We have tracked businesses with unprecedented brand loyalty since 2001. A Certified Cult Brand is a designation we hold for brands that fulfill specific market criteria, including upholding the Seven Rules of Cult Brands.
Quick Stats
IKEA was founded by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943.
There are 11,000 IKEA workers in America, and 120,000 around the world
IKEA’s designing process starts with determining the price
The IKEA Catalog is the world’s most distributed annual free publication — 191 million copies are printed in 56 editions and 27 languages
In 2009 660,100,000 people visited an IKEA store worldwide.
Globally, IKEA is the largest corporate donor to UNICEF.
As of October 2010, the chain has 313 stores in 38 countries
Profile Summary
People are camping outside. Traffic jams are so severe that highway exits must be shut down. Traffic lights are rendered useless requiring police to direct traffic. Is it a new Star Wars film? No, it’s the opening of a new Ikea store.
Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad to sell a random assortment of products that he could sell at a cheap price from his house, Ikea has grown into a multinational furniture store. Ikea’s rapid growth continues to be driven by a strong attention to what their customers want: contemporary products that are affordable and functional. This isn’t a concept that is integrated into an aspect of the business plan. It is the driving force behind all decisions. The products are simple in design but visually appealing; they are simple to build, eliminating the need to hire an installer. To sell a mug as cheap as possible, Ikea made it available in only two colors—blue and white—because the pigments were the cheapest. Rather than follow traditional outlets for furniture manufacturing, Ikea obsesses over finding the perfect fit between manufacturer, product, and price—when they needed bent wood arms for a chair, they turned to ski manufacturers.
This attention to cost conscious customers doesn’t stop at the products, but extends to other aspects of the customers’ lifestyles. Understanding that most New Yorkers don’t own cars as they are inefficient and not cost effective, when Ikea opened their Elizabeth, N.J. location right outside of New York, they offered free shuttle service between Port Authority and the store every half hour. For cost-conscious customers, such a trip would have otherwise been too expensive.
Knowing that functionality is a big part of their customers’ buying decisions, when Ikea was designing their Chicago store they didn’t only ask for customer input on what they wanted in an ideal store, they asked them to work alongside with designers in conceiving the final product. After it was finished, no one rated the experience as poor or fair, and 85% rated it as very good or excellent. Return visits increased dramatically.
Functionality differs between regions, and Ikea takes it into account when designing their products. They don’t just have people complete surveys to figure out what they want. They go into their homes and see the ways they live. Visiting people’s houses in Italy and the United States led to the understanding that Americans store more clothing in drawers. The result: deeper drawers for their American products.
This attention to incorporating what their customers want is not lost on the customers. In one forum message, a user identified as bcbaird commented, “I like the Ikea cabinets because the money you spend goes towards the things that count … and not the things that don’t.” And, the attention has paid off: from 1997 to 2005 Ikea doubled its market share and tripled its sales from $600 million to $1.7 billion to become the seventh largest furniture store in the United States.
Timeline
1926 – The founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad, is born in Småland, in the south of Sweden. He was raised on a farm called Elmtaryd, near the small village of Agunnaryd. Even as a young boy, Ingvar knew that he wanted to develop a business. He started by selling matches to neighbours from his bicycle. He found that he could buy matches in bulk very cheaply from Stockholm and sell them individually at a very low price but still make a good profit. From matches, he expanded to selling fish, Christmas tree decorations, seeds and later ball-point pens and pencils.
1943 – IKEA is founded by Ingvar Kamprad. In 1943, when Ingvar was 17, his father gave him a gift for succeeding in his studies. The gift was used to establish his own business. The name IKEA was formed from the founder’s initials (I.K.) plus the first letters of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, the farm and village where he grew up. IKEA originally sold pens, wallets, picture frames, table runners, watches, jewelery and nylon stockings—whatever Ingvar found a need for that he could fill with a product at a reduced price.
1945 – The first IKEA advertisements appear in local newspapers. When Ingvar Kamprad outgrew his ability to make individual sales calls, he began advertising in local newspapers and operating a makeshift mail order catalogue. He distributed his products via the county milk van, which delivered them to the nearby train station.
1947 – Furniture is introduced into the IKEA product range. The furniture was produced by local manufacturers in the forests close to Ingvar Kamprad’s home. The positive response was gratifying, and the line expanded.
1951 – The first IKEA furniture catalogue is published. The founder of IKEA saw the opportunity of becoming a furniture provider on a larger scale. He soon made the decision to discontinue all of the other products and focus directly on low-priced furniture, and the IKEA that we know today was born.
1953 – The furniture showroom is opened in Älmhult. The IKEA range focused to home furnishing products in the early 1950s. The opening of the showroom was an important moment in the development of the IKEA concept. For the first time customers could see and touch our furnishings before ordering. This came about as a solution to a problem. IKEA found itself in a price war with its main competitor. As both companies lowered prices, quality came at risk. By opening the showroom, IKEA could in three dimensions present its products with function, quality and low price. And people did just what IKEA had hoped: they wisely chose the products with the best value for the money.
1955 – IKEA begins designing its own furniture. There were several reasons for IKEA to start designing its own furniture. But what actually led to this—possibly our best move ever—was quite ironic. Pressure from our competitors caused suppliers to boycott IKEA. This reaction to our early success required us to begin designing our own furniture, and became the basis for future growth. Ultimately, this would lead to innovative design and improved function at lower prices. Then, by lucky inspiration, one early IKEA employee decided to remove a table’s legs so it would fit into a car, and to avoid transport damage. From that point on, we began to think in terms of design for flat packaging. Which led to even further reductions in price for our customers. A pattern had begun to establish itself at IKEA. Turning problems into opportunities.
1956 – IKEA begins testing flat packages. Designing products so that they can be packed flat and assembled by our customers greatly reduces their cost. This was obvious from the very first day we took the legs off a table and put it in a car. We can ship more items in one truck, less storage space is required, labour costs are reduced and transport damages are avoided. For the customer, this means lower priced products and easy transportation home. But all of this began carefully, one product at a time.
1958 – The first IKEA store is inaugurated in Älmhult. 6,700 square metres of home furnishings! At the time, it was the largest furniture display in Scandinavia.
1959 – Gillis Lundgren—the fourth employee at IKEA—designs TORE, possibly our biggest sales success ever. While visiting a kitchen manufacturer, he noticed the simple, practical storage ideas we use in our kitchens and had the inspiration to apply that same thinking throughout the home. As soon as he got back to Älmhult, he sat down and designed TORE.
The hundredth employee joins IKEA.
1963 – The first IKEA store in Norway opens outside Oslo. This was also our first store not located in Sweden.
Marian Grabinski, consul and architect, designs the MTP bookcase.
It was a contemporary classic, and spawned numerous imitators over the years. In building this and other wood products, IKEA forged good relations with Polish suppliers in the 50s and 60s. These relationships still provide the basis for many of our efforts to maintain prices at levels which the majority of people can afford.
1964 – ÖGLA chair is redesigned to fit the IKEA concept of form, function and price.
1965 – The IKEA store in Stockholm is opened. Thousands of people queued for the opening of our flagship store. The 45,800 square metre store has a circular design, inspired by New York’s Guggenheim Museum. The success created huge capacity problems in serving the customers. By opening the warehouse and letting people serve themselves, an important part of the IKEA concept was born.
1969 – The first IKEA store opens in Denmark. The arrival of particleboard makes its mark on IKEA during the 60s. This inexpensive, hard-wearing and easy to process material was a natural fit for IKEA. In 1969, the PRIVAT sofa was designed by architect Åke Fribryter. It had a particleboard base with a white lacquer finish, and brown floral cretonne covers by the textile artist Sven Fristedt. The straight lines, no-nonsense practicality and unbeatable low price were a tremendous success for the times.
1973 – The first store outside Scandinavia is opened outside Zurich, Switzerland.
Its success paved the way for a rapid expansion in Germany, which is the largest IKEA market today.
1974 – The first IKEA store opens in Munich, Germany. SKOPA chair is designed by Olle Gjerlöv-Knudsen and Torben Lind. Modern plastics give designers lots of new ways to construct good furnishings. But choosing the right production method becomes an important question in the design process. When it came to choosing a manufacturer for our SKOPA chair, the answer was wonderfully simple, even if it did cause a few raised eyebrows. After months of fruitless searching, we took another long look at the shape of the chair and hit upon the idea of asking a manufacturer of plastic bowls and buckets to lend us a hand. Neither form or function were compromised by this unorthodox solution. On the contrary, the final lines were even cleaner.
1975 – The first IKEA store in Australia opens.
1976 – The first IKEA store opens in Canada.
1977 – The first IKEA store in Austria opens.
1979 – The first IKEA store opens in the Netherlands.
1980 – The KLIPPAN sofa appears.The same year that the United Nations declared “The Year of the Child” , IKEA declared “The Year of the Children’s Living Room.” Our KLIPPAN sofa was tough enough to soak up the kind of punishment only children know how to dish out, yet soft enough to fall asleep on when bedtime stories grow too long. The entire cover was removable for machine washing.
1981 – The first IKEA store opens in France.
1982 – LACK shelves are born.
1983 – The six-thousandth employee joins IKEA.
1984 – The first IKEA store in Belgium is opened. The Stockholm range of furnishings appears. IKEA designed a series of high quality furnishings using some of our favourite materials—birch wood, leather and cretonne. Our STOCKHOLM range had everything you would expect of classic high quality, except the high price tag. STOCKHOLM was a winner of the Excellent Swedish Design award.
1985 – The first IKEA store opens in the USA. At first, we weren’t sure the USA needed IKEA. After all, what could we bring to the country that has everything? But we discovered there is a need everywhere for useful, attractive home furnishings at prices for every wallet.
1987 – The first IKEA store in the UK opens.
1989 – The first IKEA store opens in Italy.
1990 – The first IKEA stores in Hungary and Poland opens.
1991 – The first IKEA stores opens in Czech Republic and United Arab Emirates.
1993 – IKEA reaches 114 stores in 25 countries.
1994 – KUBIST storage units appear.This was one of the first IKEA products built with board-on-frame construction. We used a technique for door manufacturing to create inexpensive, sturdy and lightweight storage units. To make beautiful, functional and affordable products for the majority of people, IKEA designers try to carry out product development on the shop floor. Working with existing manufacturers of board-on-frame doors, IKEA saves money. In this case, old factories in Poland were retooled to make parts for KUBIST and other IKEA products.
1995 – DAGIS kids’ chair, by Richard Clack, is born. He obviously took a long, hard look at kids before he designed it. Children do not have sharp corners, they are fairly soft but can stand up to a little rough and tumble now and again. They are cheeky but cute and they just love the hurly-burly of childhood. In this spirit, he designed his chair for children. And then he added one little improvement. As far as we know, children do not yet come in stackable versions to save space and facilitate moving them. DAGIS, on the other hand, does.
1996 – The first IKEA store opens in Spain.
1997 – IKEA introduces Children’s IKEA. IKEA has always provided furnishings for the entire family. But since kids are the most important people in the world, IKEA decided to put them in the spotlight. We worked with two groups of experts to develop products. Child psychologists and professors in playing helped us develop things that are good for kids’ motor skills, social development and creativity. Then the other experts, kids, helped us choose the winners. Play areas, children’s room settings, baby areas, special meals in the restaurant and still more play areas make IKEA a place kids love to visit.
The first version of www.IKEA.com launches.
1998 – IKEA opens its first store in China.
1999 – IKEA numbers 53,000 co-workers across a global network of over 150 stores in 29 countries on four continents. IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad initiated the Big Thank You Event as a millennium reward to the many co-workers within the IKEA group. The total of all sales worldwide on this special day was given to the employees. The goal for the day was high, but the actual result was higher—approximately 187 million NLG. Every co-worker, from the snack bar staff and stock clerks to the president, got the same bonus. For most, this bonus was more than a month’s pay. It turned out to be a great way to thank the hard working IKEA co-workers for contributing to the success over the last millennium. And this is only the beginning.
We have tracked businesses with unprecedented brand loyalty since 2001. A Certified Cult Brand is a designation we hold for brands that fulfill specific market criteria, including upholding the Seven Rules of Cult Brands.
Quick Stats for Southwest Airlines
Founded March 16th 1967 by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher FORTUNE has ranked Southwest Airlines in the top five of the “Best Companies to Work For” in America.
Southwest ranked first in 1997 and 1998, second in 1999, and fourth in 2000. Southwest has chosen not to participate since 2000. Stock name LUV In 2005 and again in 2008 The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) recognized Southwest Airlines as leading the industry in customer satisfaction.
The ACSI, conducted by the University of Michigan, independently tracks customer satisfaction levels by measuring the household consumption experience. Among all industries in 2005, FORTUNE has listed Southwest Airlines as number three among America’s Top Ten most admired corporations.
In the wake of September 11th, airlines suffered a major setback. Even after a $15 dollar attempt by the government to save airlines, American, Delta, and United collectively lost $4 billion; the major airlines laid off 16% of their workforce. Southwest managed to make $151 million in profit, but with an entirely different approach: they didn’t lay off any employees and offered customers full refunds on their flights. Southwest’s maintenance of financial reserves to counter major setbacks allowed them to focus on what really matters: the employees and the customers.
The employees and the customers were both grateful: Southwest employees donated $1.3 million to help the airline and customers began sending in donations and sending back gift cards to help with the financial struggle.
Southwest’s company is built on the idea that loyalty begins with the employees. In fact, their ability to be profitable depends entirely on them. Flying short distance flights is, according to conventional wisdom, an unprofitable approach, as planes are forced to spend a greater portion of time on the ground than the air. Rather than cutting labor costs and buying cheap equipment, Southwest relies on their employees to create profit by putting more planes in the air through quick turnarounds.
