Brand Audit - Toyota Motor Corporation - Japan

Candidate Numbers: 1500946

1507074

1503867

1508588

Toyota

“It is in Toyota’s DNA that mistakes made once will not be repeated” – Akio Toyoda

Toyota • • •

BRAND AUDIT AND MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLAN � 1

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 3 Brand Health ....................................................................................................................................................... 4

BRAND INVENTORY ............................................................................................................................................... 5

Global Logo’s: ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 Trademarks ......................................................................................................................................................... 7 Localization ......................................................................................................................................................... 8

BRANDING STRATEGY & POSITION ...................................................................................................................... 9

Country of Origin .............................................................................................................................................. 11 Pricing ............................................................................................................................................................... 12 Products ............................................................................................................................................................ 12 Distribution ....................................................................................................................................................... 13

COMMUNICATION ........................................................................................................................... 14 MEDIA CAMPAIGN .............................................................................................................................................. 14

SOCIAL MEDIA ..................................................................................................................................................... 14

SWOT ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................................................. 16

BRAND UNIQUENESS ........................................................................................................................ 17 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................... 17

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT: ........................................................................................................................ 17

COMPETITORS ...................................................................................................................................................... 17

BRAND ATTRIBUTES ............................................................................................................................................. 18

BRAND EXPLORATORY ..................................................................................................................... 20 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................... 20

CONSUMER BASED BRAND EQUITY .................................................................................................................... 22

Brand Salience .................................................................................................................................................. 23 Brand Performance ........................................................................................................................................... 25 Imaginery Element ............................................................................................................................................ 27 Judgment .......................................................................................................................................................... 28

Toyota • • •


Feelings ............................................................................................................................................................. 29 Resonance ......................................................................................................................................................... 30

EMPLOYEE BASED EQUITY ................................................................................................................................... 32

MENTAL MAP ................................................................................................................................... 33

RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................................................................... 34

COMMUNICATION PLAN .................................................................................................................. 36 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................... 36

OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................................................................... 36

TARGET AUDIENCE ............................................................................................................................................. 37

COMMUNICATION TOOLS ................................................................................................................................... 37

TV ADVERTISEMENT ........................................................................................................................................... 38

MY TOYOTA -‐‑ GLOBAL MOBILE APPLICATION ................................................................................................. 41

REFERENCE ....................................................................................................................................... 50

APPENDIX ........................................................................................................................................ 63

Toyota • • •


Introduction

Toyota has been named 8th best global brand in 2014 by

Interbrand and is ranked No. 1 in the automobile sector ahead of

brands like Mercedes-‐Benz, BMW and Honda, moving from 10th to

8th position from 2012 to 2013 with a 20% increase considering

previous year. (Interbrand, 2014). Toyota is the first automobile

manufacturer to produce 8.3 million vehicles per year (OICA, 2014).

Part of Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) which was founded in

1937 the brand has the following global vision.

“Toyota will lead the way to the future of mobility, enriching lives

around the world with the safest and most responsible way of

moving people.

Through our commitment quality, constant innovation and respect

for the plant, we aim to exceed expectations and be rewarded with

a smile.

We will meet our challenging goals by engaging the talent and

passion of people, who believe there is always a better way”

(Toyota-‐Global,2014)

Toyota • • •


Toyota brand promise: (Toyota, 2014)

1. Quality

2. Durability

3. Reliability

Brand Health

David Jobber (2003) points out effective brand building can obtain benefits in premium prices,

achieving distribution more readily and sustaining high stable sales and profits though brand loyalty.

Interbrand valued the total brand equity of Toyota at $42,392m in 2014 it also showed the brand

managed to capture 20% of the total automotive sector (Figure 1) (Interbrand Ranking,2014).

Interbrand states growth in markets like US, Europe and China has led to a contribution in brand value,

Toyota’s main focus has been on efficiencies and they have developed a reputation as being a solid and

trustworthy brand known for its high quality products but new campaigns are looking to bring about

the brand’s personality. (Interbrand,2014)

Figure 2 shows how the brand has been able to maintain steady brand value growth increasing value

each year even though the brand was fined USD $1.2 billion by the U.S. Justice Department in March

2014 and recalled nearly 6.4 million vehicles the brand still managed to keep its 77year-‐old reputation

in tact (Interbrand, 2014).

The company has seen increase in net revenues over the last few years (Figure 3) but as shown in

Figure 4 the sales by region in 2014 are considerably different dependent on region and Europe only

accounts for 9.3%. (Toyota, 2014)

Toyota • • •


The first 6 months of 2014 shows car sales in Europe according to ACEA in units (Figure 5). Toyota has a

lot of competition from other brands even though the brand holds the most brand value it is ranked at

position 12.

David Leggett (2014) suggests the problems in Europe can be traced to the recession which caused

major profitability issues and the recall issues along with the 2011 natural disaster in Japan damaged

suppliers and impacted the high yen he also states Toyota in Europe would endure another 5 years of

losses.

Brand Inventory

Global Logo’s:

There are three ovals in the logo that are combined in a horizontally symmetrical configuration. The

two perpendicular ovals inside the larger oval represent the heart of the customer and the heart of the

company. They are overlapped to represent a mutually beneficial relationship and trust between each

other. (Toyota, 2014)

(Source: Toyota Global Website)

Toyota • • •


The overlapping of the two perpendicular ovals inside the outer oval symbolize "T" for Toyota, as well

as a steering wheel, representing the vehicle itself. The outer oval symbolizes the world embracing

Toyota. The space in the background within the logo exhibits the "infinite values" which Toyota

conveys to its customers: superb quality, value beyond expectation, joy of driving, innovation, and

integrity in safety, the environment and social responsibility. (Toyota, 2014). The ellipses are made in

either red with a white background or seen as metallic. (Famous Logos, 2013)


The font of the Toyota logo is simple roman style saying ‘Toyota’ (Famous Logos, 2013) using Avenir 95

Black font. The official colors for Toyota are red, black and white. The Toyota symbol mark in its basic

form appears in Toyota red on white or black backgrounds. (Toyota Racing TRD, 2014).

