Branding a Dream: Honda
Posted by James G. Pynn on June 15, 2009
“I knew that if I could succeed in the world market,” Soichiro Honda once said, “then automatically it would follow that we [would lead] in the Japanese market.” It was never the goal of Soichiro Honda to dominate the Japanese market. His goals were much broader. To be sure, the Japanese dominance of the automotive world not have been possible, certainly not to the degree that it currently enjoys, had it not been for Honda.
The Honda Motor Company was founded a year after the surrender of the Imperial Japanese government. In 1946, Soichiro Honda realized the need of the beleaguered Japanese people would lie in getting them mobile. To that end, Honda began as a company dedicated to produce inexpensive and reliable motorcycles. The first vehicle to roll off his assembly line was a 98 cc two-stroke motorcycle. Fittingly, this first two-wheeled vehicle was dubbed “The Dream.”
The dream was in peril. Honda had managed to overextend himself, purchasing an entire factory’s worth of new manufacturing equipment without a viable commodity to pay for the cost. When the utilitarian, but bland Juno Scooter flopped in worldwide markets, Honda was virtually weeks away from filing for bankruptcy. What saved the company was not an outside financier or foreign interventionist. It was a race.
The Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Race was (and still is) one of the most prestigious races in motorcycling. The odds of a Japanese bike, which had never won at the Isle of Man, winning — or even placing — were not favorable. Soichiro Honda, a renowned gambler, defied the odds by focusing on a notion that was still in its infancy: branding. Honda was less interested in actually winning than in introducing the Honda motorcycle to a new generation of riders. Impressed by the ruggedness of the motorcycles and the determination of the riders, including the renowned Japanese rider, Naomi Taniguchi, fans began to take notice.
The gamble had paid off, and in ways most people could not fathom. Rather than try to win the race, Soichiro Honda won the hearts and minds of some of motorcycling’s best riders and avid fans. The looming bankruptcy faded into history as sales picked up. This reputation would come to be invaluable as Honda began to steer itself towards the manufacturing and perfection of the automobile.
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