Strong internal relationships ensure that proper information is passed between individuals when they need it. Employees are hired for their perfect fit into the Southwest culture as much as they are for any job-related qualifications. When something goes wrong, unlike most airlines, there’s no quest to blame an individual or department.
Instead, a much more positive work environment is created in which everyone works together to find out what went wrong and how it can be prevented in the future. Most airlines favor a method where one individual is in control of many flights via a computer system.
For Southwest, the focus remains on person-to-person interaction. Agents are assigned to only one flight at a time and directly interact with other people in the operation, rather than through a computer or telephone. Not only does this face-to-face interaction facilitate relationship building, but it also helps minimize time deficits produced by unforeseen circumstances that would otherwise result in untimely delays caused by lack of communication.
This strong focus and dependence on employee relations ensures that everyone who is working for Southwest really wants to work at Southwest. There’s no hierarchy between pilots and baggage handlers. Everyone is working together to best serve the customer and they’re happy to do it. Not only does their state of mind create a positive atmosphere for the customers, but their efficient, communication-focused approach has resulted in fewer lost bags, fewer delays, and, inevitably, fewer complaints.
Herb Kelleher, ex-CEO of Southwest, demonstrated the understanding that customer loyalty began with the employees, when he claimed profit to be a byproduct of customer service. This driving concept has led Southwest to 33 years of profitability without any layoffs, figures that seem impossible in the airline industry.
Southwest Airlines Timeline
Timeline provided by the Associated Press.
1971 – Southwest begins flying between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. The idea for the airline was hatched over drinks by San Antonio lawyer Herb Kelleher and one of his clients, Rollin King, who ran a small charter service in Texas.
1972 – Southwest was forced to sell one of its four planes to meet payroll. Employees made up for the lost jet by turning planes around and starting the next flight in 10 minutes. In a 2008 interview, Kelleher called this the airline’s most challenging time.
1973 – Southwest makes money, starting a string of 36 straight profitable years.
1978 – Herb Kelleher becomes interim CEO for several months, and gets the job full-time in 1981.
1979 – Southwest begins service in New Orleans. Until Congress deregulated the airline industry (in 1978), Southwest couldn’t fly beyond Texas.
1982 – Expands service to California.
1985 – Begins service at Chicago’s Midway Airport. Acquires a competitor, Muse Air.
1989 – Annual revenue passes $1 billion.
1993 – Expands to the East Coast with service at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Acquires Morris Air to expand into the Pacific Northwest.
1996 – Expands to Florida.
1999 – Begins service at Long Island MacArthur Airport but avoids more congested New York City airports.
2001 – Kelleher steps down as CEO, replaced by general counsel James Parker, but remains chairman. Kelleher’s former legal assistant, Colleen Barrett, is named president.
2002 – Begins phasing out plastic reusable boarding passes. New rules after the 2001 terror attacks required boarding passes with passenger’s name.
2004 – Gary Kelly replaces Parker, who became entangled in difficult labor negotiations with the flight attendants’ union.
2005 – Begins selling travel to Hawaii and other places aboard partner ATA Airlines.
2006 – Congress votes to repeal a law in 2014 that prevents Southwest from operating long flights from its home base at Dallas Love Field.
2008 – The Federal Aviation Administration proposes a $10.2 million civil penalty against Southwest for using planes that hadn’t been inspected for fuselage cracks. Several planes were later found to have cracks. After negotiations, the penalty is reduced to $7.5 million. At the annual shareholder meeting, Kelleher steps down as chairman.
2009 – Southwest launches service in Minneapolis and announces plans to expand to New York’s LaGuardia Airport, Boston’s Logan Airport, and Milwaukee.
We have tracked businesses with unprecedented brand loyalty since 2001. A Certified Cult Brand is a designation we hold for brands that fulfill specific market criteria, including upholding the Seven Rules of Cult Brands.
Quick Stats
Classic Mini Production: 1959-2000
MINI Production: 2001-Present
Designer of Original Mini: designed for BMC by Sir Alec Issigonis.
Designer of modern MINI: designed by Frank Stephenson and drew inspiration from the original Mini. The name of the new car’s brand, MINI, was all-capitalised to distinguish it from its predecessor.
MINI Cult Brand Summary
The Mini is a small car that was designed by Alec Issigonis for the British Motor Corporation (BMC). BMC and its successors built the original Mini from 1959 until 2000. The Mini became an icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers. The vehicle was produced in many limited edition designs and was easily customizable making it a fun car to make your own.
In 1994 BMW bought Mini and in 1995 began development of a new Mini. The new MINI was designed by Frank Stephenson and was first produced in 2001. The MINI captured the essence of the original Mini but updated a lot of technological and safety features the original Mini was not required to have.
Like the Volkswagen beetle, MINI embraced the Golden Rule of Courage and stood out as something different. In the heyday of the gas-guzzling SUVs, the roads were congested with Escalades, Navigators, and the almighty Hummer. With bigger is better sensibility, drivers could preen their feathers and strut their egos by way of their vehicles. Yet when all of the cars were getting bigger, MINI prided itself on being smaller, much smaller. When MINI wiggled its way onto the scene, it became the little engine that could.
It has been more than fuel efficiency that makes MINI a smart choice. Like other Cult Brands that follow the Golden Rule of Freedom, MINI celebrates each individual driver and encourages him or her to “you-ify your MINI.” MINI explains, “Everybody wants their car to say something different about them. Fortunately, the MINI can say anything.”
Like other Cult Brands, MINI loves surprising their customers at every turn. As a MINI owner, you might receive a cryptic package in the mail, complete with a purple filter sheet, a letter descrambler, a password key, and a note saying, “look forward to our hidden messages.” The following week, you’re reading the New Yorker magazine and you spot a MINI advertisement calling for a special code. Like a good detective, you grab your secret kit to decipher the covert message. But it really doesn’t matter what it says. What matters is that you’re like the lucky kid in the neighborhood holding the prized decoder ring from your winning box of Cracker Jacks.
This child-like, adventurous spirit prevails in the world of MINI. Remember how you could explore the world without constraints as a child? You couldn’t care less about what other people thought because you were too enthralled with each new and exciting discovery. MINI understands the nostalgia adults have for their younger years.
With a scrapbook of playful moments and creative collectibles, MINI defines the Golden Rule of Fun and sells lifestyles defined by freedom, good cheer, and camaraderie. As a Brand Lover or enthusiast, you might take part in MINI Takes the States Tour, traveling across country with a caravan of MINIs, stopping in different cities, attending special events, and mingling with other members of the MINI Family. However, staying true to the Golden Rule of Openness, the event organizers proclaim, “Everyone is invited, even if you don’t own a MINI.
For MINI owners, driving is not just a functional activity that makes going to work and running errands possible. It’s all about the experience. In their Book of Motoring, MINI explains, “The difference is in the mind of the operator. Just because you drive, doesn’t mean you motor. When you drive, you go from A to B. When you motor, you go from A to Z. It’s all about living. Nobody can tell you when you’re motoring. You just know.” Ultimately, for MINI drivers, “Mileage equals experience.”
Most of all, MINI proudly fosters a solid network of customer communities—the MINI Family, as it’s called—connected throughout the world. MINI explains, “Dating back to its birth in the UK, there’s a long-standing tradition of MINI owners acknowledging each other when they pass on the streets … So when you pass another MINI, don’t be shy. Give them a wave. It could be as subtle as raising an index finger off the steering wheel or as enthusiastic as two hands out the sunroof (although it would probably be best if these were passenger hands).” You’ll also hear MINI drivers acknowledging one another by flicking their headlights, and even giving high-fives out the window while passing each other by.
MINI Timeline
1906 – Alex Issigonis, designer of the original Mini is born in Smyrna, Turkey.
1923 – John Newton Cooper born. Friend of Issigonis and future owner of the Cooper Car Company
1955 – Alex Issigonis is asked by Leonard Lord to go to work in the British Motor Corporation (BMC) design headquarters as Chief Engineer.
1956 – Nasser closes the Suez Canal, the main route for oil to the West. “Bubble” cars are born in response to scarce fuel.
1957 – Leonard Lord, in reaction to the Bubble Cars, gives the OK for the Mini project, code named ADO 15, and early on referred to as the Austin Newmarket.
1958 – Leonard Lord takes a short drive in one of the Mini prototypes and gives the OK for the car, saying he wants it in production in 12 months.
March 1959 The Morris Mini Minor later to be known as the first one built (621 AOK) comes off the “pre”-production line.
May 1959 – Actual production starts.
August 1959 – Austin Seven and Morris Mini Minor in Basic and De-Luxe versions go on sale, August 26th. Basic, 500UKP. De-Luxe (the most popular), 537UKP. The Morris was available in Red, White, or Blue. The Austin in Red, Grey or Blue. The De-Luxe versions had such extras as carpets instead of rubber mats, passenger adjustable seat, opening rear side windows, bumper overriders, full width wheel trims and a heater!
September 1959 – First works Mini in an international event driven by Marcus Chambers. Viking Rally. YOP 663. 51st overall.
1960 – Van goes on sale. Longer by 9 5/8”. Wheelbase 4” longer. 6-gallon (UK) fuel tank under the rear floor. Longer rear suspension trumpets, spare wheel and battery behind the front seats under the leading edge of the load floor. Passenger seat and rear view mirror were extra cost options!
First international class win for a works Mini: Don Morley on the Geneva Rally, 618 AOG.
Countryman (Austin) and Traveller (Morris) Estate cars (with wood) go on sale.
1961 – Pickup goes on sale. Longer than the Van by about 5/8” and using the same “long” wheelbase.
Weight 34 pounds more than the saloon and 8 less than the Van.
Australian Mini production starts.
997 Cooper shows itself at a press release.
Super version goes on sale. The same body and exterior specifications as the soon-to-be-sold Mini Cooper; except, the grilles were unique to the model.
1962 – First outright international win for a works Mini: Pat Moss on the Tulip Rally in a 997 Cooper, 737 ABL.
First overall, Baden-Baden Rally, Pat Moss, 737 ABL.
De-Luxe and Super models dropped. Replaced by Super De-Luxe. Generally regarded as a step back from the Super model in trim level.
John Love wins the British Saloon Car Championship driving for the Cooper Car Company.
1963 – The Cooper S goes on sale in 1071cc form. Externally, there were very few clues to differentiate the new Cooper S from the Cooper.
Rob Slotemaker wins the 1300cc class in the European Championship driving for Downton Engineering.
1964 – Mini has one of their greatest racing year.
Hopkirk wins the Monte Carlo Rally in a 1071 Cooper S, 33 EJB.
Makinen wins the Tulip Rally in a 1275, AJB 66B.
John Fitzpatrick takes 1st in the 1300cc class in the British Saloon Car Championship driving for the Cooper Car Company.
The Austin/Morris Panel Van shows up in the sales literature. Start date unknown.
Hopkirk wins the Circuit of Ireland in CRX 89B.
Aaltonen wins the Geneva Rally in EBL 55C.
Aaltonen wins the Czech Rally in EJB 55C.
Aaltonen wins the Polish Rally in CRX 89B.
Makinen wins the 1000 Lakes Rally in AJB 33B.
Aaltonen wins the Munich-Vienna-Budapest Rally in CRX 89B.
Reclining seat option offered on Cooper and Cooper S.
Aaltonen wins the RAC Rally in DJB 93B.
Aaltonen wins the European Rally Championship.
John Rhodes wins the 1300cc class in the British Saloon Car Championship driving for the Cooper Car Company.
Warwick Banks takes 1st in the 1000cc class in the British Saloon Car Championship driving for the Cooper Car Company.
1965 – Makinen wins the Monte Carlo Rally in AJB 44B. Considered one of the greatest rally drives ever.
1966 – Fall wins the Circuit of Ireland in DJB 92B.
Aaltonen wins the Tulip Rally in GRX 310D.
Hopkirk wins the Austrian Alpine Rally in DJB 93B.
Fall wins the Scottish Rally in DJB 93B.
Aaltonen wins the Czech Rally in JBL 494D.
Fall wins the Polish Rally in GRX 309D in 970 S form. Makinen wins the 1000 Lakes Rally in JBL 493D.
Makinen wins the Munich-Vienna-Budapest Rally in HJB 656D.
1967 – Aaltonen wins the Monte Carlo Rally in LBL 6D.
Hopkirk wins the Circuit of Ireland in GRX 5D.
Hopkirk is 1st in Class in the Sebring 3 Hour Race in GRX 309D.
Hopkirk wins the Acropolis Rally in LRX 830E.
Fall wins the Geneva Rally in LRX 827E.
Makinen wins the 1000 Lakes Rally in GRX 195D. Fall, Vernaeve, and Hedges take 1st in class at the 84 Hour Marathon.
Hopkirk wins the Alpine Rally in LRX 827E.
John Rhodes wins the 1300cc class in the British Saloon Car Championship driving for the Cooper Car Company.
1968 – Although taking 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in class and winning the Manufacturers’ Team Prize, the Monte Carlo win streak is ended.
The Minis were 3rd, 4th, and 5th overall. ORX 7F, ORX 707F, ORX 777F.
Moke production in England stops. (Total English production: 14,518; Austin 5,422; Morris, 9,096)
John Rhodes wins the 1300cc class in the British Saloon Car Championship driving for the Cooper Car Company.
John Rhodes takes 1st in the 1300cc class in the European Championship driving for the Cooper Car Company.
Gordon Spice takes 1st in the 1000cc class in the British Saloon Car Championship driving for Arden.