Toyota • • •



The preferred display of the symbol mark is in combination with the Toyota corporate trade name logo

in either a horizontal or two-‐line vertical configuration. (Toyota Racing TRD, 2014)

Trademarks

In 1936 the Toyota name was formed after a selection meeting decided to change from Toyoda due to

3 reasons, Toyota was visually simpler, less cluttered and sounded more pleasant the second reason

was the eight stroke count in Japanese was associated with wealth and good fortune and thirdly the

Toyoda name also implied the company’s growth from a family business into a broader based social

entity.

Toyota • • •


(Toyota, 2014) (Source: Toyota Global Website)

Localization

Toyota believes localization is necessary to achieve cost competitiveness so are maximizing local R&D

functions (Toyota, 2014). With a policy of "producing vehicles where the demand exists" Toyota tried

to localize their production bases. Kotler highlighted Toyota’s combination of manufacturing speed and

flexibility is behind its success, the plants are able to make up to 8 different models at the same time

which has shown an increase in productivity and market response. The company aims to customize

cars for local markets by integrating its assembly plants into one giant network (Kotler, pg397).

Figure 6 shows how the brand has localized its taglines in countries.

Toyota • • •


(Figure 6)

Branding Strategy & Position

Schultz, Larsen et al (2002) states Toyota adopted a branding strategy using the corporate name

combined with individual brand names and modifiers as using the Toyota name allowed access to

global associations that consumers had towards the company, comprising of reliability, dependability,

and high quality and their sub brand like Corolla,RAV4 allowed Toyota to develop separate brand

images. Ritson (2010) has pointed out how Toyota’s sub brand architecture approach could be a major

weakness as cars linked to a single corporate brand could mean that problems with any vehicle at

Toyota affect’s sales across the whole range.

The brand is founded on its corporate philosophy “Customer first” and “Quality first” since the

introduction of statistical quality control (SQC) in 1949 it uses Total Quality Management (TQM) based

Toyota • • •


on its principals kaizen (continuous improvement) and ‘total improvement’. The brands delivers its

DNA “Quality, Durability and Reliability" in its products and uses various flow production system that is

based on customer demand with minimum downtime. Strategy like "just in time"

and “jidoka principal” has helped to lower the inventory and detect problem in the production and halt

the production. (Toyota, 2014)

In 1966 the Higashi-‐Fuji Technical Center was built to test high-‐speed durability, high-‐speed

maneuverability, braking performance, vibration, and noise. (Toyota, 2014). Toyota product leadership

campaign highlighted 6 key themes including

It also came second in the Interbrand’s 2014 Best Global Green Brands after Ford with the help of their

hybrid models. (Ranking the brands, 2014).

In order to operate in the global market, the company has formed seven specific guidelines and

principles shown in (Figure 7).

Toyota has outperformed competitors in quality, reliability, productivity, cost reduction, sales and

market share growth, and market capitalization. “The insight that Toyota applies underlying principles

Toyota • • •


rather than specific tools and processes explains why the company continues to outperform its

competitors” (Hbr,2014).

Toyota’s philosophy of “the right vehicle in the right place” has provided guidance for them to segment

and target markets (Toyota Global, 2014). Toyota adopted demographic and psychographic

segmentation, segmenting all countries over the world as its market (Bhandari, 2010). The brand

positioning and market segmentation are supported by variety of product attributes. Toyota’s product

range targets different age group and professionals i.e. the Land Cruiser targets entrepreneur’s and

outback adventure seekers and Prius hybrid targets eco-‐friendly individuals (Bhandari, 2010).

Toyota segmented and targeted its market based on the condition of market, purchasing capacity,

economy and consumer’s choices. The marketing strategy is designed at three levels – global level,

regional level and national level which is based on customer needs and choices. Toyota focuses its

brand in market with excitement, innovative, comfort and kindness. Toyota claims that its products fit

for a harmonized environment and feelings (Bhandari, 2010).

Country of Origin

Supanvanij, J, & Amine, L (2000) investigates country of origin and brand name of a product and find

there are extrinsic product signs that are distinct from inherent attribute and physical product

characteristic. Although, neither bears on product performance, they can affect the consumer’s

perception on quality, style, and price. Another research shows that Toyota owners, despite the recall,

believe that “Japanese automotive brands are superior to US brands when it comes to reliability and

safety” (Mittal et al., 2010).

Toyota • • •


Pricing

Bendixen et al. (2003) states higher brand equity allows companies to charge a price premium as it is

viewed as a source of competitive advantage. However, Taylor et al. (1998) argued that ‘depending on

the type of market, the brand’s positioning in the market and current market share, firms with high

market share may benefit from economies of scale, allowing them to price lower than competitors

with a smaller market share’. Charles.W.L.Hill et al. (2013) states Toyota’s taken advantage of its low

cost structure to produce a range of competitive priced vehicles tailored to a range of different car

market segments.

Toyota positioned itself as an economic brand in the Europe market and we found Toyota uses

competitive pricing to compete with brands for example Toyota priced compact car model Yaris Active

at £9,995 which is lower than its competitor Hyundai i20 Active 5 at £11,151 although both have

similar features (Hyundai UK , 2014). When comparing the price with premium brands Mercedes Benz

on hatchback A Class model, Mercedes Benz is setting a price higher than Toyota Yaris at £20,715

(Mercedes-‐Benz UK, 2014) this suggests that the pricing strategy of Toyota is consistent with its brand

positioning in Europe market.

