot Road Catalogue - How Could They Have Done a Better Job?
Harley Davidson, the globally recognized brand, known for its manufacture of motor-cycles and heavy bikes, currently earns annual revenue of approximately $790 million. However, brands as successful and honorable do not possess the ability to control the market, and Harley Davidson served no such exception.
Brand Loyalty is a key feature for any organization; therefore, it should not be tested. The Harley Davidson perfume series: Hot Road, launched in 1996, paved the way to failure due to the company’s attempt to challenge their brand loyalty by producing their own line of perfumes and colognes, which reeked of the scent of tobacco.
One of the immediate backlashes faced by this product was by female riders who were shocked at the stereo typicality of the perfume, as Harley Davidson claimed the perfume to be a “masculine” product, proving to be utterly ironic, considering a wide percentage of bike-owners and riders classify as women.
While many Harley-Davidson customers support the brand, they were extremely hesitant to spend $25-$60 on a cologne with faint scents of wood and tobacco, which clearly did not tempt the consumers adequately. Most of their customers accused the brand of “disneyfying” their product portfolio who believed in their somewhat absurd mindset about more products being a correspondent of increased sales revenue. Today, the “Hot Road” colognes have made their way to the Museum of Failure, along with other such products.
What could the business have done for a successful launch and assurity of future sales? It’s Harley-Davidson after all; with the proper promotional techniques and advertising, this business might have been able to sell millions of pieces worldwide.
First and foremost, their advertising technique was solely targeted upon the male gender, whilst completely disregarding the female proportion of their consumers. Therefore, when re-launching the cologne, the company could classify their perfume line as a neutral product, suitable for all genders, which would tremendously improve their brand image and restore their reputation.
Moreover, all sorts of businesses require proper promotional activities to capture their audience’s attention and persuade them to purchase their product, regardless of the set prices. The first thing that appears in one’s mind upon hearing the brand name: Harley Davidson, is heavy bikes, sounds of engines, and all sorts of tough sports activities they could imagine. Hence, the extremity of variety in their product portfolio needs to be executed carefully. Therefore, the brand could have conducted effective Market Researching techniques by earning feedback from providing free samples of the cologne. Although this might have raised their costs to a certain extent, their future success would have been undeniable.
In addition to the prior statements made, one of the major problems with the product was the perfume itself. As the perfume consisted of faint scents of tobacco and wood, a combination of other chemicals and scented variations could have been mixed and tested. The scent of wood and tobacco in particular is devoid of popularity among the many perfume consumers, hence, more fresh and attractive scents would have lured customers into purchasing their product.
Failures as such are deemed as minor due to the name and quality of the brand itself, therefore, it would be safe to conclude that this company’s failure did not have a major impact, as their motorbikes and leather jackets seem to have captivated the respective markets they are operating in. Harley-Davidson can, thus, stand out to be the epitome of a brand that did not allow its failure to define its identity.