John Handley takes 1st overall and 1st in the 1000cc class in the European Championship driving for British Vita.
1969 – Issigonis awarded Knighthood for services to automotive engineering.
British Leyland buys 51% of Authi.
Hopkirk takes 1st in class at the Tour de France in OBL 45F.
Mini Cooper discontinued. (Total 997 & 998 Cooper production: approx. 100,100. Total 998 Mk II Cooper production: Austin, 9,900; Morris, 21,800)
Alex Poole takes 1st overall and 1st in the 1000cc class in the British Saloon Car Championship driving for Arden.
1971 – Issigonis retires. Continues on as a consultant.
1972 – British Leyland buys the motor vehicle portion of Innocenti.
1976 – Mini 1000 special, Limited edition goes on sale. (Total production: approx. 3,000.) “Cosmetically enhanced” Mini 1000. Special paint and interior. Reclining seats.
1979 – 1100 Special limited edition goes on sale at 3,300UKP.
1983 – Mini Sprite limited edition starts at 3,334UKP. (Total production: approx. 2,500.) Special paint and stripes. Wheels and tires like the 1100 special. Different interior.
The South African Mini Panda goes on sale. Alpine White paint, Panda decal, white wheel covers, radio/tape combination, twin rear-mounted speakers, rear-mounted telescopic aerial, window air deflectors, twin spotlamps, synthetic sheepskin seat covers front and rear, leather gearknob and rubber floor mats front and rear.
1984 – 25th Anniversary limited edition starts at 3,865UKP. (Total production: approx. 5,000.) Silver with red accents inside and out. Lots of “25” decals. Leather steering wheel. Radio/cassette. Most notably: 12” wheels and 8.4” disc brakes, soon to become standard on all Minis.
1985 – Ritz limited edition starts 3,798UKP. (Total production: approx. 3,725.) Silver outside with Ritz decals. Accented with Nimbus Grey. Multicolored interior. In other words, a Mini City with some fancy paint and decals – a similar theme to many of the limited editions and specials.
1986 – Chelsea limited edition starts at 3,898UKP. (Total production: approx. 1,500.) A City E painted Targa Red with decals.
Piccadilly limited edition starts at 3,928UKP. (Total production: approx. 2,500.) A City E in Cashmere Gold. Dark velvet interior. Full width wheel trims in plastic.
1987 – Park Lane limited edition starts at 4,194UKP. (Total production: 4,000.) Black exterior with bigger decals.
Advantage limited edition starts 4,286UKP. (Total production: 4,675.) City E in Diamond White with tennis motif decals.
1988 – Red Hot and Jet Black limited editions start at 4,382UKP. (Total production: approx. 6,000.) Red or Black. Tinted windows. Decals.
Designer limited edition starts at 4,654UKP. (Total production: approx. 2,000.) Black or white. Tied in with designer Mary Quant with daisy motif and her signature on the seats.
October 1988 – Alex Issigonis dies at the age of 81.
1989 – Sky, Rose, Racing and Flame special editions start. (Total production: Sky/Rose, approx. 1,100; Racing/Flame, approx. 2,000.)
Mini 30 (30th Anniversary) special edition starts. (Total production: approx. 3,000.)
1990 – Flame Red and Racing Green special editions start. (Total Production with Checkmate, approx. 2,500.)
Checkmate special edition starts. (Total production with Flame and Racing, approx. 2,500.)
Studio 2 special edition starts. (Total production: approx. 2,000.)
RSP Rover Mini Cooper goes on sale. (Total production: approx 1,650 with 650 of them going to Japan.)
1992 – The Italian Job special edition goes on sale. (Total production: approx.1,750.)
1993 – Rover built Cabriolet goes on sale.
1994 – Rover Group is acquired by BMW
Mini Cooper Monte Carlo special edition goes on sale.
1995 – Designed for the new generation MINI begins between Rover group in the UK and BMW in Germany
1996 – Cabriolet discontinued.
No longer any technical differences between “Mini” and “Cooper”.
2000 Production ceased October 4. The car designated as the last one off of the production line is registered as X411JOP and goes to the Heritage Museum to share space with 621 AOK.
Total Original Mini production quoted as 5,387,862.
December 2000 – John Cooper dies.
2001 – The new MINI from BMW is produced
2003 – Featured in the 2003 remake of The Italian Job, the Mini Cooper/Cooper S won the North American Car of the Year award for 2003.
2005 – MINI convertibles go on Sale. Owners have to sign a contract stating they will drive with the top down 90% of the time.
2006 – MINI Takes the States rally begins in California, following the Monterey Historic Automobile Races and ends 3,123 miles across the country at the Lime Rock Vintage Festival in Connecticut.
2008 – MINI Takes the States rally is held in the summer. MINI drivers visit Miami, Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
MINI Clubman goes on sale. Its longer body gives drivers more cargo room while having the same unique MINI look.
2009 – A limited-edition of the John Cooper Works Hardtop is produced. It commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the Formula One World Championship title won by John Cooper (builder) and Jack Brabham (driver). The production vehicle is inspired by John Coopers son, Mike.
2010 – MINI Takes the State Rally takes place in Denver, CO. Over 50,000 MINI enthusiast attend the event.
We have tracked businesses with unprecedented brand loyalty since 2001. A Certified Cult Brand is a designation we hold for brands that fulfill specific market criteria, including upholding the Seven Rules of Cult Brands.
Quick Stats for WWE
WrestleMania III in 1987 attracted 93,173 fans to the Pontiac Silverdome, setting an indoor attendance record that still stands.
In 2010, WWE performed 327 live events, including 74 international events
WWE produces new television programming 52 weeks a year. The programming can be seen in more than 145 countries and heard in 30 languages.
WWE.com, attracts an average of 12.9 million monthly unique visitors worldwide.
WWE programming reaches 13 million viewers in the U.S. each week.
For his accomplishments in entertainment, television, and pay-per-view, McMahon, one of the longest running personalities on television, was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2008.
WWE has supported the U.S. military, bringing WWE Superstars to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002 to entertain the troops.
World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) Vince and Linda McMahon are both masters at challenging and shattering conventional wisdom. They prove that anyone can build a Cult Brand. Neither Vince nor Linda McMahon grew up with a silver spoon in their mouths. In fact, Vince McMahon started out his career selling Encyclopedia Britannica door-to-door before eventually joining his father’s small wrestling company in 1971.It was 1982 when they first decided to really roll the dice in the wrestling world. The two convinced Vince’s father and partners to sell them the family wrestling business. They agreed to make four quarterly payments of roughly $250,000 each. If Vince and Linda missed a payment, they would lose everything, and the business would revert back to the partners of Vince’s father.Their big gamble worked. Through relentless hustling, the McMahons were able to scrape together enough money to cover the four payments. Within a year, WWE was theirs. With the issue of ownership and control out of the way, the McMahons next set their eyes on another huge challenge: turning WWE into the first national wrestling brand. At the time, the idea of a national wrestling brand seemed high unlikely, not to mention highly risky.
Building a national brand meant that they had to be willing to break the unwritten rule that the twenty or so regional promoters who controlled U.S. wrestling wouldn’t compete with each other. They began by taking what little profits they had and paying local TV stations to regularly broadcast tapes of their company’s wrestling matches. The McMahons figured that wrestling fans nationwide who watched on television would eventually find themselves craving an exciting live WWE match in their own towns, instead of the tame offerings of the local promoter. They were right. WWE’s risky TV broadcast strategy ended up working incredibly well.
Four years after the McMahons started their videotape blitzkrieg, only a handful of regional wrestling operators remained in business, and these survivors were running scared. WWE’s promotions had not only won it thousands of new fans, but it also helped make the McMahons appear much larger and more powerful than they really were. Their risk taking redefined professional wrestling.
Despite the current size of WWE, the McMahons still understand the importance of listening to the choir. “You really have to be listening and providing them with what they want to see,” says Lind McMahon.
WWE’s live matches give the company a unique opportunity to see what its most loyal fans like or dislike about a show on any given night. Introduce a new wrestler or storyline twist the crowd doesn’t like, and chants of, “Booring! Booring!” will soon follow. By the same token, if WWE hits upon a great new gimmick or introduces a cool new wrestler, their always vocal fans will let them know about it. Scripts aren’t fully set until the day of the show, and WWE will sometimes even change a script in mid-show based upon a positive or negative reaction.
Today, WWE is the only international brand of any consequence in professional wrestling. Taking huge risks and always keeping the fans alive allowed Vince and Lind McMahon to build from scratch an entertainment empire that generates over $400 million in sales annually.
Timeline of WWE’s Rise as a Cult Brand
1953 Roderick McMahon and Raymond Mondt created the Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd and joined the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).
1954 Ray Fabiani, one of Mondt’s associates, brought in Vincent J. McMahon to replace his late father Roderick in promotions. McMahon and Mondt were a successful combination, and within a short time, they controlled approximately 70% of the NWA’s booking
1979 Capitol Wrestling grows, providing syndicated programming to 30 television stations.
1980 The son of Vincent J. McMahon, Vincent K. McMahon, founded Titan Sports, Inc.
1982 Titan Sports purchases Capitol Wrestling, the company founded by Vince McMahon’s father. Wrestling is still regarded as a regional enterprise, but with the purchase of Capitol, Titan has the opportunity to give the company that would become World Wrestling Entertainment much greater geographic coverage and position as entertainment, not sport.
1984 Launch of World Wrestling Federation Victory magazine.
1985 McMahon leverages the new technologies of pay- per-view and closed-circuit TV for the first WrestleMania from Madison Square Garden. The main event is a tag-team match between Hulk Hogan, Mr. T and Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff and Cowboy Bob Orton.
1987 The heavily marketed WrestleMania III attracts 93,173 fans to the Pontiac Silverdome outside Detroit.
1997 WorldWrestlingFederation.com launches in June, later renamed WWE.com.
1999 World Wrestling Federation debuts as a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
2002 World Wrestling Federation officially becomes World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. Later that year, more than 1 million viewers purchase WrestleMania X-6 on pay-per-view, making it the most watched non-boxing event in pay-per-view history at the time.
2002 WWE Films is established and later renamed WWE Studios in July.
2006 Nearly 6 million households purchase WWE pay-per-view events, placing WWE among the largest pay-per-view event programming providers in the world.
2006 Extending into broadband, WWE launches WWE Mobile.
2007 WWE opens an office in Shanghai.
2008 Targeting fans ages 6-14, WWE launches WWE Kids magazine and the accompanying website, wwekids.com. Also, USA Network’s “Monday Night Raw” celebrates its 800th episode.
2009 WWE celebrates the 25th anniversary of Wrestle-Mania at Reliant Stadium in Houston.
We have tracked businesses with unprecedented brand loyalty since 2001. A Certified Cult Brand is a designation we hold for brands that fulfill specific market criteria, including upholding the Seven Rules of Cult Brands.
Jimmy Buffett’s Cult Brand Summary
When an unknown Jimmy Buffett moved to Nashville in 1969 to take his shot at making it in the music business, success didn’t quickly follow. After twenty rejections from record labels and two years of writing for Billboard magazine, Buffett finally found a home for his music with Barnaby Records. His first album was hardly a hit, selling only 374 copies. This flop would have detered most musicians, but Buffett moved ahead and landed another record deal with ABC/Dunhill in 1973.
Buffett churned out songs over the next few years, but his unique blend of lively country and folk music with a Caribbean sound left his record company and the entire music industry confused about how to market him. Buffett’s musical sound was in a category of one, and he fought hard to keep it that way.
It wasn’t until 1977 and the release of “Margaritaville” that he enjoyed his first, and only, Top Ten hit. But the wait was worth it: almost twenty-five years later, anything even remotely sounding like “Margaritaville” is still referred to as “Jimmy Buffett music.” Buffett owns his category of music in the minds of millions. Whether or not you like Buffett’s music, it’s hard not to break into a big smile and have a heck of a good time at a Buffett concert. Where else in the world can you see thousands of happy people celebrating in a parking lot dressed in Hawaiian shirts, grass skirts, and shark-fin hats, drinking frozen margaritas and eating cheeseburgers?
Most musicians focus their attention on making and selling albums and videos, but Buffett aims higher, selling his fan the opportunity for a temporary escape into the land of fun. This lifestyle is what Parrot Heads around the world are really buying. They are purchasing the opportunity to fulfill their passions with like-minded individuals through various activities, be it a road trip to a Buffett concert, meeting with local Parrot Heads for drinks at happy hour, or volunteering with other Parrot Heads to help a nonprofit organization.
The largest Parrot Head organization is the multi-national Parrot Heads in Paradise, Inc. It started as a small club in Atlanta, initiated by Scott Nickerson and sanctioned by Buffett’s Margaritaville team. Although the first meeting attracted only fourteen people, Margaritaville showed its willingness to build customer communities and started to promote the idea to all its fans in mailings.
Soon after reading about the clubs, Buffett fans around the country began contacting the Margaritaville store asking how they could start clubs in their local areas. Next thing Nickerson knew, he was sending out mini-business plans for starting Parrot Head clubs to dozens of fans. The Parrot Head Nation was born.
Parrot Heads in Paradise has thousands of members around the world. Each year they hold a convention in Key West and every year Buffett sends a playful videotaped welcome that thousands of fans see at the opening of the convention. The video greeting is a unique opportunity for Buffett to reward his most devoted fans and tell them that he is thinking of them. At the seventh annual convention in 1998, Buffett took the idea of preaching to the choir to the next level. Although members of Buffett’s band had always attended, Buffett himself had never made an appearance. That’s why Parrott Head fans were pleasantly shocked when Buffett appeared out of nowhere that year and started jamming with all his fans. Spending only a few hours of his time, Buffett created good will with thousands of his best customers that will probably last forever.