Products

Toyota’s product portfolio captures 5 sectors including Cars , MPV’s/Vans, SUVs, commercial and

Hybrids, their products are designed with the help of local employees, to suit the tastes of the markets.

(Kotler, pg 681), Toyota has a variety of models introduced at different price levels. Toyota provides

services which offers consumers periodic maintenance contracts along with fleet management

solutions and a global Spare parts network. (Figure 8)

Toyota • • •


Distribution

Toyota has 3 methods of distributing: (Toyota, 2014)

In Japan:

Toyota conducts business with 52 overseas manufacturing companies in 27 regions and countries and

vehicles are sold in more than 170 countries and regions (Toyota Global, 2014) (Figure 8.1) . At the end

of 2011, Toyota had global network of 172 overseas distributors. These distributors were responsible

for executing local sales strategies, this enabled Toyota to respond quickly to market changes and fill

demand. (Toyota, 2014).

Toyota

Vehicle Dealers: Sell and provide after-sales

servicing of vehicles

Parts Distributors: Distribute repair parts &

automotive parts and accessories.

Rent-a-Lease Dealers: Rent & Lease Toyota

vehicles

Toyota • • •


Communication

Toyota follows the Integrated Marketing communication strategy and uses many communication

channels including social media, advertisements on TV, newspapers, magazines and applications the

brand has also been associated with celebrity brand endorsers based on the region. (Toyota, 2014)

Media Campaign

Broadcast

Toyota has been broadcasting its media on TV through various channels in different languages based

on the region. Its Advert are very market focused based on its region. (Toyota Global, 2014)

Print and Digital

The print advertising depicts people celebrating the joy of Toyota. These digital campaigns have been

done with various features and different entertainment including DJ’s battle, Beat boxing and other

competition.

The globalization and localization approach seems to be present in most of the communication

approaches adopted by Toyota we see many campaigns that are localized to regions or countries. In

USA Toyota moved the brand to show a playful approach with campaigns like “Moving Forward” which

have been very successful. However some product orientated campaigns like “Style never goes out of

Style” were deemed very unsuccessful as Toyota had product recall issues. (Baskin, 2013)

Social Media

Toyota has failed to communicate with people on Social Media platform like Facebook; YouTube and

Google+ as Toyota-‐Global is dramatically lowers than its competitors as per the Figure 9 -‐11. When

Toyota • • •


Toyota partnered with music festival’s this has resulted in attaining 32 million views of advertisements

through media and PR events (Reachnash, 2104).

Advertising budgets were carefully monitored due to ongoing economic instability resulting in Europe’s

year-‐to-‐date decrease of 3.4% 2012.(Huffingtonpost, 2014). From Figure 12 we have seen how the

advertising spend falls in Europe while global advertising revenues increased.

Figure 13 shows in 2013 the automotive industry in Europe only accounted for 10.1% of the total

advertising expenditure. (MarketLine, 2014).

Toyota have been the official sponsor for Formula 1 since their team debuted in 2002 and have been

participating in events, displaying their vehicle and concepts in Tokyo Motor Show, Geneva motor

show and Mondial de l'Automobile the top known motor show in the world. (Toyota, 2014)

Toyota • • •


SWOT Analysis

(Figure 14) (Armstrong et al, 2011) (Source: StrategicManagementInsight,2013)

Toyota • • •


Brand Uniqueness

Introduction

“Positioning is the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in

the minds of the target market” (Keller et al, 2011, pg 275-‐276).

“Quality, Dependability and Reliability” is the main value that a customer receives in Toyota product,

service and spare part. This is linked to Toyota’s core strategy “Kaizen” which provides continues

improvement and investment in Research and Development. Kaizen is based on Plan => Implement =>

Evaluate => Assess, which is a continued cycle of improvement (Figure 14.1). Toyota had adopted the

Kaizen approach over Kaikaku (Figure 14.2) as this strategy reduces the time to perfect the concept and

process of the vehicle to the service, it is used in every job level at Toyota as it helps people to manage

their work efficiently. Kaizen enables each person to act as a manager and to give constructive ideas to

ensure the process is complete. (Greg, 2009)

Research and Development:

The company operates R&D operations around the world under Toyota Technical Center (Figure 15) for

product planning, design, evaluation and prototype, the company spend $9.76 Billion in financial year

2013 which equated to 3.65% of their total sales. (Market Line, 2014; 5)

Competitors

Interbrand 2014 brand position in the automotive sector shows Toyota’s top 5 competitors as

Mercedes-‐Benz, BMW, Honda, Volkswagen and Ford (Figure 16).

Toyota’s uniqueness has less to do with products and is more about consumer’s perception.

(Leaninsider, 2008). The unique features and designs have provided customers with safety,

Toyota • • •


convenience and economic value, with a wide range of cars & prices the consumers have more choices

linked to their affordability this along with after sales services has built up the USP of

Toyota.(Peopalove, 2009).

Toyota brand competitors like Mercedes Benz are presented as being the best or nothing, with

supreme combination of fascination, perfection and responsibility. The brands premium quality is

reflected in luxury, design, quality and style and is pioneered in the field of safety. Their safety concept

is based on Prevention, Response, Protection, Rescue (Daimler, 2014). BMW – one of the high profile

luxury brands in the world (Carsdirect, 2014). Volkswagen presents their cars as luxury and convenient

(freedom-‐volkswagen, 2014) believing their USP is the art of “German Engineering”.

