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Ken Schmidt
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Biography Highlights
- Brand Differentiation is a Choice: Ken Schmidt shows businesses how to break from the ordinary by embracing what makes them uniquely memorable.
- Human Connection Drives Success: Drawing from Harley-Davidson, he highlights the power of humanizing brands to build loyalty and advocacy.
- Unconventional Strategies for Advantage: Through his book, podcast, and training, he challenges industry norms to drive lasting impact.
Biography
Meet Ken Schmidt
It’s an impersonal, copycat world, where so many products and services are seen as easily-replaced, indistinct commodities. Standing out is a choice fueled by the right mindset and a willingness to tackle complacency. Ken Schmidt knows these challenges firsthand and gained acclaim for his role in the extraordinary turnaround of the legendary Harley-Davidson Motor Company. Ken helped transform the company’s competitiveness by proposing three key strategic questions and shifting its narrative to distinguish their brand.
While times have changed, what humans want and need from the businesses they buy from and work for hasn’t. But most businesses don’t know how to capitalize on those basic human needs and leverage them for competitive advantage. In his high-energy speeches, Ken inspires companies and individuals to shift their thinking and ride a path to success by becoming memorable – not for what they do or what they make, but who they are. Because when customers can’t associate human qualities with a business, they’re quick to jump to lower-priced alternatives.
Ken is author of Make Some Noise: The Unconventional Road to Dominance. He’s also host of the Tailgating with Geniuses podcast and co-founder of Torque Sessions Leadership Training. In all of his endeavors, Ken brings an unconventional perspective that helps organizations and individuals reframe how they engage with their marketplace. And have fun doing it.
Ken Schmidt’s career in the motorcycle industry began in 1985 as a specialist in corporate positioning and media relations for the then-struggling Harley-Davidson. He was tasked with helping the company restore its image, improve its competitiveness, and create demand for its motorcycles. Within a few short years, sales of Harley-Davidson motorcycles skyrocketed, and the company returned to prominence as one of the most respected, profitable, and frequently reported-on companies in the world.
In 1990, Ken became director of Harley-Davidson’s corporate and financial communications, working directly with the company’s CEO and CFO to radically reposition every aspect of the company’s go-to-market strategies to move the company from its historic product-first mentality to its now famous people-first mentality. Serving as Harley’s primary spokesperson to the media and the financial communities, he frequently appeared in mainstream and business media to offer insights on leveraging human behavioral drivers to attract customers, build loyalty and foster passionately vocal marketplace advocacy. His expertise and success at Harley-Davidson ultimately led to consulting assignments and speaking invitations from all over the world.
In 1997, Ken left Harley-Davidson to take an ownership position with a highly successful Chicago-based marketing firm, VSA Partners. In addition to Harley-Davidson, VSA served a virtual who’s who of the world’s best-known brands. In 1999, he sold his portion of VSA to start his own business, Ken Schmidt Company, to combine two of his greatest passions, motorcycling
and speaking. He uses motorcycles as a metaphor to expose people to proven ideas and concepts they’ve likely never imagined.
In addition to speaking and consulting, Ken is co-founder of Torque Sessions Leadership Training and is also the host of the popular podcast Tailgating with Geniuses, wherein he talks with some of the most innovative and successful leaders in a variety of industries to discuss their unique perspectives on leadership, major challenges, and success.
Ken authored “Make Some Noise: The Unconventional Road to Dominance,” which gives business leaders an easy-to-follow roadmap for improving their competitiveness, using many of the techniques he championed at Harley-Davidson. He considers his work on “100 Years of Harley-Davidson,” a global bestseller, to be one of his greatest and most rewarding achievements.
After all he has accomplished, Ken remains committed to his philosophy of standing out, taking risks, and having fun in both his personal and professional life. He says, “Never do what’s expected, make yourself as noticeably different as possible, and have a lot more fun than you’re supposed to.”