Today, Jimmy Buffett earns $100 million each year with his tours, restaurant sales, and albums. The key to his success? Creating and embracing a lifestyle a legion of loyal fans love.
Jimmy Buffett Timeline
Dec. 25, 1946 — Born James William Buffett
1969 — Signs with Barnaby Records
1970 — Releases his first album: Down to Earth
1971 — Goes to Key West
1973 — Releases A White Sport Coat & A Pink Crustacean; the beginning of the Coral Reefer Band
1974 — First top 40 single with Come Monday reacheaing #30 on the Billboard Pop Chart
1975 — First tour with the Coral Reefer Band
1977 — Releases his first platinum album: Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes; contains his only top 10 single: Margaritaville
1985 — First use of the term Parrothead
1987 — First Margaritaville restaurant opens in Key West
1992 — Starts own record label
1993 — Moves to Palm Beach
1998 — Releases biography , A Pirate Looks at Fifty; sixth person to have NY Times #1 bestsellers on both fiction and nonfiction lists
2000 — Releases Margaritaville tequilla
2002 — First Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant opens
2003 — Receives first Grammy nomination for It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere
2004 — License to Chill debuts at #1 on albums chart; Buffet’s first #1 album
2006 — Gets into Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
We have tracked businesses with unprecedented brand loyalty since 2001. A Certified Cult Brand is a designation we hold for brands that fulfill specific market criteria, including upholding the Seven Rules of Cult Brands.
Star Trek Quick Stats
Created in 1964 by Gene Roddenberry
Star Trek focused on a deeper, more intellectual bent, using many of its stories as futuristic parables for modern-day issues (such as racism and war). It was also unique for having an ethnically diverse cast that included black, Japanese, Russian and Vulcan crewmembers
A historical first was the first interracial TV kiss (between Kirk and Uhura) that aired on Star Trek.
Deluged by letters from fans, NASA names the first space shuttle “Enterprise”.
The Next Generation character Lieutenant Geordi La Forge, played by LeVar Burton, was named after a Trekkie. George La Forge was a devoted attendee of numerous Trek conventions who had muscular dystrophy. He had allegedly built a friendship with Gene Roddenberry over the years, and as a salute of sorts, Roddenberry named a character after him.
When Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry died, some of his ashes were brought up on the space shuttle and launched into space as a tribute.
Star Trek Cult Brand Summary
Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry couldn’t have been further away from fitting the mold of the typical Hollywood director. He wasn’t born into a Hollywood family, and he didn’t have any connections in the film industry. He was just an ordinary guy with a dream to make it big in Hollywood.
After moving to Los Angeles to pursue writing full time, the first job Roddenberry nabbed was in the public relations department of the Los Angeles Police Department. Building on his job, he worked his way into becoming a consultant for police TV shows, but he hadn’t hit the big time with his own show. In 1960, he began pitching the idea of Star Trek to the major studios. As wacky as it sounds today, it took Roddenberry six years of hustling and pitching before NBC finally bit on Star Trek. Even then, Roddenberry’s real challenges were only beginning. The original Star Trek pulled only mediocre ratings and lasted only three short seasons before NBC cancelled it in 1969.
In fact, the show barely made it into a third season. In 1967, when the cancellation after a second season seemed highly likely, word quickly spread among sci-fi fans that Star Trek was being cancelled. That’s when the husband and wife team of Bjo and John Trimble entered the picture. The two buffs quickly reacted to the news by developing a “Save Star Trek” letter-writing campaign. Gene Roddenberry got down in the trenches with the Trimbles and helped drum up support. The result of their tireless efforts was that NBC received a barrage of letters from fans begging the network to bring the show back. NBC agreed and Trekkers got to see a third season of their beloved series.
Despite cancellation after the third season, Roddenberry refused to shelve his dreams, and hit the sci-fi lecture circuit hard, evangelizing to all who would listen about Star Trek, which by then was starting to run in TV syndication–a run that would have been nearly impossible if not for the third season produced by the letter-writing campaign. At the same time, he constantly pitched studios on doing a Star Trek motion picture. Amazingly, Roddenberry kept up his pace for an entire decade until 1979 when, after seeing the surprise success of a little movie called Star Wars, Paramount Studios finally gave him the green light to direct Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Not only was this first film a big hit monetarily, but it also validated Roddenberry’s original vision, ensuring that Star Trek would be around for many years to come.
While Paramount has been criticized in recent times for not giving enough back to its fans, the reality is that the movie studio helped stimulate the creation of customer communities as long ago as the release of the original film. The year was 1979 when a rabid eighteen-year-old Star Trek fan Dan Madsen began publishing and distributing a small photocopied newsletter for fellow Trekkers. Although Paramount initially approached him and accused him of copyright violations, soon thereafter, Paramount executives looked more closely at the content of Madsen’s newsletters and saw he was really doing them a favor and quickly brought him on board. It allowed Paramount to inexpensively keep interest in its fans around the world and get the benefit of the club’s evangelizing without having to roll up its sleeves and start preaching on its own.
Nine motion pictures, five television series, dozens of books, and endless amounts of merchandise later, Star Trek has grossed hundreds of millions of dollars for Paramount. None of this would ever have come to fruition if it had not been for Roddenberry pleading for support from his fans, and the Trek nation’s wholehearted response. When Roddenberry passed away in 1991, he died knowing that his crazy idea had evolved into an important and lasting mainstay of American pop culture.
1964 – Gene Roddenberry begins work on a utopian science fiction show that he summarizes as “Wagon Train to the stars”. A pilot for this new show called “Star Trek” was ordered by NBC and filmed. The episode was called “The Cage”, and starred Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike of the U.S.S. Enterprise, a starship sent out to explore “strange new worlds”. NBC rejected the pilot as being too cerebral. Only the ship and the character of Spock would actually return for the show; however this pilot was turned into a two-part episode of Star Trek later down the road.
1966 – “Space…The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before!”
A second pilot is made, which NBC approves of and the show is a Go for launch. Star Trek(abbreviated as TOS for “The Original Series”) airs for the first time on September 8. William Shatner stars as Captain Kirk, joined by Leonard Nimoy (Spock), DeForest Kelley (McCoy), James Doohan (Scotty), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), George Takei (Sulu) and Walter Keonig (Checkov). While it had action, Star Trek focused on a deeper, more intellectual bent, using many of its stories as futuristic parables for modern-day issues (such as racism and war). It was also unique for having an ethnically diverse cast that included black, Japanese, Russian and Vulcan crewmembers (separate people – not combined into one strange hybrid). Due to poor timeslot and an audience that wasn’t perhaps ready for this different type of science fiction show, Star Trek flounders in the ratings.
1968 – As second season ratings plummet, NBC mulls pulling the plug. However, the small but growing Star Trek fan base starts a letter writing campaign that floods the offices of NBC and convinces them to renew Trek for a third season. This made for television history, of a sort, and would be a reoccurring tactic for Star Trek fans in shows to come.
Another historical first was the first interracial TV kiss (between Kirk and Uhura) that aired this year.
1969 – The last year of the Flower Child era saw Star Trek’s cancellation after a truncated three seasons and 79 episodes. A second letter writing campaign did not change NBC’s mind. However, in the early 1970’s, Star Trek would be broadcast in syndication. This concept, while standard for us now, was a new idea back then, and repeats of the show fertilized and grew an enormous fan base of Star Trek fans – who called themselves “Trekkies”. The networks start to rethink their decision.
1973 – Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS) is created and airs as a 30-minute cartoon on NBC. This show, which still fluctuates between “official” and “unofficial” Star Trek canon (Paramount considers it non-canon, even though things from TAS are referenced numerous times in the other series), continued the show from where it left off, with the Enterprise in the fourth of its five-year mission. James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols and Majel Barrett returned to supply most of the voices for the show, which won an Emmy in ’73.
1974 – Barely into its second season, Star Trek: The Animated Series is cancelled with 22 episodes under its belt.
1976 – Deluged by letters from fans, NASA names the first space shuttle “Enterprise”.
1979 – With the enormous cult fan base clamoring for more Trek, Paramount (the keepers of the Star Trek leash) knew they had a potential for success on their hands, but debated what to do next. Much ado was given to a second TOS show called Star Trek: Phase Two, which would continue the adventures of Kirk and Enterprise with a few new crew members. Production actually began on the show and 12 episodes were written before the order was given to instead transform it into a movie. Thus, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was rushed at great expense (and somewhat unfinished) into theaters to a decent box office gross but an underwhelming reaction by both critics and fans to the movie itself (particularly in the wake of the enormously popular and faster-tempo Star Wars).
1982 – Teased with the prospect of what money a really good Star Trek movie could bring in, Paramount shifted direction and authorized a second ST film to do things right. Nicholas Meyer, who would prove to be a major asset to the film series, was brought in to direct; an old villain from TOS (Khan) was revived as Kirk’s foe; and the movie would feature a lot more action and adventure than The Motion Picture. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan exploded into theaters and became one of the most beloved and successful Star Trek movies of all time (the debate goes on between fans about which is better: 2, 4 or 6?). Star Trek II updated the look of the ship and uniforms to a new era which would serve the next five movies, and had a stunning conclusion with the death of Spock.
1984 – The second film in a Star Trek movie arc, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock isn’t well-received but isn’t universally hated, either. Leonard Nimoy said he’d only come back as Spock if they gave him directorial reigns, which they did. Star Trek III witnessed the destruction of the NCC-1701 Enterprise.
1986 – Leonard Nimoy returns to direct Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, which turns out to be the biggest success of the series with mainstream audiences. While some Trekkies complain about the modern-day setting and more family-appealing tactics, this film has a great effect on the franchise, mainly in prepping everyone to see the new television series on the horizon.
1987 – With the success of the feature films prompting Paramount into finally reviving Star Trek as a television series, the decision was made to create a show set some time after TOS and with a completely new cast. News of this show, labeled Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), would deeply divide Trekkies – some welcomed a new show, at last, and some considered it to be a blight on the original crew.
In any case, 21 years to the month after TOS first aired, The Next Generation debuted on television. This hour-long show focused around the sixth Enterprise – the Enterprise-D – and its crew of Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart), Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Data (Brent Spiner), LaForge (LeVar Burton), Worf (Michael Dorn), Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) and Troi (Marina Sirtis). Like TOS, it featured a diverse crew (aliens and androids thrown into the mix), and a unique starship that carried families and could separate in two (although it only did this a couple times). While the first year was shakey, by the end of the third season The Next Generation was firmly entrenched as a fan favorite and a stellar show.
1989 – Egos running amok, William Shatner demands that he be allowed to write and direct his own Star Trek film or else refuse to star in it. Thus, the travesty known as Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was given birth, and quickly became a laughing stock for the Star Trek universe. Parts of it, including Spock’s half-brother, are not considered official Star Trek canon (despite being in an official Star Trek film).
1991 – Star Trek’s 25th anniversary. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry dies, reportedly only a couple days after previewing the sixth Trek motion picture. Some of his ashes are brought up on the space shuttle and launched into space as a tribute.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country sends the original Star Trek crew off on a particularly high note (this was also helmed by Star Trek II’s Nicholas Meyer). It is the last time that the entire original cast is in the same movie or show together.
1993 – As Paramount knew that The Next Generation was coming to an end, a new Star Trek show was commissioned to pass the torch on to. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) premieres, and takes the franchise in a vastly different direction. The first Star Trek show not set on a starship or the Enterprise, DS9 instead focused the action around a recaptured enemy space station guarding a wormhole to a different part of the galaxy. Again, there was a diverse cast that included characters from all walks of life (not just Starfleet-only this time). Commander Sisko (Avery Brooks) was joined by a shapeshifting alien, a parasitic alien and its host, and two cross-over characters from TNG: Chief O’Brien (Colm Meaney) and Worf (in season four).
Deep Space Nine became the dark horse of the Star Trek franchise. It didn’t quite get the ratings that TNG attained, but it developed an incredibly strong fan base that loved its darker themes and less goody-two-shoes approach to the ST universe. One of their most unique shows had DS9’s crew going back to Captain Kirk’s time and spliced the modern-day characters in with the action from “The Trouble With Tribbles”.
DS9 not only faced competition from two other Star Trek shows (TNG and Voyager) but also the similarly-themed Babylon 5, also set on a space station. It was the first show made without any direct input from Gene Roddenberry.
1994 – After its seventh season, The Next Generation goes off the air with its 178th episode and becomes the longest-running Star Trek series.
Bridging TOS with TNG, Star Trek Generations (aka Star Trek 7) is released in theaters. While its two-show span is ballyhooed by fans and the press, the movie is a bit of a stinker and flops. Captain Kirk is killed, along with the Enterprise-D.
1995 – Milking it for all it’s worth – this was the common thought of everyone, Trekkie and average Joe alike, as they heard that Paramount was rolling out yet another Star Trek series on the heels of TNG and running concurrent with DS9. Star Trek: Voyager would return to the bridge of a Starfleet vessel, with a couple twists: the captain would be a woman (Kate Mulgrew), the crew mixed between rebel and Starfleet personnel (and a holographic doctor!), and the ship accidentally shot into another part of the galaxy and would be seeking a way home.
Voyager was far from a fan favorite. Trekkies complained that they were beginning to see the same plots recycled from earlier shows, that the characters weren’t strong or interesting enough, and that the producers were specifically trying to bring the level of the show down to reach more teenagers – mostly with the inclusion of shapely cyborg Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) in season four. Star Trek taskmasters Brannon Braga and Rick Berman were specifically called to blame, as they controlled the franchise with an iron fist which allowed for little innovation or fresh writing.