(Thehimalayantimes, 2014)

Honda is considered as a brand which provides comfort, quality and safety (Peopalove, 2014). Honda

cars in comparison to Toyota had small back seat, higher prices and lower fuel economy. Honda beats

Toyota in terms of efficiency, technology and stability, whereas Toyota is more spacious and low priced

in comparison to Honda (Schlee, 2014) and more reliable as it runs an average of 210,705 miles

whereas Honda’s average is only 209,001 and Ford is only 198,409 miles. (Becker, 2014). Ford has been

considered as most eco-‐friendly brand in the world by the Best Global Green Brands (Campbell, 2014)

and it has the highest loyalty rate in new vehicle buyers compared to Toyota and Mercedes (Burke,

2014). Ford has become the UK’s top selling car brand with high reliability (Carbuyer, 2014).

Please refer to Figure 17 for a detailed analysis.

Brand attributes

• Innovation

Toyota • • •


• Quality

• Durability

• Reliability

• Safety

• Eco-‐Friendly

• Hybrid

• Social Responsibility

• Locally manufactured

• Distinctive

• Defensibility

• Competitive prices

• Wide range of variant and products to fulfill every segment

• Low maintenance cost

• Fuel efficiency

Toyota • • •


Brand Exploratory

Introduction

A 2014 car brand perception Survey conducted by Consumer Reports (2014) showed how the overall

brand perception of Toyota scored more than all other brands. (Figure 18)

The survey found that Quality and safety were key factor when purchasing a new car 2 years in a row

(Figure 19).

(Figure 19)

The survey showed how Toyota scored the highest in Quality (Figure 20), value (Figure 21) and fuel

economy (Figure 22)

0 20 40 60 80 100

90 88 83 82 81 70 68 90 88 83 83 81

65 65

Important factors in buying a new car

2014 (%) 2013 (%)

Toyota • • •


23 21 19 19 19

2014 (%) BRAND -‐‑ QUALITY

Quality

25 20

16 21

18

TOYOTA FORD CHEVROLET HONDA KIA

2014 (%) BRAND -‐‑ VALUE

Value

44

26 33

22 20

2014 (%) BRAND -‐‑ FUEL ECONOMY

Fuel Economy

(Figure 20) (Figure 21)

(Figure 22)

Toyota • • •


Consumer Based Brand Equity

We conducted a consumer online survey with a sample size of 51 females and 65 males all between

the ages of 18 to 60 where our biggest sample size was at 64% between the age of 26-‐ 45. The aim of

the survey was to investigate consumer knowledge of the Toyota brand, a customer-‐based brand

equity (CBBE) model has been formed based on the results of our primary and secondary research.

(Figure 23) Source: Keller (2001)

Toyota • • •


Brand Salience

Being ranked number 1 of all automobile brands on Interbrand shows Toyota has high identifiable and

is a globally recognized brand. Our survey result shows 100% of respondents can recognize the Toyota

brand logo and have heard of Toyota.

(Figure 24)

68 people (59%) were also able to recall the brand promise of Quality, Durability and Reliability, we

believe this is due to the reason that Toyota has taken the localization approach hence why the global

brand promise has lower recognition than the logo.

23%

9%

68%

Toyota Brand Awareness

I have heard of them and have purchased their product

I have heard of them and plan to purchase their product

I have heard of them but never purchase their product

Toyota • • •


(Figure 25)

Our survey also showed how Toyota was perceived as an economy brand which is in line with the

Toyota brand positioning where it is competing with Ford and Honda.

(Figure 27)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Durability, Reliability and Quality

Luxury, Innovation and Reliability

Luxury, Invention and Performance

Technology, Design and Performance

Toyota Brand Promise

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Compact Economy Economy, Compact

Premium Premium, Economy

Toyota Position

Toyota • • •


Brand Performance

Research show that Toyota provides high quality, innovative and reliable vehicles (Aroq Limited, 2011

and Consumer Perception Report, 2014). Figure 28 shows Toyota ranked 4th in the UK in 2014 based on

reliability and durability.

Rank Make and Model Reliability Index Reliability Index

1 Daihatsu Very Good 37

2 Honda Very Good 41

3 Suzuki Very Good 48

4 Toyota Good 67

5 Chevrolet Good 80

6 Hyundai Good 85

7 Mazda Good 86

8 Ford Good 86

9 SKODA Good 90

10 Lexus Good 90

(Figure 28 )Source : Reliability Index, 2014

Consumer Report (2014) shows Toyota falls out of the top 10 automobile brand when people think of

‘Style’ and our sample showed only 14 people would associate Toyota as a stylish brand and more of

an affordable, reliable and family orientated brand (Figure 29).

Toyota • • •


(Figure 29)

According to Consumer Report (2014), Toyota is ranking at the top among the other automobile brand

where 25% of consumers think that Toyota is value for money (Figure 16). Our Survey showed how

people rated Toyota as excellent in performance, value for money and quality. (Figure 30).

79

4

60

8 13 14

38

55

1 3

Association

44

43

49

48

52

39

45

41

13

14

12

9

14

23

11

14

48

46

45

46

37

44

47

50

8

9

8

10

10

7

10

8

3

4

2

3

3

3

3

3

DURABILITY

PERFORMANCE

USER FRIENDLY

SAFETY

RELIABILITY

VALUE FOR MONEY

ECO-‐‑FRIENDLY

QUALITY

Toyota ATributes

Good Excellent Fair Poor Extremely Poor

Toyota • • •


(Figure 30)

Imaginery Element

In our survey 48% regarded Toyota as a family car and 13% as a business people car. Toyota also has a

long historical association with the era of family cars where the first corolla model was formed in 1966.

A milestone has been achieved by Toyota when they became the world’s first mass-‐producer in hybrid

cars (Blog Toyota UK, 2010).

(Figure 31)

Overall 24% of respondents are satisfied with all aspect of their experience with Toyota products.