Videos
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Media, podcast appearances and interviews
Popular Talks
MAKE SOME NOISE: CHANGE DIRECTIONS, OPEN THE THROTTLE AND DOMINATE YOUR MARKETPLACE
“Being known for what you do – no matter how well you do it – makes you a replaceable commodity,” says Ken Schmidt. “Competitive dominance comes when your market knows you for who you are, associates you with positive human attributes and rewards you with their loyalty.” This talk is rooted in the highly unconventional ideas that drove Harley-Davidson’s transformation and unlikely return to dominance, as Ken and his team shifted the company away from its commoditized “product-first” mindset to a fiercely committed “people-first” mindset that takes advantage of key drivers of human behavior. Ken’s high energy, humor, amazing visuals and actionable take-aways abound as he shows businesses of every size and scope how to tap into the behavioral drivers that ignite employee and customer passion, build marketplace preference and fuel tattoo-worthy levels of customer loyalty.
AUDIENCE TAKEAWAYS
- Discover the three questions that most directly impact your reputation and competitiveness
- Transform your company mindset toward being known for who you are vs. what you do
- Master how to harness drivers of human behavior to create preference and loyalty
- Uncover the secret to being memorable so customers refer you to others
- Learn the true meaning of misunderstood terms like “customer experience” and “loyalty”
REV UP YOUR REPUTATION: BE MEMORABLE, PREFERRED AND TALKED ABOUT
What does it take to get your customers to share compelling stories about your business and recommend it to others? Specifically, what would you want them to say? Engaging stories, paired with distinct and unexpected language, are highly memorable and help shape perceptions, boost advocacy, and drive demand. Ken Schmidt knows that powerful stories are essential for distancing your business from competitors and building a rock-solid reputation. In this presentation, Schmidt outlines simple, actionable strategies for companies to develop their own distinctive voice and create stories that resonate, leading to lasting differentiation and loyal, vocal customers. What are your customers saying about you right now?
AUDIENCE TAKEAWAYS
- Elevate the likeability of your business by crafting stories that delight customers
- Uncover the three core elements behind every memorable story that’s ever been told
- Learn how to craft vocabulary that breathes new life into the seemingly familiar or mundane
- Find your three most memorable and distinguishing storylines
- Discover simple tools that encourage employees to become storytellers
FULL THROTTLE – SHIFT GEARS, STAND OUT, AND CRUISE TO THE TOP
“No matter what we sell, make, or do, we’re a commodity to people who don’t know us,” says Ken Schmidt. Companies who understand that and change their mindset to engage customers differently will win big. Authenticity stands out in today’s impersonal world and Ken unpacks a roadmap for creating an unshakable emotional connection with customers. This talk is rooted in the ideas that drove Harley-Davidson’s incredible transformation and return to dominance as Ken and his team led the company’s shift away from focusing on product features and instead leaned into the key drivers of human behavior. As it did, H-D’s sales, profitability, and loyalty skyrocketed. Ken’s high energy and humor punctuate this talk as he shows businesses of every size and scope how to align everyone in the organization around a set of values that ignite customer passion, maximize sales growth, and stand out in their marketplace.
SAMPLE TAKEAWAYS:
- Discover the three questions that should drive every decision to protect and enhance your reputation
- Transform the company mindset towards being known for who you are vs. what you do
- Harness the three drivers of human behavior to create unshakable loyalty
- Gain ways to be memorable so customers tell your story to others – in person and on social media
- Elevate your business by humanizing it and delivering delight
GEAR UP: FAST TRACK YOUR CAREER
“How do you want to be talked about and what are you doing to make that happen?” Ken Schmidt reminds people that we are a story-telling species and getting noticed by customers or even in your own organization is about being memorable. Saying or doing what people expect doesn’t make you – or your business – stand out. In this talk Ken shows how to make a lasting impact. It starts with answering three key questions about how you want to be remembered. Ken reminds audiences that what people remember about you is dependent on how you make them feel about themselves. It’s more important to be interested – not interesting. Ken shares lessons learned from a celebrated career at Harley-Davidson and beyond to show how to build a personal brand that will fast track your career in today’s dynamic landscape.
SAMPLE TAKEAWAYS:
- Identify your unique qualities and how you want to be remembered
- Hear ways to make others feel good about themselves
- Learn how to take an active role in meetings and actively participate
- Understand that by encouraging others to share their stories, you can then share yours
- Ways to continuously improve your personal brand by focusing on R&R (Remember & Repeat)
Ken'S
TESTIMONIALS
Books
Make Some Noise: The Unconventional Road to Dominance
Speaker Bureaus and Talent Agencies
