Otherwise known as “Launching the Prius Diesel into the UK market while establishing awareness of Toyota as an environmentally friendly performance brand – Macro analysis of the Automobile Industry and Micro analysis of Toyota.”

Yes quite possibly the longest title of any of my posts now and in the future. I choose it because I thought it time to share a document that I worked solidly on for 3 months, with one goal in mind, and that was to write the best damn Integrated Marketing Communications project I could. Why am I publishing to the world now? Well now I have the opportunity and the inclination to.

I invested all of my learned intellect into this project. This was the culmination of two degrees and my final paper for my MA. As I read it now, I find it funny both how good I still think it is and yet how much more I have learned now. Not really more about the motor industry, but tonnes about business and more importantly the world of online. It strikes, that what I was taught was only a drop in the ocean on what I have since learned. Anyway enough about that… lets get stuck in to some of the best bits and some commentary to see whether my analysis of the motor industry were indeed correct.

“The automotive industry is highly competitive with margins continually being squeezed. It is also an industry that is going through considerable change, where the ‘western’ goliaths are faulting and suffering financial difficulties. It is their size and number of brands within their portfolio which is slowing their ability to change as well as the establish unionisation of their workforce.” – That remains as true today as it did then, which is why some brands are being sold off in order to cut losses, focus on identity and pray for recovery.

“As consumers continue to worry about the ever increasing fuel prices they are seeking alternatives. The Toyota Prius was one of the first cars that offered a genuine satisfactory solution. While awareness of this technology is still low and misunderstood, that will begin to change as other manufacturers enter the fray. This report proposes extending the current second generation Prius to a third more economical Prius being fuelled with diesel or biodiesel where available and will be named the Prius D3.” – I don’t know about you, but I’m bloody concerned about fuel prices, the major challenge now, is bringing the technology into such an advance stage that it is affordable and competitive. I love the new electric cars that are coming into the market. Even that Audi invention of putting energy back into the car when break, has won me over. However, now the recession is here, affordability has to to go hand in hand with environmental advancement.

This was the point of the report. Launching the Prius D3 into the UK market. I noted two key aspects “first of all the consumers desire to downgrade cars to smaller and therefore more efficient vehicles and secondly the scepticism of the ‘new’ hybrid technology from the target AB 35-64 demographic.” That market, because at the time they had money and a attitude willingness, doing it now, I think a different market would need to be looked at. Goals were set out “PR and DM campaigns have been aimed at establishing awareness and understanding of the concept. The proposed advertising campaign has tried embracing consumers ‘fear’ both to the monetary and environmental cost of running a car. For this reason the slogan that will be used to link the entire campaign together will be ‘Dare to drive’. Test drives was a big indicator of success.”

This is a great sentence, “The car industry has traditionally been cyclical, responding in parallel with the economic climate they operate within. In recent years, despite weak economic growth, high oil prices and maturity of an oligopolistic industry, sales figures have been stable in the main markets.”

On that note, I’ll leave you to Download this IMC with analysis of macro and micro marketplace.

Until next time folks.

I’d like thank Automotive Industry Data for all the help and information they gave me while I was doing this project.