Business people

Family people

Single people

Couple

Student

Pensioner

25

95

23

17

19

17

TOYOTA SEGMENTS

Toyota • • •


(Figure 32)

Judgment

Toyota is still perceived as a quality product beating other automobile brands even after the recall

issues (Consumer Report, 2014). The result from our survey shows that 47% of people think that the

quality of Toyota is above good (Figure 30). Its long history in the automobile industry and effective

service has created the likeability towards the brand which resulted in trustworthiness (Consumer

Report, 2014).

Our survey found people were able to recognize Toyota biggest competitor as Honda (83%) followed

by ford at 15% (Figure 32.1).

1% 22%

35%

24%

1%

17%

Toyota Satisfaction

Dissatisfied

Neutral

Not applicable

Satisfied

Very dissatisfied

Very satisfied

Toyota • • •


(Figure 32.1)

Our survey also found how Mercedes-‐Benz and BMW are regarded as the most valuable brands but

Toyota is seen as more valuable then Ford and Honda which are Toyota’s main competitors (Figure

32.2).

(Figure 32.2)

Feelings

Keller (2001) points out that there are six important types of feelings related to brand building. Based

on our survey, there is a feeling that the brand is represented as safe and protective (Figure 33).

Toyota • • •


(Figure 33)

Resonance

Research showed Toyota owners indicated a greater willingness to consider Toyota for purchase

compared to other brand as they found Toyota is one of the most reliable automobile brands (Mittal et

al., 2010). Research from Mittal et al. (2010) shows somehow the recall issues may have damaged the

brand image but Toyota owners are still showing loyalty to the brand however our survey showed only

16% would recommend Toyota to others (Figure 34).

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Playful Protected Proud Safe Sexy

Brand Feeling

Toyota • • •


(Figure 34)

The survey also found how only 12 people would consider buying a Toyota for their next car whereas

luxury brands like Audi and BMW ranked a lot higher.

16%

16%

35%

29%

4%

Toyota Recommendation

Definitely will

Might or might not

None of the above

Probably will

Probably will not

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

TOYOTA AUDI BMW FORD

HONDA VOLKSWAGEN LAND ROVER

MERCEDES-‐‑BENZ PORSCHE HYUNDAI

CHEVROLET

Consumer Next Purchase

Toyota • • •


(Figure 35)

Employee based Equity

We interviewed Toyota employees to find out an internal view of how the brand has been perceived

and problems they would consider issues at Toyota. When asked what challenges the brand faces in

growing UK market share the responses highlighted issues like lack of brand awareness as well as lack

of knowledge about Toyota standards due to the recall history and history of issues with parts, they

felt consumers were unable to understand the brand and what it stood for. It was also highlighted how

Toyota employees found entering the UK market later than other competing brands from German and

American manufactures meant they were unable to promote and deliver the message of the Japanese

brand, they felt the brand loyalty of the UK consumers was more for high end brands like VW, BMW

and Mercedes-‐Benz so the only way for them to position themselves in the UK was to go for a more

environmental friendly approach which would give people concession on taxes.

As we have seen there is a strong localization and globalization approach adopted by Toyota, we found

from employees how this has benefited growth of Toyota. The employees found that being taught to

respect and understand values of the countries and sending out study teams to countries to study

culture and norms as well as relocated talent helped the brand understand and grow in markets more

quickly by becoming one of the biggest manufactures this has been linked to the reason behind the

brands success.

Being a Japanese brand we wanted to find out what association’s employees had with the brand and

what attracted them to join Toyota, the survey found how the country of origin actually attracted

many employees to work for the company as they found the culture very different. They also felt the

Toyota • • •


company offered them many opportunities to learn and grow which led to employee loyalty towards

the brand.

Mental map

Toyota • • •


Recommendations

From the Toyota brand audit, we found that Toyota has relatively high brand equity in the automobile

industry. However we think that if Toyota wants to remain as one of the market leader they should

affirm on delivering their brand promise to consumers as only 59% of people from our survey knew

what the brand stood for (Figure 25). We suggest that Toyota can take an emotional and interactive

marketing route as an opportunity to entice consumers and increase their market share in Europe.

Toyota Durability

Quality

Reliability

Japanese

Trust

Innovative

Fuel Efficie

nt

Economic

spare part

Family Built to last Easy

maintainanc

e Resale

Value Eco-

Friendly

Hybrid

Protective

Safe

Toyota • • •


According to Muhammad Abdullah et al. (2012) effective marketing with emotions and sometimes a

balance of rational logic can help an organization build a better brand equity in the long run and also

help to sustain in the position of market leader. We have proposed a communication plan with

emotional TV advertisement to create greater brand preferences and purchase intentions. A study

from Biehal et al.,( 1992., MacKenzie et al., 1986, cited in Muhammad Abdullah at al. 2012) revealed

that “emotional advertisement has strong impact on the consumers’ attitude towards advertisement,

their attitude towards brand, which thus in turn have a well-‐built consequence on consumers purchase

intentions as compare to the informative advertisements”.Kotler et al. (2013) pointed out that TV

advertising can achieve a huge geographically exposure at a low cost per viewer. It also enables Toyota

to repeat the brand promise to consumers which is Quality, reliability and safety.

We also suggest implementing a well-‐designed and user-‐friendly global mobile application to have an

interactive mobile marketing connection. Kotler et al. (2013) mentioned that there are 6 billion mobile

phone and device users in the world and mobile marketing provides a growing method of gaining

direct access to targeted consumers. Moreover, brands that employ mobile marketing are usually

perceived as innovative and high tech (Ferris, 2007, cited in Smutkupt et al., 2012), leading to customer

perceptions of unique brand associations as Toyota can interact with the consumers and deliver their

brand promise at the same time.

