Thorr Motorcycles is a $5 billion company producing a wide range of motorcycles. In addition to producing motorcycles, the company, also have licensing programs; sell T-shirts, shoes, toys for the motorcycle. The company offer services in dealer training, dealer software packages, motorcycle rental, and rider training (University of Phoenix, 2013). The sales of high quality of motorcycles are declining. The cost of a princely motorcycle was $200 in 1901. Today, a heavyweight powerful cruisers cost $25,000 (University of Phoenix, 2013). The company must develop a marketing strategy to improve sales for Thorr Motorcycles.
The situation The situation for Thorr Motorcycle company is their sales are declining on 1500cc power cruiser motorcycles (University of Phoenix, 2013). Consumers in the age group of 35 to 50 are aging and their interest is changing. The younger generation in the age group of 21 to 35 incomes is small, and they prefer to purchase the inexpensive motorcycle (University of Phoenix, 2013). In addition to the change of interest from the younger generation, Thorr Motorcycle company should be concerned with their competitors because the competitors are intruding on Cruiser Thorn’s market (University of Phoenix, 2013).
A decision on a marketing approach should be implemented to increase sales for Thorr Motorcycle. To gain the interest of the younger generation, Thorr Motorcycles should change the product instead of creating a new product line of motorcycles. A perceptual map is a visual presentation of what the customer thinks of the company brand (University of Phoenix, 2013). Brand focuses on the different attributes that is important to the customers, and comparing the brand position with different competitors. The perceptual map will allow the company to refine their product and gain the interest of the younger generation. Recommendation Solutions
First recommendation is the style of life image. Focusing on the image of life will help Thorr Motorcycles to emphasize the uniqueness design and style. The second recommendation is quality. Thorr company is well-known for producing high quality product; therefore, the company should focus on the style, design, and engine to maintain the company high-quality image. Third recommendation is price. Price is an important factor to capture the interest of potential consumers. For example, a motorcycle cost $60,000, the customer believes he or she is receiving a high-quality bike, whereas, a motorcycle cost $6,000 is consider lower quality.
Fourth recommendation is service. Offering a variety of services will gain customer loyalty. The final recommendation is altering the design of the Cruiser Thorr Motorcycle instead of presenting a new design of motorcycles. Results The result is switching the direction of Cruiser motorcycles and implements different strategies. Repositioning the product, the company should provide financing and services. These strategies will gain interest and satisfy the demand of new and current customers for Thorr Motorcycle Incorporated.
Maintaining company prices will help them to maintain the image of high-quality products. Thorr Motorcycles should advertise their product through dealers, distribution, and Internet. The Internet is an enormous source to advertise product because there are many people search the website for quality motorcycle products. Training should be offered to dealers on the services Thorr Motorcycles provides. This is an advantage for the company because the dealers have direct contact with customers, and it will increase sells on motorcycles.
The following were applied to the perceptions: lifestyle images were a nine, quality engineering was a nine, price was a seven, and services were a seven (University of Phoenix, 2013). Assigning the value of nine was appropriate because customer had high expectations or new the cruiser motorcycles were a symbol of high quality. Quality engineering was high because the customers consider the engine to be the best (University of Phoenix, 2013). Price was a negative, but the motorcycle was considered expensive. Services were assigned an appropriate number of seven because the company offered a wide range of services.
The perception, also recommended customization (University of Phoenix, 2013). Differentiating is the marketing mix to improve on meeting the needs of customers and the company building a competitive advantage (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2011). When companies advertise the distinctiveness of their product will over shadow their competitors. Positioning display how customers view new or existing products in the market (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2011).
The relationship between differentiating and position of products and services allow companies to show the differences of their roducts and services from their competitors and secure a position in the market to maintain the interest of customers’ needs. Switching the direction of the motorcycles in the simulation was a necessity because it increased their sales and gain interest from new customers. Even though there were minor changes to the Cruiser motorcycle, it was the financial services and services offered by the company are what increase the interest of the younger buyers. The financial service allowed the younger bike riders to finance high-quality motorcycles. Thorr company implemented different strategies to reposition the image of a high quality motorcycle.
The product of a life cycle is describing the phases of new merchandise from the opening phase to the closing phase (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2011). There are four phases in the product life cycle. The four phases includes market introduction, market expansion, market maturity, and sales decline (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2011). The effect of the product life cycle on Cruiser motorcycle was decreasing in sales. The reason sales decrease because the older age group interest declined, and the younger bike riders could not afford the expensive motorcycles.
The best strategy Thorr Company used was repositioning the CruiserThorr motorcycles to restore the interest of the young bike riders. In conclusion, the perceptual map help to restore the interest of young bike riders with CruiserThorr motorcycles. The use of the parameter determined the customer expectations and needs of high-quality motorcycles. Sales increased with the CruiserThorr because the perceptual map focused on the service, quality engineering, and price. Another consideration is how Thorr Company differentiates and repositions their product to restore the interest in high-quality motorcycles.
