Harley Davidson – community and brand

Harley Davidson is a brand known the world over for both its bikes and its fashions. But as Harley continues to penetrate into a more mainstream audience, questions have been raised over its status. We know that it has status but has it reached the stage where this mere trend has become a cult?

What is a cult? 

In this case, when we talk about a cult we speak of a brand that has thousands of loyal fans that would ‘probably’ do anything for their brand. Think Justin Bieber and Apple.

You will commonly find product releases mobbed by baying fans just waiting to get their hands on whatever happens to be coming out.

Another mark of a cult is where a brand becomes a community. If we take a look at any major sports team, we can see it happening here. Football and rugby clubs have legions of fans that form fan groups, and all wear the same clothing.

Finally, we have the obeying of an all-powerful leader. This is where we set aside some time each week to listen or obey a single figure or a group of figures.

So has Harley Davidson evolved into more than a simple type of bike?

Hordes of baying fans

To an extent, Harley Davidson has become this type of brand. New releases are typically splashed over every magazine cover and website you can find. This isn’t the brand’s doing. Websites and publications pick up these products of their own accord.

You will not see baying fans hanging around outside Harley Davidson’s shops because the brand has released a new t-shirt, but Harley Davidson fan clubs comprise literally millions of supporters.

Dale Gillespie from Jennings Harley Davidson in Leeds & Newcastle said, “It’s quite remarkable how many non-bikers are now wearing Harley Davidson apparel. Even people not riding bikes appreciate new releases from the brand. At Jennings we are soon to open our own dedicated accessories shop to help feed the growing demand for the biker look.”

Is Harley Davidson a community?

It became a community decades ago. Starting in the US, the formation of the Hells Angels quickly led to communities popping up all over the world. Known as chapters, these biker clubs have members who primarily wear Harley Davidson clothing and ride Harley Davidson bikes.

While the Harley Davidson community still exists in this form, the brand has evolved far beyond unwashed jeans and long hair. Fans of Harley Davidson are now gathering in internet chat rooms and friendship groups.

Harley Davidson is, literally, one of the biggest communities in the world.

And the leader?

This is the one area where we can comprehensively say Harley Davidson has not evolved into a full cult. It’s not like Crossfit, a type of fitness regimen, where people gather every week to listen to and obey someone for forty-five minutes.

What separates Harley Davidson is that the brand continues to espouse freedom. It’s about freedom of the road and freedom to dress however you please and ride whatever you want.

Has Harley reached cult status?

In some ways yes and in some ways no. Harley has reached a stage where it is known the world over, and it has millions of loyal followers. On the other hand, no cult allows its members to be free. Harley is all about freedom in every sense of the world.

The values promoted by Harley revolve around doing whatever it is you want to do. 

There is a danger that it will come to contradict those values simply because of its popularity with the mainstream. It just goes to show how quickly a brand can move away from its anti-establishment values through the virtue of releasing such high-quality products.

www.jenningsharley-davidson.com