1996 – This is it: the final peak for the Star Trek franchise to date. As DS9 and Voyager bloom across television sets, the best Next Generation film is released: Star Trek: First Contact. The inclusion of the Borg, the introduction of the Enterprise-E, and a more action-oriented script make this a fan favorite. First Contact also sets up events leading into the upcoming Enterprise series.
1997 – A documentary about Star Trek fans (Trekkies) indicates how enormous the Trek phenomena has spread.
1998 – Star Trek: Insurrection gets so-so reviews and is quickly forgotten.
1999 – Quietly, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was let go after an incredible seven seasons and 176 episodes. DeForest “McCoy” Kelley dies.
2001 – Star Trek: Voyager is cancelled. Like both TNG and DS9, it made it to its seventh season (compiling 172 episodes).
As the past decade and a half saw three Star Trek shows mine The Next Generation universe for ideas and episodes, the producers decided on a new series that would go back in time, rather than forward. Enterprise (later to be renamedStar Trek: Enterprise) chronicled the adventures of the first ship to bear that name and set well before the time of Captain Kirk. Taking place some time after the events of Star Trek: First Contact, the show explores the first crew of a warp five Starfleet vessel and its (of course) diverse crew.
The announcement of this show stirred excitement in the fans not seen in a long time, for many reasons. First, the original setting offered a semi-clean break from the ponderous universe that the other Star Trek shows had been growing on. Second, it would star Scott Bakula, already a scifi cult star of the show Quantum Leap. Third, the technology would be “aged back” to a more primitive time where transporters weren’t trusted and the ship would share more in common with a submarine than a pristine spaceship. Fourth, the pre-Federation universe promised to be more dangerous and exciting.
Enterprise shot itself in the foot many times over – with a horrible pop theme song, Scott Bakula’s caveman-like acting, continuity errors abounded that conflicted with the “future” shows, and generally horrible scripts that didn’t deviate from the Star Trek formula that was promised. Tactics were tried: the Vulcan officer was made to wear sexy form-fitting catsuits, season three featured a season-long storyline about an impending doom for Earth, and special effects were ramped up. It didn’t help. Viewers drifted away from this show rapidly, and only an intense fan campaign helped to renew the show for a third and fourth season.
2002 – The tenth Star Trek movie promised to be one of the best ever – and it failed. Star Trek Nemesis comes out, rehashes the plot to Star Trek II, and pretty much kills the movie series for the time being. It also killed Data. Nemesis has the lowest box office gross of any Star Trek film to date ($100 million to make, $40 million box office).
2005 – Faced with the box office failure of Star Trek: Nemesis and the incredibly low ratings for Star Trek: Enterprise, the show was axed. The finale for the show would be steeped in some of the most bitter acts of Star Trek history. Enterprise becomes the first Star Trek show since TOS and TAS to be cancelled before its seventh season (amassing 98 episodes).
2009 – A new film Star Trek is released. The story takes place in an alternate reality due to time travel by both Nero and the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy). The alternate timeline was created in an effort to free the film and the franchise from established continuity constraints.
A surprise public screening was held on April 6, 2009, at the Alamo Drafthouse theater in Austin, Texas, hosted by writers Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and producer Damon Lindelof. The showing was publicized as a screening of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, followed by a ten-minute preview of the new Star Trek film. A few minutes into Khan, the film appeared to melt and Leonard Nimoy appeared on stage with Orci, Kurtzman and Lindelof, asking the audience, “wouldn’t you rather see the new movie?”
The film was requested by astronaut Michael R. Barratt, before boarding the International Space Station. Paramount provided NASA with a copy that was uploaded to the International Space Station on May 14, 2009.
We have tracked businesses with unprecedented brand loyalty since 2001. A Certified Cult Brand is a designation we hold for brands that fulfill specific market criteria, including upholding the Seven Rules of Cult Brands.
Apple Quick Stats
Founders: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne Founded: Established on April 1, 1976 in Cupertino, California by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, to sell the Apple I personal computer kit. iPhone: Apple sold approximately 41,000,000 iPhones worldwide from October 2007 up to the end of 2009 according to market research firm Canalys. App Store: Over 3 billion applications have been downloaded from the App Store. Bigger than Microsoft: in May 2010 Apple’s market cap exceeded that of competitor Microsoft for the first time since 1989
Apple Cult Brand Summary
Apple Computers is the epitome of self-empowerment and self-fulfillment combined in one brand. How else to describe a Cult Brand whose original slogan for the Macintosh was, “the computer for the rest of us”? Of course, “the rest of us” were those brave individuals who wanted to control their own destinies and break free of the system’s controlling grip and authoritarian ways. In the eighties, Apple painted this dark controlling force as being IBM, while in the nineties it became Microsoft and Bill Gates. As Christopher Escher, former VP of Corporation Communications, noted: “They turned computers, which are essentially a product for business people to crunch numbers with, into symbols of self-realization and liberation against social constraints.”
In the mid-nineties, things were looking pretty grim for Apple. The company was steadily losing money, it lacked strong leadership at the top, and the firm’s overall share of the PC market was continuing to slip. While Apple continued to have millions of loyal customers around the world, it endured this period thinking that any day a large competitor would buy it out, or that it would fail outright. Then, after more than a decade away from Apple, Steve Jobs came back as interim CEO in 1997. Jobs, through a savvy combination of internal cost-cutting, revamped marketing, and new product launches, turned Apple around.
In 2001, Apple announced the launch of the sleekly designed iPod. While not the first digital music player, the market lacked quality and was absent of any standout devices. Apple focused on the small size of the device, ease of use, and the sleek design, and transformed it into the digital music player by which all others are now measured. After the launch of iTunes, the digital download service, in April 2003, Apple started its now famous ad campaign with silhouetted figures rocking out to tunes. These ads injected a human element into a market that focused solely on the boring technological aspects of the devices. Apple realized that people don’t just want to carry music, they want to jam out to songs that reflect their personalities.
This attention to what customers want—form, ease of use, and individuality—has paid off more than anyone could have ever guessed. To date, Apple has sold over 42 million iPods, and passed over 1 billion downloads on iTunes. In the first fiscal quarter of 2006, Apple reported sales of over 14 million iPods, leading them to $565 million in revenue.
In 2007 Apple brought their sleek design into a new market. Apple released the iPhone and a whole new world of customers was open to them. Consumers went wild for the new phone, which is no surprise considering Apple spent years perfecting easy to use interface for their customers. As of September, 2010 Apple had sold a total of 73.7 million iPhones worldwide, generating $45.6 billion in revenue.
Along with the iPhone Apple introduced the Apple App store, a fast new way for customers to purchase software from developers without having to drive to the store. The Apple App store opened on July 2008 with 500 apps and 0 downloads. By January 2011 there were over 400,000 apps and 10 billion downloads.
Apple doesn’t just build products, they build products that their faithful want. And, they have a variety of interesting ways of preaching and listening to the choir. For starters, Apple hosts a User Group University at Macworld expo where leaders from Mac User Groups—those essentially independent clubs started by Apple aficionados—meet with each other for a full day of workshops and conversations about Apple’s latest products. Apple showers all attendees with free logo merchandise, as well as employee discounts at the company store. Not only does Apple come away with invaluable feedback from a great group of customers, but it reenergizes the key faithful. Apple also asks individuals who run successful Mac User Groups in their communities to participate and to help Apple work with less successful user groups in the region. They continually gather feedback for Apple and look for Mac success stories to share. By following this game plan, Apple is able to give its customers the product enhancements they really want instead of guessing what the whims of the customers might be.
Apple Timeline
Timeline of Apple products (image from Wikipedia).
April 1, 1976 – Apple Computers was established in Cupertino, California by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne
July, 1976 – Apple I went on sale
January 3, 1977 – Apple was incorporated
December 1979 – Steve Jobs and other Apple employees visit Xerox. Jobs is convinced that all future computers would use a graphical user interface (GUI)
1983 – Lisa personal computer is released. First personal computer sold to the public with a GUI
1984 – Apple launches the Macintosh computer along with their famous Super Bowl Ad “1984” (link to commercial on youtube)
1985 – Steve Jobs resigns from Apple and founds NeXT Inc.
1991 – System 7 a major upgrade to the operating system was released. The upgrade added color interface and introduced networking capabilities. It remained the architectural basis until 2001.
1994 – Apple allied with IBM and Motorolla to create the PowerMacintosh which used IBM’s Power PC processor
1996 – Apple acquires NeXT Inc. and its NeXTSTEP operating system, bringing Steve Jobs back to Apple as an advisor.
July 1997 – In the Macworld Expo Steve Jobs announces business relationship with Microsoft and brings Microsoft Office to the Macintosh.
November 1997 – Apple introduces the Apple store.
August 1998 – Apple introduces the iMac an all-in-one computer reminiscent of the Macintosh. It sells 800,000 units in the first five months.
1999 – Apple release iMovie and Final Cut Pro. Professional media editing software
March 2001 – Mac OsX is released. The operating system combined the stability, reliability and security of Unix with an easy to use interface.
May 2001 – First official Apple retail stores open in California and Virginia
October 2001 – iPod is debuted and changes the digital music market forever.
2003 – iTunes music store is introduced allowing customers to purchase digital songs for their iPods at $0.99 a song. The service quickly became the market leader in online music services, with over 5 billion downloads by June 19, 2008.
2005 – Apple announces they will use Intel Processors.
2006 – MacBook Pro and iMac became the first Apple computers to use Intel’s Core Duo CPU. By 2007 all Apple products have Intel processors
January 2007 – Apple introduces the iPhone, the iTouch and Apple T.V.
July 2008 – The App Store is introduced for the iPhone to sell third party apps directly to customers.
October 2008 – Apple becomes the third-largest mobile handset supplier in the world due to the popularity of the iPhone.
April 2010 – The iPad is launched in the US and sells more than 300,000 units that day and reaches 500,000 by the end of the first week
May 2010 – Apple’s market cap exceeded that of competitor Microsoft for the first time since 1989.
We have tracked businesses with unprecedented brand loyalty since 2001. A Certified Cult Brand is a designation we hold for brands that fulfill specific market criteria, including upholding the Seven Rules of Cult Brands.
Oprah Gail Winfrey Quick Stats
Date of Birth: Born on January 29, 1954 Place of Birth: Kosciusko, Mississippi, USA Parents: Father: Vernon Winfrey, a coal miner.
Mother: Vernita Lee, a housemaid
Early Life:
Ms. Oprah Gail Winfrey was born in the poor rural town of Kosciusko, Mississippi on January 29, 1954. Oprah spent her first years on her grandmother’s farm, while her mother looked for work in the North. Her grandmother taught her to read at an early age. Despite the hardships, she enjoyed the loving support of her grandmother and the church community, who cherished her as a gifted child.
Career Highlights:
In 1976, Winfrey moved to Baltimore, where she hosted a hit TV chat show, People Are Talking, after which she was recruited by a Chicago TV station to host her own morning show.
Later she went on to pursue her two-and-a-half decade stint as host of the wildly popular Oprah Winfrey show.
The name of Oprah’s production company, Harpo Productions, is “Oprah” spelled backward.
Oprah received an Academy Award nomination for her role in Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple. She would later produce a version of the film on Broadway.
Oprah publishes two magazines, O, The Oprah Magazine and O at Home. Fortune magazine named O, The Oprah Magazine the most successful publishing start-up in history.
Oprah will even launch a signature radio channel on the XM satellite network.
On her 2004 season premiere, Oprah gave new cars to everyone in her audience.
Oprah is the voice of Gussy the Goose in the 2006 adaptation of Charlotte’s Web.
Oprah once dated critic Roger Ebert.
Winfrey is listed by Forbes International as the world’s only African-American billionaire.
Oprah donates more to charity than any other show business celebrity. Listed as the 235th richest American (in 2005), she was the 32nd most philanthropic.
Since beginning “Oprah’s Book Club,” the television-based literary society is so powerful that any book placed on the must-read list becomes an instant best seller. (After it was discovered that author James Frey’s memoir A Million Little Pieces was full of untruths, Oprah chastised the writer on her program, essentially revoking its “Book Club” status. Stung by the experience, she promoted classics for some time afterward.)
Oprah Cult Brand Summary
It’s hardly an accident that Oprah Winfrey has maintained such a fervently steadfast and devoted fan base during her career. She has used her talk show as a daily platform for holding heart-to-heart discussions with her audience. Some TV personalities seem distant and removed from the general public, but Oprah has never shied away from sharing intimate, personal details about her life with her audience. She has openly discussed such incredibly difficult and personal topics as being raped when she was nine and using cocaine in her twenties, as well as her ongoing battle with obesity. By sharing these intimate personal details, Oprah shows her viewers that when the lights and cameras are all put away, she faces many of the same problems as they do. She is indeed an ordinary person with ordinary problems to overcome. It’s her seeming vulnerability and fragility that make her that much more inclusive of a brand.
When she launched her book club in 1996 to, “help get America reading again,” most media pundits initially viewed it as a crazy idea and delusional. They thought talk show viewers didn’t seem a likely mix with books. Oprah went ahead anyway. Her monthly selections ignored light and fluffy romance novels and concentrated on literary works dealing with strong emotional conflicts. The formula worked. Oprah’s viewers took to the book club idea immediately, so much so that only a year after its launch, U.S. News & World Report wrote that Oprah had, “set millions to reading who hadn’t read a book since high school and has made obscure books bestsellers.” By participating in this club, every Oprah viewer becomes part of the Oprah family for a few hours each week, while still remaining unique from the world’s non-Oprah viewers.
