by | Monday, May 11, 2026 · 7:26 am

What Do You Do When Your Brand Needs a Comeback?

Every brand eventually faces a moment of reckoning and how it responds can define the next decade.

Harley-Davidson is in that moment right now. After global retail motorcycle sales dropped 12% in a single year, new CEO Artie Starrs didn’t quietly tweak a few ad placements. He launched a full brand reset called “RIDE” – a single, powerful word that functions as a platform, a feeling, and a strategic declaration all at once.

The centerpiece is a 60-second national broadcast and streaming spot set to Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again,” featuring real riders, open roads, and a diverse community of people who love motorcycles. Alongside the campaign, Harley returned to its iconic bar and shield logo, a heritage symbol dating to 1903, signaling that the brand is recommitting to what made it legendary in the first place.

This is textbook Integrated Marketing Communications, or IMC. The “RIDE” platform is a unified message that runs across video, visual identity, dealer support programs, and internal communications – all telling the same story, in the same voice, at the same time. That kind of consistency is what makes a brand reset land with both consumers and investors. Harley’s stock jumped 6.2% on the day of the announcement.

But the harder challenge still lies ahead. Harley’s typical customer is well into middle age, and the brand needs to attract younger riders without alienating its loyal base. “RIDE” sets the emotional stage. The growth strategy launching next will have to deliver the substance.

The takeaway? A brand platform doesn’t just sell products. It rebuilds trust, signals direction, and invites new audiences in all at once.

Discussion Questions and Activities

  1. Harley-Davidson chose to lead its brand reset with emotion – “fun and joy” – rather than product specs or pricing. Why might this be a strategically smart approach for a brand in decline? What risks does it carry?
  2. The “RIDE” campaign uses integrated marketing communications across broadcast, streaming, visual identity, and dealer programs including this YouTube video which has garnered almost a million views. Why is consistency across all channels important, and what could go wrong if the messaging were fragmented?
  3. Harley’s core customer base skews older, yet the brand wants to attract younger riders. How do you balance honoring heritage with appealing to a new audience — without losing either group?
  4. The stock rose 6.2% on the day of the campaign launch, before the actual growth strategy was even announced. What does this tell us about the role of brand perception in business performance?
  5. Watch and Analyze (Online Resource). Have students watch the official “RIDE” campaign video on Harley-Davidson’s YouTube channel, then outline a brief IMC audit identifying: the core message, the target audience, the emotional appeal being used, and at least two channels through which the message is delivered. Students should assess whether the campaign feels consistent and authentic.
  6. Brand Reset Comparison. Divide students into groups and assign each a brand that has undergone a public reset or relaunch in recent years (Old Spice, Abercrombie & Fitch, Dunkin’, Gap). Groups should identify what triggered the reset, what changed in messaging or visual identity, and whether the effort succeeded. Each group presents a two-minute summary comparing their brand’s approach to Harley’s “RIDE” strategy.
  7. Write the Brief. Ask students to imagine they are the marketing team at Harley-Davidson tasked with reaching riders aged 25–35. Using the “RIDE” platform as the foundation, each student writes a one-page creative brief for one new campaign execution — specifying the channel (social, experiential, print, etc.), the message, the tone, and how it connects back to the core “RIDE” platform without contradicting the heritage messaging already in market.

Sources: Kelly, Chris (10 April 2026), Harley-Davidson resets brand ahead of growth strategy rollout, Marketing Dive; Live coverage post (9 April 2026), Harley-Davidson Stock Jumps as Company Reveals Marketing Reset, Wall Street Journal; Harley-Davidson.com

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by | Monday, May 4, 2026 · 8:00 am

When Going Viral Breaks Your Brand and Is Gen Z Logging Off?

What happens when your brand accidentally becomes the hottest thing on the internet and you’re not ready for it?

That’s exactly what happened to Schylling, the maker of NeeDoh, a $5.99 squishy toy that went from sleeper hit to social media sensation almost overnight. Thanks to TikTok-driven “squishy hunting” trends among teens and tweens, Schylling burned through six months of inventory in just six weeks. Now knock-offs flood Amazon, and the brand’s CEO openly worries about the “curse of virality” – that explosive fame could actually destroy a decade of careful brand-building. This is a paradox every marketer needs to understand. Virality is not the same as brand strength.

Retailer Claire’s jumped on the NeeDoh wave by deploying influencers and even building in-store filming stations where Gen Alpha customers can create their own ASMR content by blending digital discovery with physical experience. That strategy reflects a larger shift happening right now. Brands like Pinterest, KitKat, and L.L. Bean are leaning into what marketers call the “IRL movement” by creating experiences that pull consumers away from screens and into memorable, physical moments.

Why? Because Gen Z and Gen Alpha are experiencing serious screen fatigue, and savvy brands are meeting them there. Phone-free events on Eventbrite jumped 567% globally in 2025. Pinterest even ran a phone-free activation at Coachella.