We also suggest that to tackle the recall issue in Europe and to regain customer trust that Toyota

should start a campaign to provide all 2015 cars with a 200,000 miles warranty as we have seen Toyota

runs at an average of 210,705 miles. Toyota should also increase their social media presence as their

competitors (Figure 9-‐11) shows competitors have a stronger online presence.

Toyota • • •


Communication Plan

Introduction

Our objective is to deliver the brand promise of Toyota which is ‘Quality, Durability and Reliability’ and

to regain trust from consumers since there has been bad brand image due to Toyota’s recall issues. The

marketing communication activities are planned for the European market where we can see potential

growth opportunities in terms of increase in sales as Figure 4 shows Europe contributes to only 9.3% of

Toyota sales.

Objectives

• To increase the brand awareness and boost the consideration of Toyota as first choice instead

of other brand of vehicles.

• Deliver and reinforce the key messages of Toyota which is ‘Quality, Durability and Reliability to

consumers

• To change consumer’s perception on quality due to the recall crisis and build up customer

loyalty as it has dropped 11% points from 59.4 to 48.4 when Toyota first announced the recall

of car in 2010 (Well and Ammanath, 2010)

• To motivate consumers to find out more about Toyota by visiting the showroom, website, local

dealer, order brochures and order a test drive

• To provide more information and interaction with the brand

Toyota • • •


Target Audience

Target audience of this communication plan is middle class consumers as Toyota is positioned as an

economy brand and therefore we want to deliver the personality of the brand to middle class

consumer as they might already have knowledge or a connection with the brand.

Communication Tools

The communication tools that are chosen to reach the target audience are TV advertisement and

Mobile Application. TV advertisement is highly visible and able to create high impact brand awareness.

Pickton and Broderick (2005) point out that it has high creative appeals to sight, colour, movement and

sound. Furthermore it can generate an emotional and memorable advertisement which can faster

build a fan community (Reinartz and Saffert, 2013).

Presently Toyota has no global mobile application to support its customer pre-‐ sales and post-‐ sales,

they have four application, two gaming application (Social Network Racer and Hybrid Ninja) for

Facebook and two application for iPhone the (product 86 and ToyToyota) Toyota-‐ Global, 2014).

Therefore we have designed a mobile application to support the service and use it as a communication

tool to interact with consumers in different languages. Both TV advertisement and mobile applications

have the ability to demonstrate the product, create a strong image branding and generate high levels

of awareness (Pickton and Broderick, 2005).

A message of ‘Quality, Durability and Reliability’ is to be delivered to reflect Toyota’s global brand

position. We want to deliver a message that tells consumers the brand can produce high quality

products as the recall issue has damaged the brand image. Please see Figure 48 for detailed table.

Toyota • • •


TV Advertisement

Our TV advertisement is designed on a story demonstrating a family who own a high quality, durable

and reliable Toyota car. We have chosen to pitch this advertisement idea via a story board with 5

shots. The strategy is to emphasize that the Toyota standards are still the best in the industry by

reflecting on their long history of high quality and to recover from the recall issue.

Toyota • • •


Toyota • • •


The tone of voice for the TV advertisement is mellow and soft to create emotional connection. The car

model to be used for is Avensis and background song is an instrumental song known as ‘The journey’

which can accessed through YouTube (Youtube, 2009).

My Toyota -‐ Global Mobile Application

The Application “My Toyota” is designed to provide customers with pre-‐purchase and post-‐purchase

information on leading platform like App Store, Android and Amazon. The application is designed for

customers to interact with Toyota Globally.

Figure 36

Toyota • • •


The application as shown in Figure 36 uses color like red white and black for all if its features as these

colors represent Toyota. Its background is its company credo tree that Toyota “Business” is based on

and represents. The following options are listed:

My Toyota (Figure 37) It is the first icon on the Toyota application It represents the history, vision and

mission of Toyota alone with various media platform link (Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Toyota-‐Global

website and Blog)

Figure 37

Product Catalogs (Figure 38) – Information about all Toyota product around the world with information

like Color, Options, Limited Edition and information about if the product is manufactured in Left hand

drive (LHD) or Right hand Drive (RHD) region wise.

Toyota • • •


Figure 38

Service Center (Figure 39) – This tab is linked to all the service center of Toyota around the world with

information to make a booking.

Figure 39

Toyota • • •


Spare part Center (Figure 40) – It is also linked to all Spare part center around the world with vital

contact information and timings.

Figure 40

Call us (Figure 41) – It is an option where a customer can tap and connect to the toll free number based

on the continent.

Toyota • • •


Figure 41

Contact us (Figure 42) – Is an option added to people that just want to contact Toyota via Email. (This

option is for customer that can wait for response within 24 hours)

Toyota • • •


Figure 42

Global Campaign (Figure 43) – This option has been added for people to be updated with the Toyota

Campaign taking place around the world.

Figure 43

Facebook (Figure 44) – This is one of the fasted growing network and becoming a means of

communication, the idea is for people to talk about Toyota.

Toyota • • •


Figure 44

Events (Figure 45) – The idea of adding events is for people to participate in our product launch, Road

show and Global events just with one click it will be added to the schedule.

Figure 45

Toyota • • •


Twitter (Figure 46) – This option is added for people to follow what people are twitting about #Toyota

or its product around the world.

Figure 46

Global News (Figure 47) – This option is added for customer to view what major Newspaper, Magazine

and News channels are talking about Toyota.

(Figure 47)

Toyota • • •


This application is also designed to show customers that Toyota go beyond their DNA (Quality,

Durability and Reliability) to support customers.

We will maintain a simple message reflecting Toyota across the TV advertisement and mobile

application. The same logo of Toyota and colors of black, red and white will be maintained on both

communication tools.