Now, the placement of the Oprah Book Club logo on a book is the most surefire way for it to rocket onto the bestseller list. Book stores have so much faith in the “Oprah effect” that, sight unseen, they happily order thousands of copies of her upcoming club selection.
In 1997, a year after starting the book club, Oprah launched the Angel Network with the goal of inspiring people to really “use their lives” and reap the rewards that come from giving to others. It’s hard to argue with the results. Through donations of viewers, Oprah’s Angel Network has now given homes to thousands of needy people and college scholarships to hundreds of deserving students.
The foremost reason for the success of the Network is Oprah’s ability to intimately involve her viewers in the gift-giving process. She makes it a two-way street. She not only writes checks to charities herself, she gets her fan base involved with her. When the beneficiaries of the Angel Network’s donations appear as guests, viewers can almost feel the good that they are doing through this program.
Whether you like or dislike Oprah, you can’t argue with the fact that she really does care for people that are, “improving the lives of others.” The halo effect the Oprah brand receives from these community activities is very real. We all feel a certain warmth and quiet joy from helping others. Brands that bring about these feelings in us will almost always hold a special place in our hearts.
Oprah Timeline
1954 – Oprah was born on January 29,1954 in Mississippi to unmarried parents. Her father Vernon Winfrey was a coal miner. Her mother Vernita Lee was a housemaid.
1954-1960 – Oprah lived with her grandmother, Hattie Mae Lee on a farm.
1960 – At age six, Oprah moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her mother. Oprah has claimed that she was molested by her cousin, uncle, and a family friend, starting when she was nine years old.
1967 – Oprah received a scholarship to attend Nicolet High School in Glendale, Wisconsin.
1968 – Oprah rebelled, ran away from home and ran to the street. When she was 14, she gave birth to a male baby which died shortly afterwards. Her mother sent her to live with her father in Nashville, Tennessee. Her father was strict and made her education a priority. She became an honors student and graduated from East Nashville High School.
1972 – Oprah Winfrey won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant. The local black radio station WVOL hired her to do the news part-time.
1973 – Oprah graduated from Tennessee State University with a degree in Speech and Performing Arts. She became the first black TV news anchor reporter with WTVF-TV.
1976 – Oprah moved to Baltimore’s WJZ-TV to co-anchor the six o’clock news.
1978 – Oprah was recruited to join Richard Sher as co-host of WJZ’s local talk show People Are Talking , which premiered on August 14, 1978. She also hosted the local version of Dialing for Dollars there.
1983 – Oprah moved to Chicago to host WLS-TV’s low-rated half-hour morning talk-show, AM Chicago.
1984 – Within months after Oprah took over, the show went from last place in the ratings to overtaking Donahue as the highest rated talk show in Chicago. It was renamed as “The Oprah Winfrey Show”.
1985 – Oprah co-starred in Steven Spielberg’s epic film adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple. She earned immediate accolades as Sofia, the distraught housewife.
1986 – The Oprah Winfrey Show was expanded to a full hour, and broadcast nationally beginning September 8, 1986. She starred in the movie ‘Native Son’ as Janet Thomason.
1987 – On February 9 her much acclaimed episode from her show was aired from Forsyth County, Georgia, where no blacks had been allowed to live since 1912. Oprah won her first Emmy award for best talk/service show host and best show. She played a cameo role in the Danny DeVito movie “Throw Momma from the Train”.
1988 – The International Television and Radio Society named Oprah Broadcaster of the Year. She bought an apartment in Chicago and a farm in Indiana. She appeared in the TV program Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special as herself .
1989 – Oprah’s half brother, Jeffrey Lee died of AIDS. She played the role of Mattie Michael in the movie “The Women of Brewster Place”. She received the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Entertainer of the year award.
1990 – Oprah starred in the documentary “Listen Up – The Lives of Quincy Jones”. She appeared as Mattie Michael in the TV program “Brewster Place”.
1991 – Oprah testified before the US congress and initiated the National Child Protection Act.
1992 – Oprah was engaged to Stedman Graham, a public relations executive. She appeared in the TV program “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” episode “A Night at the Oprah”. She won the Best talk show Host Emmy award.
In the mid-1990s, Oprah anchored shows about heart disease in women, geopolitics with Lisa Ling, spirituality and meditation, and gift-giving and home decorating shows. She would often interview celebrities on issues that directly involve them in some way, such as cancer, charity work, or substance abuse. She also interviewed ordinary people who have done extraordinary things or been involved in important current issues.
1993 – Oprah hosted a rare prime-time interview with Michael Jackson which became the fourth most watched event in American television history as well as the most watched interview ever, with an audience of one hundred million. She appeared in the TV program “There Are No Children Here” as LaJoe Rivers.
1994 – Oprah won Best Talk Show and Best Talk Show Host at the 21st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards .She became co-author of the book In The Kitchen With Rosie – Oprah’s Favorite Recipes by Oprah Winfrey and Rosie Daley.
1995 – Oprah won an Emmy for Best Talk Show and Best Host for the second year in a row. “Oprah Online” started on AOL (American Online) in partnership with ABC. She became the first woman and the only black on Forbes list of 400 richest Americans.
1996 – Oprah received the prestigious George Foster Peabody’s Individual Achievement Award. She became co-author of the book “A Journal of Daily Renewal – The Companion to Make the Connection”, by Oprah Winfrey and Bob Greene.
1997 – Oprah delivered the commencements address to the Wellesley College Class of 1997. She appeared in the TV program “Ellen – The Puppy Episode” and “Before Women Had Wings.” Oprah’s Angel Network is formed encouraging people to make charitable contributions and volunteer work. She became author of the book The “Uncommon Wisdom of Oprah Winfrey – A Portrait in Her Own Words” by Oprah Winfrey and Bill Adler (editor).
1998 – Oprah became co-author of the book “Journey to Beloved”, by Oprah Winfrey and Ken Regan. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Daytime Emmy Awards and an award for top talk show host. She starred in the movie of the Toni Morrison novel, “Beloved”.
1999 – Oprah was co-author of the book “Make the Connection – Ten Steps to a Better Body and a Better Life”, by Oprah Winfrey and Bob Greene.
2002 – Oprah became the recipient of the first Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 2002 Emmy Awards for services to television and film.
2004 – Oprah and Tom Cruise hosted the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Concert. She was listed as the world’s only black billionaire in Forbes’s international rich list.
2005 – Oprah was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people of the year. She ranked in 9th place in public poll of the greatest Americans.She was named as the greatest woman in American history. She became the first black person listed by Business Week as one of America’s top 50 most generous philanthropists. “The Color Purple” was made into a Broadway musical and she was one of the producers.
2006 – Oprah signed a 3-year contract with XM Satellite Radio to establish a new radio channel based in Chicago. She starred in the movie “Charlotte’s Web” playing Gussy.
2007 – Oprah invested $40 million creating the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls near Johannesburg in South Africa. She received praise from Nelson Mandela for overcoming her own disadvantaged youth to become a benefactor for others and for investing in the future of South Africa. Also towards the end of the same year, Oprah endorsed President Barack Obama (then Senator) and joined him for campaign trails.
2009 – Oprah announced that she would be concluding The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2011. On the show she said, “This show has been my life. And I love it enough to know when it’s time to say good-bye. Twenty-five years feels right in my bones, and it feels right in my spirit. It’s the perfect number — the exact right time.”
2011 – Oprah launched her own cable network, the Oprah Winfrey Network, or OWN.
2012 – Oprah’s Next Chapter premiered on 1st January. Oprah chose Steven Tyler (of Aerosmith) as her first guest on the show. Unlike The Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah has now decided to step out of the studio and into people’s abodes to interview them. Oprah also visited Mumbai, India recently regarding the show.
We have tracked businesses with unprecedented brand loyalty since 2001. A Certified Cult Brand is a designation we hold for brands that fulfill specific market criteria, including upholding the Seven Rules of Cult Brands.
Zappos Cult Brand Summary
Disenfranchised with the culture of the company he started, Tony Hsieh sold LinkExchange to Microsoft for $265 million. Using the clout acquired through skyrocketing LinkExchange to a profitable investment for its backers in two and a half years, Hsieh and his friend Alfred Lin started the venture capital fund Venture Frogs. Amidst the smaller successes and the forgettable businesses launched by Venture frogs was Zappos, the company that would eventually make Hsieh the quirky envy of the business world. By the time Zappos captured the attention of the public, guaranteed success seemed built into the DNA of the brand. After all, how else could a company soar to $1 billion in sales in just under 10 years, and captivate legions of diehard loyal fans? But, Zappos’s rise to profitability and admiration was far from an easy journey.
In 1999, Nick Swinmurn contacted Hsieh and Lin with a simple idea: become the Amazon of shoes. After Swimurn convinced them of the size of the potential market, Venture Frogs invested in the company, planning to turn it over to other companies for additional funding. But that funding never came.
Hiseh believed that the people at Zappos wanted to create something big, and invested a second round of funding. Hsieh joined the company full time, wanting to prove to the world that LinkExchange wasn’t his one-trick pony. Hsieh began dumping his own money into the company, housing employees, and eventually selling his large loft for 40% below what he paid for it just to add funding to a company that would have been defunct two weeks later.
Lacking money to invest into traditional advertising media to gain new clients, they focused on retaining their old ones and increasing the number of purchases their customers were making.
In 2003 seeing that the only reason the company made it this far was the direct result of customer satisfaction, through repeat business and word-of-mouth, Hsieh focused every aspect of the company on delivering great service and WOWing the current customers.
The same year, drop shipment direct from manufacturers accounted for an easy-to-make 25% of the business. But 5% of orders were wrong. The result: Zappos moved all of their shipping to their own warehouse. Although this move was more costly and less efficient, Hsieh wasn’t concerned with traditional business metrics. He wanted to maximize the customer experience rather than maximizing short-term profits.
This extreme attention to customer satisfaction has even led Zappos employees to help customers order shoes from competitors when they were out of stock.
Hsiesh’s long-term, customer-based strategy paid out, bringing Zappos to $1 billion in sales in 2008, two years ahead of schedule.
When the board of directors wanted an exit strategy, rather than risk destroying the culture and turning Zappos into LinkExchange 2.0, Hsieh looked for like-minded investors to buy out the current board. This eventually resulted in the heavily-publicized purchase by Amazon.com.
Zappos now operates as an independent entity and maintains its unique culture. Rather than focus on buzz and major marketing schemes, Zappos continues to focus their efforts on what made them successful and made their customers love them: building long term customer relationships by continuing to WOW them with every interaction.
Zappos Timeline
1999 — Funded by Venture Frogs venture capital firm.
2000 — Tony Hsieh joins as CEO.
2002 — Zappos takes control of its shipping, opening a fulfillment center in Kentucky.
2003 — Makes customer service key focus of the company.
2004 — First publication of the Zappos Culture Book.
2005 — Alfred Lin joins as CFO. 2007 – Adds new categories.
We have tracked businesses with unprecedented brand loyalty since 2001. A Certified Cult Brand is a designation we hold for brands that fulfill specific market criteria, including upholding the Seven Rules of Cult Brands.
Quick Stats
In 1901 William S. Harley, age 21, completes a blueprint drawing of an engine designed to fit into a bicycle.
In 1983, Harley formed a club for owners of its product using the acronym HOG., for Harley Owners Group.
On August 15, 2006, Harley-Davidson Inc. had its NYSE ticker symbol changed from HDI to HOG.
In 1991, HOG went international, with the first official European HOG Rally in Cheltenham, England. Today, more than one million members and more than 1400 chapters worldwide make HOG the largest factory-sponsored motorcycle organization in the world.
In 2008, HOG celebrated its 25th anniversary in conjunction with the Harley 105th in Milwaukee Wisconsin.
Henry Meyer of Milwaukee, a schoolyard pal of William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson, buys one of the 1903 models directly from the founders.
Licensing of the Harley-Davidson brand and logo accounted for $40 million of the company’s net revenue in 2010.
Harley-Davidson Cult Brand Summary
To say that Harley had fallen on hard times by 1981 would be a drastic understatement. Japanese companies were destroying the company on pricing and Harley-Davidson’s bikes had lost the quality that made them famous.
The executives risked their corporate lives with an $80 million buyout on a turnaround situation that looked almost impossible. But, they couldn’t afford to fail; the whole company’s back was against the wall. They had to make it. The choice was simple: drastically improve the quality of the motorcycles and develop strong customer ties or go out of business.
Harley started copying Japanese production techniques and quality control, and released the new “Evolution” engine in 1983 that put an end to oil leaks and other quality issues.
Given financial constraints, Harley couldn’t engage in a traditional advertising campaign to win over customers. In 1983 CEO Vaughn Beals announced the launch of the Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.), which he saw as a grassroots way to reconnect Harley’s brand and lifestyle with its most faithful customers.
Despite an initial lack of acceptance, within a few years H.O.G. chapters started appearing around the country. The spread of these groups was gorilla marketing at its best: membership was generated primarily from inexpensive promotions at dealerships and word-of-mouth. H.O.G. groups gave enthusiasts a structured way to meet, swap stories, and schedule rides with other evangelists.
Harley made a wise move in requiring every H.O.G. chapter to have a dealership sponsor. The result of this stipulation was a tighter relationship between Harley dealers and the customers, as well as an increase in parts and merchandise sales.