The lesson here is that the most effective marketing today doesn’t just chase clicks, it builds connection. Whether managing the chaos of an unexpected viral moment or designing an intentional offline experience, the brands winning right now understand that engagement has to be genuine, not just measurable.

Discussion Questions and Activities

  1. NeeDoh’s CEO chose not to raise prices or flood the market with extra supply during peak demand. From a marketing and brand management perspective, do you think this was the right decision? What are the long-term brand implications either way?
  2. Claire’s used influencers to drive foot traffic into physical stores with its ASMR shop. How does this strategy blend digital and in-person marketing and what risks does it carry if the trend fades?
  3. Brands like Pinterest and KitKat are encouraging consumers to disconnect from their phones. Is it authentic – and even smart – for a digital platform or a consumer goods brand to promote screen-free behavior? What makes this strategy credible or not?
  4. How should marketers measure success for IRL and experiential campaigns when traditional KPIs like likes, views, and clicks don’t apply?
  5. Viral products like fidget spinners and Labubu toys had very short life cycles. What marketing strategies could a brand use to extend longevity after a viral moment?
  6. Trend Autopsy (Online Research). Have students research a previously viral toy or product (fidget spinners, Tamagotchis, Beanie Babies, Labubu) and map its rise and fall using Google Trends. Students should identify the marketing decisions, or lack thereof, that contributed to the product’s decline and present recommendations for what the brand could have done differently. Start here:
  7. IRL Campaign Pitch. Divide students into small groups and assign each group a well-known brand (e.g., Spotify, Nike, Chipotle). Each group must design a 10-minute pitch for a phone-free or IRL experiential marketing activation for their brand, including target audience, location/format, and how they would measure success without standard social media metrics.
  8. Influencer Audit. Have students find three influencer posts related to a trending product – one that feels authentic, one that feels forced, and one that is ambiguous. Students present their findings to the class and discuss what signals authenticity in influencer marketing and why it matters for brand trust, using Claire’s and Pinterest examples as reference points.

Sources: Khan, Natasha (28 April 2026), It’s a Stress-Relief Toy That Became a Status Symbol – and Its Maker Can’t Keep Up, Wall Street Journal; Pasquarelli, Adrianne (1 May 2026), How brands can tap into growing IRL and digital disconnect demands from Gen Z and Gen Alpha, Ad Age.

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by | Monday, April 27, 2026 · 7:00 am

From Cold Calls to Content Strategy

What happens when buyers research faster than ever, AI drafts your emails, and your best sales conversations happen on social media before you even know the prospect’s name? Welcome to personal selling in 2026 where marketing and sales collide – but in a good way.

Today’s top-performing sales teams are borrowing heavily from marketing playbooks including social content calendars, omnichannel touchpoints, and data-driven storytelling. According to HubSpot, social platforms now spark higher-quality B2B leads than email, with nearly double the response rate. That means your future in sales may depend as much on your LinkedIn presence as your pitch deck.

AI is accelerating this shift. Tools from platforms like Salesforce and others now automate time-consuming tasks such as research, note-taking, and email drafting. But there is a twist. AI is reshaping human sellers, not replacing them. In fact, AI turns the salesperson into a higher-value relationship architect, not a script reader. If AI handles the busy work, your edge becomes what machines can’t replicate: rapport, trust, nuance, strategy.

Meanwhile, hybrid selling, that is mixing digital outreach with face-to-face connection demands that sellers think like marketers. You’re not just contacting leads, you’re earning visibility, providing ongoing value, and showing up in the exact moment buyers are ready. With many B2B buyers delaying contact with sales until late in the customer journey, your online footprint becomes your first impression long before you speak. The new sales strategy is about selling smarter by using AI and data to amplify human connection and build trust at scale.

Discussion Questions and Activities

  1. Look at the LinkedIn pages of top salespeople like Victoria Dugas of Oracle NetSuite. How does social selling change the way you think about personal branding as a future marketer or salesperson? What makes LinkedIn content effective (or not)?
  2. Where should humans add the most value in an AI-augmented sales process?
  3. What risks arise when organizations rely too heavily on AI-driven selling? How can sales and marketing teams better align their roles without stepping on each other’s responsibilities?
  4. Lead-Gen Scavenger Hunt. Visit a CRM tool’s resource hub (e.g., https://blog.hubspot.com/) and identify three marketing-style assets (blogs, case studies, pricing pages) that support a salesperson’s workflow. Explain how each could influence a buyer’s journey.
  5. AI vs. Human Exercise. Use an AI tool like Perplexity to draft a sales outreach message. Then rewrite it using human tone and insight. Poll the class to determine preference between the original AI result and your re-write.

Sources: Heaslip, Emily (17-December 2025), 7 Forward-Thinking Sales Strategies to Embrace in 2026, US Chamber of Commerce;Ferrazzi, Keith (5-April 2026), How AI Is Transforming B2B Sales Without Replacing Human Sellers, Inc.

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