The TV advertisement and mobile application is designed with a integrated marketing communication

to provide a consistent message over multiple platforms. Their current advertising strategies are more

focused on features and design of the product while our communication plan is more on developing an

emotional connection with consumers. Our designed global mobile application is a brand new

promotion technique for Toyota and we think that this is a very interactive promotion tool to increase

the brand awareness to consumers.

Toyota • • •


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Toyota • • •


Appendix

(Figure 1) (Source: Interbrand)

Toyota 20%

Mercedes-‐‑Benz 16%

BMW 16%

Honda 10%

Volkswagen 7%

Ford 5%

Hyundai 5%

Audi 5%

Nissan 4%

Porsche 3%

Kia 3% Chevrolet

2% Harley-‐‑Davidson

2% Land Rover

2%

2014 Brand Value $m

0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000 45,000

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

INCREASE IN BRAND VALUE OVER 5 YEARS IN $M

Toyota • • •



(Figure 3) (Source: Toyota Global)

(Figure 4) (Source: Toyota Global)

Toyota • • •


(Source: ACEA)

(Figure 7) (Toyota, 2014)

Toyota • • •


(Figure 8) (Toyota, 2014)

Toyota

Service Sparepart

Product

Sedan

Luxury

Avalon Crown

Sport

86

Economy

Aurion Avanza

Avensis Camry

Corolla Etios (4/5 Door)

Vion Zelas

Compact

Auris Aygo

Yaris

SUV

Jeep

Land Cruiser Highlander

Venza Rav 4

Fj Cruiser 4 Runner

Tacoma Urban Cruiser

Pick up

Hilux Tundra

MPVs / Minivan Commercial

Coaster Dyna

Hiace

Hybrid

Prius Prius C

Toyota • • •


(Figure 8.1) (Source: Toyota Global, 2014)

Facebook

Toyota • • •


Toyota -‐ Global 954,283 likes

Ford 2,949,398 likes

Honda 3,629,189 likes

Mercedes-‐Benz 17,156,123 likes

BMW 19,184,604 likes

Figure 9 Source: (Facebook, 2014)

YouTube

Toyota -‐ Global 11,601 Subscriber

Ford 186,345 Subscriber

Honda 54,363 Subscriber

Mercedes-‐Benz 169,472 Subscriber

BMW 415,138 Subscriber

Figure 10 Source: (YouTube, 2014)

Google +

Toyota -‐ Global 254 Followers

Toyota • • •


Ford 3,522,875 followers

Honda 174,932 Followers

Mercedes-‐Benz 4,207,546 Followers

BMW 4,978,874 Followers

Figure 11 Source: (Google Plus, 2014)

(Figure 12) (Huffingtonpost, 2014)

Toyota • • •


(Figure 13) (Source: Market Line, 2014)

(Figure 14.1) Kaizen (Source: Greg, 2009)

Toyota • • •


Kaizen Graph (Figure 14.2) (Source: Greg, 2009)

Production Facility Region Production Facility

Japan 5

USA 3

Europe 3

Asia Pacific 2

China 2

(Figure 15) (Source: Market Line)

Toyota • • •



Brand Points of Parity Points of Difference Brand Position

Mercedes-‐ Benz

Quality (Keller, 2009) Hybrid Technology (Mercedes-‐benz UK 2014)

Luxury ( BelovedBrands, 2014) Prestige (Keller, 2009)

Engineered like no other car in the world (Cultbranding, 2014)

BMW Quality Reliability

Design and Style (BMW, 2014) Luxury Performance (Kotler, 317)

The Ultimate Driving Machine Powerful and Distinctive (Gain, 2013)

Honda Hybrid Quality (Peopalove, 2014)

Fuel Efficiency Design Brake System Engine Performance Range of Colours

The Power of Dreams (Dream Magazine by Honda, 2014)

Volkswagen Reliability (Livework, 2014)

German Engineering Luxury and Convenience

Peoples Car

Toyota • • •


(Figure 17)

Overall brand perception

Best Worst

Brand Score Brand Score

Toyota 145 Land Rover 4

Ford 120 Maserati 8

Honda 109 Jaguar 9

Chevrolet 105 Rolls-‐Royce 11

Tesla Motors 88 Scion 17

Subaru 87 Ram 17

Ford

Quality Reliability Safety (Schreiber, 2010)

Safety Comfort Fuel Efficiency Interior comfort (Mechlloyd, 2014)

Go Further (At ford, 2014)

Toyota • • •


Mercedes-‐Benz 82 Mini 21

Volvo 80 Mitsubishi 21

Cadillac 78 Infiniti 22

BMW 73 Jeep 23

(Figure 18)

Toyota • • •


Toyota Products:

Toyota • • •


Toyota • • •


Communication Plan-‐

Figure 48

Toyota • • •


1. Communication objectives

a) What? -‐ Deliver the brand promise (Q.D.R.) and regain

trust for the brand (recall issue) – Europe market b) Why? -‐ Sales is dramatically low in Europe (refer to Figure

4 – 9.3% in Europe) -‐ Strengthen the brand image & promise in Europe

market to capture more market share -‐ To increase the brand awareness -‐‑ consideration of

Toyota when purchasing a new vehicle -‐ Deliver the key message (Quality, Durability &

Reliability) to consumers -‐ Communication should motivate consumers to

find out more about Toyota -‐‑ visit the showroom, website, order brochures, visit a local dealer, order a test drive.