They didn’t stop with creating members groups. They started sponsoring rallies around the country. In doing so, not only did they solidify their communities, but they also used the rallies as a killer sales tool. They bring motorcycles to the rallies for people to tryout. This concept reaches its apex each year at Bike Week in Daytona Beach and the Sturgis Rally and Races in South Dakota. Collectively, the events attract over half a million Harley enthusiasts. Harley takes feedback its employees receive at these events very seriously. Opinions they receive from customers affect what is produced in product lines and the way they run their rallies. This desire to appeal to the customer has been extended to the point that Harley offers the option of customizing their motorcycles. This allows Harley to rack up higher-margin sales, while allowing consumers who buy a custom Harley feel like they are not only joining the “Harley nation,” but that they are also exercising their own individuality.
In creating these events, and paying attention to its customers, what Harley is ultimately selling through its motorcycles is the opportunity to experience the feelings of raw freedom and empowerment that one receives from strapping on some leather and riding a bike down the open road. These are feelings common to Americans of all ages, races, and backgrounds.
1901- William S. Harley, age 21, completes a blueprint drawing of an engine designed to fit into a bicycle.
1903- William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson make available to the public the first production Harley-Davidson® motorcycle. The bike was built to be a racer, with a 3-1/8 inch bore and 3-1/2 inch stroke. The factory in which they worked was a 10 x 15-foot wooden shed with the words “Harley-Davidson Motor Company” crudely scrawled on the door. Arthur’s brother Walter later joins their efforts.
Henry Meyer of Milwaukee, a schoolyard pal of William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson, buys one of the 1903 models directly from the founders.
1904- The first Harley-Davidson Dealer, C.H. Lang of Chicago, IL, opens for business and sells one of the first three production Harley-Davidson motorcycles ever made.
1905- On July 4th, a H-D motorcycle wins a 15 mile race in Chicago with a time of 19:02. In Milwaukee, the first full-time employee is hired.
1906 – A new factory, measuring 28 x 80 feet, is built on the Chestnut St. site, later renamed Juneau Avenue. Staff size is increased to six full-time employees. Also, the first motorcycle catalog is produced by the Company and the nickname “Silent Gray Fellow” is used for the first time.
1907 – William A. Davidson, brother to Arthur and Walter Davidson, quits his job as tool foreman for the Milwaukee Road railroad and joins the Motor Company.
Harley-Davidson Motor Company is incorporated on September 17th. The stock is split four ways between the four founders, and staff size has more than doubled from the previous year to eighteen employees. Factory size is doubled as well. Dealer recruitment begins, targeting the New England region.
1908 – Walter Davidson scores a perfect 1,000 points at the 7th Annual Federation of American Motorcyclists Endurance and Reliability Contest. Three days after the contest, Walter sets the FAM economy record at 188.234 miles per gallon. Word of Harley-Davidson’s extremely tough motorcycle spreads rapidly.
The first motorcycle sold for police duty is delivered to the Detroit, MI, Police Department.
1909 – The six-year-old Harley-Davidson Motor Company introduces its first V-twin powered motorcycle. With a displacement of 49.5 cubic inches, the bike produces seven horsepower. The image of two cylinders in a 45-degree configuration would fast become one of the most enduring icons of Harley-Davidson history. Also available for the first time from the Motor Company are spare parts for motorcycles.
1910 – The famed “Bar & Shield” logo is used for the first time. It is trademarked at the U.S. Patent office one year later.
At least seven different first place finishes are captured at races, endurance contests and hillclimbs across America. All seven winners are riding Harley-Davidson® motorcycles.
1911 – The “F-head” engine becomes a workhorse of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle until 1929.
1912 – Construction begins on what will become the six story headquarters and main factory building at Juneau Ave. in Milwaukee. A separate Parts and Accessories Department is formed.
H-D exports motorcycles to Japan, marking the first ever sales outside of the U.S. Dealer network grows to over 200 nationwide.
1913 – The Racing Department is formed, with William Ottaway as its first Assistant Engineer to racing engineer William S. Harley. Also, the Forecar delivery van is offered for the first time.
1914 – Sidecars are made available to Harley-Davidson buyers. Clutch and brake pedals now available on F-head singles and twins.
The Motor Company formally enters motorcycle racing this year. The first Racing Engineer is William S. Harley. Within a few short years, team Harley-Davidson is referred to informally as the “Wrecking Crew” because of their incredible dominance of the sport.
The Two-Speed rear hub transmission is introduced for two years only in the Model 10F. Patented by William S. Harley, it was effective but discontinued in order to further improve drivetrain function in 1915 with a three-speed design.
1915 – Harley-Davidson motorcycles are now available with three speed sliding-gear transmissions with final and primary drive on the same side.
1916 – The Enthusiast begins its reign as the longest continuously published motorcycle magazine in the world.
1917 – During this year, roughly one-third of all Harley-Davidson motorcycles produced are sold to the U.S. military. The Quartermasters School, a department of Harley-Davidson devoted to training military mechanics on Harley-Davidson motorcycles, opens for business in July. It will later become the Service School.
The sale of Harley-Davidson bicycles begins. Individual components are made by the Davis Sewing Machine Co. of Dayton, Ohio. The bicycles are sold through the H-D dealer network.
1918 – Almost half of all Harley-Davidson motorcycles produced are sold for use by the U.S. military in World War I. At War’s end, it is estimated that the Army used some 20,000 motorcycles in their efforts, most of which were Harley-Davidsons. One day after the signing of the Armistice, Corporal Roy Holtz of Chippewa Falls, Wis., is the first American to enter Germany. He is riding a Harley-Davidson.
1919 – The 37 cubic inch opposed twin cylinder Sport model is introduced and gains great popularity overseas. Unique not only for the cylinder configuration, which was directly opposed and flat, the Sport quickly earns a reputation for being uncommonly quiet.
1920 – By 1920, Harley-Davidson is the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. New Harley-Davidson® motorcycles can be purchased from over 2,000 dealers in 67 countries worldwide.
Leslie “Red” Parkhurst breaks 23 speed records on a Harley-Davidson 61 cubic inch racing motorcycle. Also, the “hog” association starts when the racing team’s mascot, a pig, is carried on a victory lap after each race won by the team.
1922 – The first 74 cubic inch V-twin engine is introduced on the JD and FD models. Harley-Davidson dealerships are now found in sixty-seven countries.
Harley-Davidson riders sweep all eight National Championship races.
1925 – Gas tanks on all models now have a distinct teardrop shape. This basic appearance is set for all subsequent Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
Joe Petrali begins racing for Harley-Davidson. He would become one of the most successful dirt-track racers for Harley-Davidson, and one of the most successful racers of all time.
1926 – Single-cylinder motorcycles are again sold by Harley-Davidson for the first time since 1918. Models A, AA, B, and BA are available in side-valve and overhead-valve engine configurations.
1928 – The first Harley-Davidson two cam engine is made available to the public on the JD series motorcycles. The bike is capable of top speeds between 85 – 100 mph.
Front wheel brakes are now available on all Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
1929 – The 45 cubic inch V-twin engine (later to be known as the “flathead”) is introduced on the D model. The engine proves to be so reliable that variations of it are available on Harley-Davidson motorcycles as late as 1973.
1930 – Bill Davidson, Jr. wins the Jack Pine endurance contest with 997 points of 1,000. All individual class winners are riding Harley-Davidson® motorcycles.
1931 – All of Harley-Davidson’s remaining American competition is now gone except Indian (Hendee Manufacturing). Indian and Harley-Davidson are the only two American motorcycle manufacturers until 1953.
1932 – The 45 cubic inch-driven, three-wheeled Servi-car begins its 41 year run as a popular commercial and police vehicle.
In dirt track racing, Harley-Davidson racer Joe Petrali begins a five-year consecutive streak of winning the AMA Grand National Championship. Petrali also wins the National Hill-Climb Championships for 1932 to 1935.
1933 – An art-deco “eagle” design is painted on all gas tanks. This marks the beginning of graphic designs on Harley-Davidson motorcycles (with the exception of previously special order-only paint schemes). This styling decision was made in part to stimulate the low sales numbers caused by the Great Depression.
1935 – The Japanese motorcycle industry is founded as a result of Harley-Davidson licensing blueprints, tools, dies and machinery to the Sankyo Company of Japan. The result is the Rikuo motorcycle.
Joe Petrali and his Harley-Davidson peashooter win all thirteen of the American Motorcycle Association National Championship dirt track races. Petrali breaks four records in the process.
1936 – Harley-Davidson introduces the EL, an overhead valve, 61 cubic inch powered bike. With increased horsepower and bold styling changes, the motorcycle quickly earns the nickname of “Knucklehead,” due to the shape of its rocker boxes. The same year, the Motor Company introduces a 80 cubic inch side valve engine.
1937 – The first WL models are produced. Joe Petrali sets a new land speed record of 136.183 mph on a modified Harley-Davidson 61 cubic inch overhead valve-driven motorcycle. . The same day, he also breaks the record for 45 cubic inch engine motorcycles.
1938 – The Jack Pine Gypsies Motorcycle Club holds the first Black Hills Rally in Sturgis, SD.
On the 3.2 mile beach course at Daytona, FL, Ben Campanale wins the first of two consecutive victories at the Daytona 200 on a Harley-Davidson WLDR.
1940 – Babe Tancrede is the winner at the Daytona 200, riding a WLDR model.
1941 – America is plunged into World War II. Production of civilian motorcycles is almost entirely suspended in favor of military production. The Service School is converted back to the Quartermasters School for the training of military mechanics.
The FL series premieres.
1942 – Among other motorcycles made for the Army, H-D produces the unique XA 750, a motorcycle with horizontally opposed cylinders and shaft drive, designed for desert use. The contract is cancelled early due to war combat moving out of North Africa. Only 1,011 XA’s are built.
1943 – Harley-Davidson receives the first of its four Army-Navy “E” Awards for excellence in wartime production. Overseas, many American servicemen get their first exposure to Harley-Davidson motorcycles, something they would not forget when they would return stateside.
1945 – Harley-Davidson produces almost 60,000 WLA models during the war for military use. World War II ends. Wasting no time, production of civilian motorcycles resumes in November.
1946 – Harley-Davidson introduces the 45 cubic inch flathead WR racing motorcycle. It proves to be one of the best racing motorcycles ever built.
1947 – Attendees at the year’s Dealers Convention in Milwaukee are given a train ride to a “secret destination,” which turns out to be the newly purchased plant on Capitol Drive. The plant was formerly the A.O. Smith Propeller Plant, created during the war. Harley-Davidson uses the plant as a large machine shop, shipping the new parts to Juneau Ave. for final assembly.
Harley-Davidson begins selling what will become the classic black leather motorcycle jacket.
Harley-Davidson dirt track racer Jimmy Chann wins the first of three consecutive AMA Grand National Championships.
1948 – New features are added to the 61 and 74 overhead valve engines, including aluminum heads and hydraulic valve lifters. Also new are the one piece, chrome plated rocker covers shaped like cake pans. The nickname “Panhead” only seemed logical.
Production of American-made lightweight motorcycles begins with the model S. Various versions will be sold until 1966.
1949 – Hydraulic front forks first appear on the new Hydra-Glide models.
1950 – Larry Headrick wins the AMA Grand National Championship for Harley-Davidson in dirt track racing.
Harley-Davidson riders win 18 of 24 National Championships and set six new racing records.
1952 – The side-valve K model is introduced with an integrated engine & transmission to compete with smaller, sportier motorcycles coming mainly from Great Britain. The K will eventually evolve into the Sportster.
1953 – Harley-Davidson celebrates its 50th Anniversary in style. An attractive logo is created, depicting a “V” in honor of the engine which had brought the Company so far, with a bar overlaid reading “Harley-Davidson” and the words, above and below, “50 years–American made.” A medallion version of this logo is placed on the front fenders of the 1954 models.
Hendee Manufacturing, the creator of the Indian motorcycle, goes out of business. Harley-Davidson would be the sole U.S. motorcycle manufacturer for the next 46 years.
1954 – Dirt track racer Joe Leonard wins the AMA Grand National Championship. Over the next eight years, the Grand National Championship will be won by Harley-Davidson racers.
1955 – This year begins a seven-year consecutive run of victories at the Daytona 200. The victories will be shared by racers Brad Andres, Johnny Gibson, Joe Leonard and Roger Reiman. All ride Harley-Davidson KR models. Reiman’s victory in 1961 is on the new speedway course.
1956 – The new young star Elvis Presley poses for the cover of the MayEnthusiast sitting on a 1956 model KH.
1957 – The motorcycling public met a new motorcycle called the Sportster®. It premiers as a 55 cubic inch overhead valve engine, and within one year of its debut, becomes known as the first of the “Superbikes.” Another Harley-Davidson tradition and legend is born.
1958 – The first rear brakes and hydraulic rear suspensions appear on the Duo-Glide.
Racer Carroll Resweber wins the first of four AMA Grand National Championships.
1960 – The Harley-Davidson Topper motor scooter is introduced and is the only scooter platform the Motor Company ever produced.
Harley-Davidson purchases a half interest in Aeronatica-Macchi, forming Aermacchi Harley-Davidson, a European division that will produce small, single cylinder motorcycles.
In this year of Brad Andres’ 1st place finish at the Daytona 200, the top 14 finishers are also riding Harley-Davidson 750 KR models.
1961 – Introduction of the Sprint model.
1962 – Harley-Davidson purchases 60 percent of the stock in the Tomahawk Boat Manufacturing Company. H-D recognizes the rising relevance of fiberglass in motorcycle production, and begins manufacturing its own components. As a result, the Tomahawk Division is established and is operational as a Harley-Davidson facility by 1963.
1963 – Ralph White resumes the winning of the Daytona 200 for Harley-Davidson, again on a 750 KR motorcycle.
1964 – Roger Reiman wins the AMA Grand National Championship for Harley-Davidson. Reiman also scores the first of back-to-back Daytona 200 victories on a 750 KR.
