Harley Fans, Harley Davidson Loyalists

Emotional connections are not exclusive to the world of music.

Some of the most profitable brands also create an extrasensory connection with consumers, evoking emotions just as powerful as those associated with music. Remember the loyal Coca Cola fans who rioted and filed lawsuits demanding a return to the original formula when the company made the executive decision to discontinue Classic Coke and replace it with New Coke? Beyond preferring the taste of Classic Coke, fans saw this as an attempt to eliminate an old and trusted friend (brand) that had for decades been a part of their lives. And what about Harley Davidson loyalists and weekend warriors who shed their corporate and professional titles on weekends to tour the country in leather clad packs? Harley fans have been so vocal and influential that foreign governments have changed their environmental laws to allow the importation of “hogs”.

When an emotional connection with a brand occurs across a large group of people, it becomes adopted by a culture, emblazoned in the minds and lifestyles of those consumers. That is what happened to rock and roll with the help of Elvis Presley. Though he made a real connection with Americans in his own right lasting into the twentyfirst Century, perhaps his greatest impact was being the conduit for the adoption of rock and roll by American culture.

Legendary rock and roll bands are often conduits to the changing culture of markets. Bob Dylan, for example, is considered by many to be the voice of the baby boomer generation. Elvis embodies the late 1950s and the end of an era of innocence; Bruce Springsteen represents the working people of America. These types of characterizations, from representing a generation or group of people to defining an era or time in history, are informal measures of the cultural adoption and long term success of a band, sometimes recognized on a more formal basis by induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.