How Harley-Davidson Went From a Struggling Company to Iconic Brand w/ Ken Schmidt

If all you’re known for is what you do, you’ve basically rendered yourself uncompetitive. -Ken Schmidt

 

For more aerospace industry news & commentary: https://goo.gl/3piJkw. To learn more about Craig Picken and the NorthStar Group, visit http://northstaresg.com/. 

 

In a competitive marketplace, nothing kills you faster than trying to brand yourself on your product or service. That’s a lesson Harley-Davidson learned the hard way. 

At one point, the company was being outpaced by Yamaha, Kawasaki and BMW…until they decided to position themselves differently. They went from a product-focused business to a thriving lifestyle brand, and that turned into one of the biggest turnaround stories in American history. 

If you focus on what you sell, you’ll render yourself uncompetitive. If you focus on what people believe and say about you, you’ll create a unique brand no one can copy. 

That’s how a historic company became an iconic brand. 

How can we apply Harley-Davidson’s strategy to our own personal and corporate brands? How do we focus on memorability instead of marketability? 

In this episode, I’m joined by speaker, consultant, former director of communications for Harley-Davidson and author of “Make Some Noise: The Unconventional Road to Dominance”, Ken Schmidt. We talk about the secret to strong branding, whatever industry you’re in. 

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• The lesson Harley Davidson learned the hard way
  In business, competing on what we do is the death knell of market domination. How do we shift to something that sets us apart? 

 

• A game of memorability
  Building a brand is easier said than done, what are 3 major steps we need to take to build a strong personal or corporate brand? 

 

• Stand out by delighting your customers
  So many businesses are commoditized these days and they miss huge opportunities to stand out and gain loyalty. How do we get customers to come back for more? 

 

Guest Bio

Ken Schmidt is a premium-fueled speaker, podcast host, author and consultant serving the world's highest- revving businesses (and those stuck in neutral). As the former director of communications for Harley-Davidson Motor Company, he played an active role in one of the most celebrated turnarounds in corporate history – and got paid to ride motorcycles. He is widely known and respected as one of the business world’s most outspoken, provocative, and entertaining thought leaders on competition, brand management, positioning, reputation management, human behavior, and loyalty, and has delivered more than one thousand keynote speeches to business and education groups around the globe. Ken’s book “Make Some Noise: The Unconventional Road to Dominance” teaches how to improve business and personal competitiveness and is shared from his, as always, extraordinarily unexpected point of view. To learn more, head to https://kenspeaks.com/ and buy the book here. 

 

About Your Host

Co-founder and Managing Partner for Northstar Group, Craig is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives for some of the most prominent companies in the aviation and aerospace industry. Clients include well-known aircraft OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing / financial organizations, and Maintenance / Repair / Overhaul (MRO) providers. 

Since 2009 Craig has personally concluded more than 150 executive searches in a variety of disciplines. As the only executive recruiter who has flown airplanes, sold airplanes, AND run a business, Craig is uniquely positioned to build deep, lasting relationships with both executives and the boards and stakeholders they serve. This allows him to use a detailed, disciplined process that does more than pair the ideal candidate with the perfect opportunity and hit the business goals of the companies he serves. 

 

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