Does Harley Davidson have a brand problem?
This week on Crack It in an Hour, Jesse brings a problem that sounds simple but gets weird fast: how do we sell Harley Davidson to the next generation?
Harley has legendary brand equity and iconic semiotics of freedom and rebellion. But their average customer is over 50, sales have dropped 32% globally since 2021, and younger riders are choosing Triumph and adventure bikes instead.
So what went wrong? Is it the product, the price, or have we been thinking about Harley's identity all wrong?
The team wrestles with what freedom, rebellion, and adventure actually mean today. They debate modern "soft rebellion," aspiration, and whether Harley should just go back to being a motorcycle company. Somewhere around the 50-minute mark, they land on something interesting: what if Harley stopped trying to reframe everything and just owned the codes that made motorcycles matter in the first place?
You'll have to listen to find out where they land.