The three-wheeled Servi-Car becomes the very first Harley-Davidson motorcycle to receive an electric starter.
1965 –The Electra-Glide® replaces the Duo-Glide and is updated with electric starter. The Electra-Glide is the first FL available with electric start, and the Sportster® line would receive electric starters soon after.
In a Streamliner powered by a 250cc Sprint CR racing engine, George Roeder shatters the speed records for Class A and Class C runs, averaging 177 miles per hour.
Harley-Davidson dirt track racer Bart Markel wins the AMA Grand National Championship in 1965 and 1966.
1966 – The first of the “Shovelhead” engines is introduced on the Electra-Glide models, replacing the Panhead.
1968 – Cal Rayborn wins the first of back-to-back victories at the Daytona 200 on a 750 KR model.
1969 – Harley-Davidson merges with the American Machine and Foundry Company (AMF), a longtime producer of leisure products.
Mert Lawill wins the AMA Grand National Championship for team Harley-Davidson in dirt track racing.
1970 – In consideration of new AMA rules for Class C racing, a new Sportster®-based motorcycle, the XR-750 racer is introduced.
1971 – In response to the customizing craze, Harley-Davidson introduces the FX 1200 Super Glide®, which combined a sporty front end (similar to that of the XL series) with the frame and powertrain of the FL series. A new class of motorcycle, the cruiser, is born.
First year of Harley-Davidson snowmobile production.
1972 – The new, more powerful, more reliable aluminum alloy XR-750 debuts. It becomes the dominant dirt track racer through the next three decades. Dirt track racer Mark Brelsford wins the AMA Grand National Championship on the XR-750 this year.
1973 – Motorcycle production is upgraded when all assembly operations are moved to a modern 400,000 square foot plant in York, Penn. All other production operations remain in Milwaukee and Tomahawk. The Capitol Drive plant in Milwaukee begins production of engines.
1975 – The first of four more consecutive years of Harley-Davidson AMA Grand National Championships in dirt track racing. Gary Scott wins in 1975. The following three years are won by racing legend Jay Springsteen.
1977 – Harley-Davidson introduces the FXS Low Rider® to the public in Daytona Beach. With drag style handlebars, unique engine and paint treatments, the Low Rider lives up to its name by placing the rider in a lowered seating position than was typical. Later in the same year, Willie G. Davidson’s dynamic version of the Sportster, the Cafe Racer, is released.
1979 – Introduction of the FXEF Fat Bob, “Fat” because of the dual gas tanks, “Bob” for the bobbed fenders.
1980 – Harley-Davidson debuts the FLT with its vibration dampening, rubber-isolated drivetrain and unique trailing front fork. The FLT also debutes an engine and five-speed transmission that are hard bolted together.
A kevlar belt replaces the chain as the final drive. The belt is cleaner running, and needs less adjustments and maintenance. It isn’t long before belt final drive is standard on all Harley-Davidson® motorcycles.
The AMA Grand National Championship in dirt track racing goes to yet another Harley-Davidson racer, Randy Goss.
In honor of the historic Sturgis motorcycle rally, Harley-Davidson releases the FXB Sturgis model, employing belt drive, black chrome appointments and 80 cubic inch engine.
The FXWG Wide Glide is introduced for the 1980 model year.
1981 – On February 26, thirteen Harley-Davidson senior executives sign a letter of intent to purchase Harley-Davidson Motor Company from AMF. By mid-June, the buyback is official, and the phrase “The Eagle Soars Alone” becomes a rallying cry.
Scott Parker begins racing for team Harley-Davidson on the AMA dirt track circuit. He will become the most successful racer in Harley-Davidson history, accumulating 93 career victories and, more incredibly, winning 9 Grand National Champion titles in a 10 year period.
1982 – More innovations demonstrate a new commitment to quality, such as the FXR/FXRS Super Glide® II with its rubber-isolated, five-speed powertrain and the welded and stamped frame for the new Sportster® models.
The top three finishers in the AMA Grand National Championship are Ricky Graham, Jay Springsteen and Randy Goss. This begins a two year run of dirt track Championship wins for Harley-Davidson. Goss takes the Championship in 1983.
The Materials As Needed (MAN) application is introduced to production. Generally, this means that parts and raw materials are purchased and built only as they are required. This dramatically lowers production costs and improves quality.
1983 – Harley-Davidson successfully petitions the International Trade Commission (ITC) for tariff relief, which is granted April 1, 1983. The tariff, scheduled to end five years later, is placed on all imported Japanese motorcycles 700cc or larger as a response to Japanese motorcycle manufacturers stockpiling inventories of unsold motorcycles in the United States.
One of Harley-Davidson’s most unique endeavors begins: Harley Owners Group®. Fondly referred to as H.O.G.®, the Group immediately becomes the largest factory-sponsored motorcycle club in the world. Within six years, H.O.G. membership soars to more than 90,000. By the year 2000, it exceeds 500,000 members.
Dirt track racer Randy Goss wins the AMA Grand National Championship this year.
1984 – Harley-Davidson unveils the 1340cc V²® Evolution® engine on five models including the all-new Softail®. The result of seven years of development, the Evolution engine produces more power at every speed, runs cooler, cleaner and is oil-tight. Also witnessed is the debut of the Softail design and its trend-setting method of “hiding” the motorcycle’s rear shock absorbers.
1986 – In another bold styling and engineering move, Harley-Davidson releases the Heritage Softail®.
The Motor Company is listed on the American Stock Exchange, the first time Harley-Davidson is publicly traded since 1969, the year of the AMF merger.
The Sportster® motorcycle line receives the Evolution V-twin engine.
To diversify its holdings, Harley-Davidson purchases Holiday Rambler Corporation, producer of quality motor homes.
1987 – Harley-Davidson is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Harley-Davidson makes both business and American history. H-D petitions the International Trade Commission for early termination of the five-year tariffs on heavyweight motorcycles. In effect, the move demonstrated confidence in H-D’s ability to compete in the marketplace.
Harley-Davidson begins the “Buy Back Program,” for the XLH 883 Sportster, which offers full trade-in value within two years on either a model FL or FX.
1988 – The springer front end returns in the FXSTS Springer® Softail®. Also introduced is the Sportster 1200. Harley-Davidson celebrates its 85th Anniversary with a Homecoming in Milwaukee, attended by over 60,000 enthusiasts.
The Harley-Davidson Traveling Museum hits the road, displaying memorabilia, classic Harley-Davidson motorcycles and the rich history of the Harley-Davidson rider.
Scott Parker wins the first of his nine AMA Grand National Championships. His total domination is unprecedented in the history of the sport of dirt track motorcycle racing.
1990 – Upon its introduction, the FLSTF Fat Boy® almost instantaneously becomes a modern legend of motorcycle design.
1991 – Installation of a $31 million state of the art paint facility begins at the York, PA, factory. It becomes fully operational in 1992.
The Dyna line of motorcycles debuts with the 1991 FXDB Dyna Glide Sturgis®.
1993 – Harley-Davidson celebrates its 90th Anniversary in Milwaukee with a Family Reunion. An estimated 100,000 people ride in a parade of motorcycles.
Harley-Davidson buys a minority interest in the Buell Motorcycle Company. Erik Buell created the Company to manufacture American sport motorcycles using Harley-Davidson® XL 883 and 1200 engines.
1994 – Harley-Davidson enters Superbike racing with the introduction of the VR1000, a dual overhead cam, liquid-cooled motorcycle.
The classically-styled FLHR Road King® is introduced.
1995 – The 30th Anniversary Ultra Classic® Electra Glide® becomes the first production Harley-Davidson motorcycle to include sequential port electronic fuel injection. 1996 – A new, state-of-the-art Parts and Accessories Distribution Center opens in Franklin, WI. By the beginning of 1997, all inventory is moved from the original warehouse at Juneau Avenue to the new 250,000-sq.-ft. facility.
1997 – A new 217,000-sq.-ft. Product Development Center opens next to the Capitol Drive plant in Milwaukee. The building is dedicated to Willie G. Davidson.
Powertrain Operations at Capitol Drive expanded its capacity by moving FL engine and transmission production to a newly purchased plant located in Menomonee Falls. XL engines and transmissions, as well as Genuine Parts Manufacturing, remain at Capitol Drive.
A new 330,000-sq.-ft. plant in Kansas City produces its first Sportster.
1998 – Harley-Davidson celebrates its 95th Anniversary. 140,000 plus riders are warmly received by Milwaukee to help with the celebration.
A new assembly facility opens in Manaus, Brazil, the first operations outside of the U.S.
Harley-Davidson buys a remaining 49% interest in Buell Motorcycle Company. Erik Buell is named Chairman of Buell operations.
1999 – The Touring and Dyna motorcycle families receive the new Twin Cam 88® engine.
2000 – The FXSTD Softail® Deuce™ is introduced to the immediate delight of riders and the motorcycle media.
The 2000 model year Softail® models are outfitted with the Twin Cam 88B™ engine, a counter-balanced version of the Twin Cam 88.
Fuel injection is unveiled as a feature new to the Softail line of motorcycles for the 2001 model year.
Buell introduces the Blast®, a single-cylinder motorcycle, for the 2000 model year. The Blast receives excellent reviews. It’s introduced in tandem with the Rider’s Edge® Academy of Motorcycling, a beginner’s rider course available through Harley-Davidson and Buell dealerships.
2001 – The VRSCA V-Rod® is introduced for the 2002 model year. Inspired by the VR-1000 racing motorcycle, the V-Rod is Harley-Davidson’s first motorcycle to combine fuel injection, overhead cams and liquid cooling, and delivers 115 horsepower.
Harley-Davidson Racing announces the latest addition to the team: 17 year old Jennifer Snyder, the first woman to win a national event in the Formula USA National Dirt Track Series.
Harley-Davidson announces expansions at the Product Development Center (Milwaukee), as well as Tomahawk, WI, and York, PA, facilities.
2002 – The all-new Buell® Firebolt® storms onto the scene.
The Open Road Tour debuts in Atlanta, GA, in July to celebrate the upcoming Harley-Davidson 100th Anniversary.
2003 – Buell Motorcycle Company unleashes the Lightning® XB9S.
More than 250,000 people come to Milwaukee for the final stop of the Open Road Tour and the Harley-Davidson 100th Anniversary Celebration and Party.
2004 – For the 2004 model year, the Sportster® family models receive rubber engine mounting, a new frame, and a wider rear tire. Some Sportster® models receive a redesigned gas tank.
The FLHRSI Road King® Custom is introduced. With its low rear suspension and wide handlebars, the FLHRSI brings a beach look to a classic Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Andrew Hines of the Screamin’ Eagle®/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson drag racing team clinches his first NHRA Powerade Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship at age 21, the youngest champion in NHRA history.
2005 – The XL 883L Sportster® 883 Low brings a lowered seating position to the Sportster® line.
The FLSTNI Softail® Deluxe adds a sleek look to the Softail® line and a paint scheme reminiscent of 1939 Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Also, the FLSTSC/I Softail® Springer® Classic revives looks from the late 1940s.
Andrew Hines wins his second straight NHRA Powerade Pro Stock Motorcycle Championship. G.T. Tonglet, also of the Screamin’ Eagle®/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson team, places second.
Harley-Davidson and the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) mark the 25th anniversary of their partnership.
2006 – The first of the 6-speed transmissions are made available on 2006 model year Dyna™ motorcycles. Also joining the Dyna™ family is the FXDB/I Street Bob™.
The 2006 model year includes the all-new FLHX/I Street Glide™, a lower profile touring motorcycle.
Harley-Davidson unveils plans for an all-new museum in Milwaukee, scheduled for opening in 2008.
Harley-Davidson appoints Beijing Feng Huo Lun (FHL) as the first authorized Harley-Davidson dealer on mainland China.
2007 – Eddie Krawiec joins the Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson NHRA Pro Stock Team.
Kenny Coolbeth wins his second consecutive AMA Flat Track Twins Championship.
The XL 1200N Nightster arrives on the scene with black rims, fork gaiters, and side mount license plate holder.
Announced for the 2008 model year, the new FXCWC Rocker introduces Harley-Davidson’s first swingarm-mounted rear fender and 2-into-1 Trick seat.
2008 – The Touring family now has an all new frame, providing longer wheelbase, lower seating position and better maneuverability.
The all new Harley-Davidson Museum opens in Milwaukee on July 12. Located at 6th and Canal streets, the Museum showcases hundreds of classic and custom motorcycles, interactive exhibits and never-before-seen films and photographs.
In keeping with tradition, hundreds of thousands of riders from around the world converge on Milwaukee to celebrate Harley-Davidson’s 105th Anniversary. Riders and dealers raise more than $6.7 million for MDA. Entertainment includes the Foo Fighters and Bruce Springsteen. That same weekend, HOG marks 25 years with its own party.
Kenny Coolbeth clinches his third consecutive Grand National Championship. On the drag strip, Eddie Krawiec wins the fourth NHRA Pro Stock title for Harley-Davidson in five years.
2009 – Harley-Davidson announces expansion into India.
The AMA Flat Track team wins yet another Grand National Championship, this time with Jared Mees at the top.
The 2009 model year brings the first three-wheeler for public purchase in the new FLHTCUTG Tri Glide Ultra Classic. Also new is the history-inspired Cross Bones, a bobbed factory custom.
2010 – The XL Forty-Eight is introduced, recalling the raw, custom Sportsters of earlier days.
Seth Enslow on a Harley-Davidson XR1200 breaks the world record for a long distance motorcycle jump on a Harley-Davidson at 183.7 feet. Previously, the record was proudly held by Bubba Blackwell (1999) and Evel Kneivel (1975).