-‐ Toyota should be considered as first choice instead of other European vehicles

-‐ To change the customer’s perception on quality? Recall issues

-‐ Nov 2009 to Feb 2010 – Toyota customer loyalty dropped by 11% points (in USA) – to build up customer loyalty

-‐ Make people aware of brand promise (Q.D.R.). We found people are unaware what the brand stood for

-‐ Mobile apps : To provide more information and interaction of the brand

-‐ Ultimate goal : overall increase brand loyalty & brand awareness of Toyota in Europe

2. Target audience a) What target audience are you trying to reach?

-‐ Middle class people b) Why? -‐ Toyota is positioned as Economy/compact brand -‐ Wants to deliver emotion/personality of the brand

to middle class -‐ Wants to deliver Q. D. R. eg. > 20 years durability –

can pass the car to second generation

Toyota • • •


c) Where? Europe market

3. Communications Tools a) What? TV Advertisement

Mobile Apps for pre and post purchase

b) Why? -‐ Target audience is middle class as Toyota targets

Middle-‐‑class.-‐‑ TV TV (IMC text book page 113) -‐ Highly visible-‐‑ TV -‐ High impact-‐‑ TV -‐ More informative real time data via app-‐‑ APP -‐ Low cost per exposure-‐‑ rather than campaign

driven which would cost a lot more-‐‑ TV / APP -‐ High creative flexibility/appeals to multiple senses

– sight, sound, colour, movement-‐‑ TV -‐ Can generate emotional and memorial

advertisement’s-‐‑ TV -‐ allow consumer interaction via app-‐‑ APP -‐ Perceived as having high credibility/prestige

because they have the money to advertise on TV -‐ Ability to demonstrate product-‐‑ app and tv -‐ Can create strong image-‐‑branding-‐‑ tv and app -‐ Good for generating high levels of awareness-‐‑ tv

and app

4. Message a) What? Q.D.R-‐‑ Global brand position

b) Why?

Global position of Toyota is not well known (didn’t know Toyota stood for QDR)

We want to deliver a message that tells consumers the brand can deliver high quality products as the recall issue has damaged the brand image

-‐ Therefore emphasize on Q.D.R. c) Where? TV and via Global App d) How?

Toyota • • •


-‐ TV adds -‐‑ Linking the brand from a product focus to more personally/emotional view

5. How will that message be communicated

TV Ads Creative Advertising : Originality + Elaborations Story board :

1) A couple – having baby walking to Toyota care 2) Toddle with his father in the Toyota car 3) Son driving the Toyota car as a middle class adult 4) Shot of Toyota car being driven on the road. 5) Last show – mention Q.D.R and the quote “80% of

all Toyota sold in the last 20 years are still on the road today”

-‐ How is the tone of voice?? Mellow & soft -‐ Which car model to be used? Avensis -‐ Songs –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP7koXW5V_Q

Why?

-‐ Creating emotional connection

Mobile Apps

-‐ Global platform for interaction with the Brand. 6. Consistency of

message What?

-‐ Deliver simple message -‐‑ Q.D.R. (advertisement shows from baby > graduation > son driving )

-‐ Same logo -‐ Same colours eg. Black, Red & White

7. How will your Communication integrate with other elements of the marketing mix?

Integrate with PROMOTION Mobile apps -‐‑ Brand new promotion technique TV ads – current one is product orientated type – new one is emotional concept

Toyota • • •


Brand Consumer This survey is conducted for education purpose. It relies on the confidence of those involved that it is conducted honestly, objectively, without unwelcome intrusion and without harm to respondents. Its purpose is to collect and analyse information and not to create sales or to influence the opinions of anyone participating. The general public and other interested parties are be entitled to complete assurance that every research project is carried out in accordance with the MRS Code of Conduct and that their rights and privacy are respected. * Required 1. Gender *

Toyota • • •


Male Female 2. Age * 18 25 26 45 46 60 60 + 3. What is your annual total income? * a. Less than £15,000 b. £15,001 to £25,000 c. £25,001 to £35,000 d. £35,001 to £45,000 e. £45,001 and above

4. The above image represent which brand? * Lexus Hino Toyota Daihatsu Scion 5. Do you drive a vehicle? * Yes No 6. Are you familiar with Toyota? * I have never heard of them I have heard of them but never purchase their product I have heard of them and plan to purchase their product I have heard of them and have purchased their product 7. What does the brand "Toyota" stands for? Durability, Reliability and Quality Luxury, Innovation and Reliability Technology, Design and Performance Luxury, Invention and Performance 8. Which of the below individuals would you associate with Toyota? * Business people Single people Family people Couple Student

Toyota • • •


Pensioner Other: 9. Which of the following attributes do you associate with Toyota? * Affordable Overpriced Reliable Luxury Innovative Stylish Ecofriendly Family orientated None of the above Other: 10. Which automobile brand do you consider to be most valuable? * Toyota Honda Mercedes-Benz BMW Ford 11. Who is the biggest competition for Toyota? * Honda MercedesBenz BMW Ford 12. Toyota is_________________ vehicle? * Premium Economy Compact 13. If you have purchased a Toyota vehicle, would you recommend to others? * Definitely will not Probably will not Might or might not Probably will Definitely will None of the above 14. Which brand would be your next purchase? * Honda Volkswagen MercedesBenz Toyota BMW Ford Hyundai Audi Nissan Kia Chevrolet

Toyota • • •


Land Rover Porsche 15. Overall, how satisfied are you with all aspect of your experience with Toyota product? * Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very satisfied Not applicable 16. Please rate the following for Toyota from scale of Extremely Poor to Excellent *

Extremely Poor Poor Fair Good Excellent a. Durability b. Performance c. User friendly d. Safety e. Reliability f. Value for money g. Ecofriendly h. Quality 17. How does Toyota make you feel? Playful Protected Proud Safe Sexy

Toyota • • •


Brand Audit - Toyota Motor Corporation - Japan

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