TOYOTA PRIUS MARCOM PLAN

ABOUT TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION

Toyota Motor Corporation is one of the worlds leading automobile manufacturers. It was
founded by a man named Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 in Japan as a spin off from his fathers
(Sakachi Toyoda) company Toyota industries which specialized in machine powered looms.
Then the company was called Toyoda after its founder. It was after Kiichiro visited the United
States in 1933 where he visited many automobile production companies that he decided to
establish his own automobile production plant division within his fathers loom factory. Because
Japan had little natural resources the company therefore had every incentive to manufacture
engines and automobiles that were highly fuel efficient. This gave rise to the establishment of
Toyota Motor Corporations research centers with the first one opening in 1939.
After the World War 2 in 1945 Toyoda was renamed to Toyota. During that period the whole of
Japan was suffering from an economic down turn and many industries suffered including Toyota.
But the Japanese tradition of dedication and perseverance proved to be Toyota's most powerful
tool in the difficult task of reconstruction.
Today Toyota is the biggest manufacturer in motor vehicles within Japan. Its main offices are
located in Japan, Toyota City. Toyota has several competitors namely Ford, Honda Motor, and
Nissan Motor. TMC produces brands such as Allion, Camry, Premio, and Lexus among others.
Toyota is listed in Tokyo, Fukuoka, and Osaka, New York's stock exchange listings. The major
markets targeted by Toyota include Europe, Asia, Japan, Europe, Asia, and North American
regions. TMC has been in the forefront in manufacturing and assembling environmental friendly
vehicles.... Toyota currently operates 75 manufacturing companies across 28 countries
globally, and markets vehicles in more than 170 countries and it employees over 320000
employees.
Toyotas success story has been in existence since the 1950s. Competitors have tried to imitate
their success strategies unsuccessfully. Toyota was ranked second after General Motors in the
year 2003. It has been the main leader in the motor industry within Japan where its headquarters
are situated. This development has spread out to other foreign countries such as China, and the
United Kingdom. Regardless of its remarkable growth worldwide, Japan remains its largest
market. The Toyota Production System (TPS) enabled the growth, which is a strategy that seeks
to improve products continuously. TPS offered the company a competitive edge both at home
and abroad, as competitors could not emulate it easily (Toyota, 2014).

THE AUTOMOBILE MARKET IN MALAYSIA
Automobile sales in Malaysia have been on the rise since the beginning of the new millennium
due to the steady economic growth leading to high income which has translated to more buying
power for the Malaysian citizens. Studies show that Malaysia receives more foreign cars than it
exports its local cars to other countries. Below is a table showing the key economic
statistics for Malaysia for 2013.
The Malaysian economy key statistics 2013
Population 29.7 million
Total labor force 13.2 million
GDP Growth rate 5%
Per capita income (US$) 10,687
Car ownership ratio 1:5
Source: MEIF, 2013

Research shows that Malaysia is one of the ASEAN countries with the highest number of car
sales. In 2011 a total of over 600,000 cars were sold in Malaysia including both local and foreign
makes. In 2011, Malaysia came in fourth after Indonesia and Thailand in terms of total units sold
within the country.

Total Motor Vehicle Sales
in the 4 Major ASEAN Countries
Source: Malaysian Investment Development Authority, 2012

Market shares
Using the 2011 statistics Malaysian local car manufacturers, Proton and Perodua dominated the
automobile industry with a market share of 29% each. The national carmakers outperformed its
foreign competitors which are Toyota, Honda and Nissan. Toyota is the number 1 foreign car
manufacturer in Malaysia with a market share of 13% and it is followed by Honda which had a
market share of 7% in 2011.


Automobile market share in Malaysia
Source: Market (Watch 2012)


Automobile Industry Advertising expenditure
Car manufacturers make extensive use of advertising to constantly project the image of their
brand and models. In general, customer loyalty to a particular brand is unpredictable, so buyers
can be influenced by image as well as price and specification. According to Cars Guide (2012)
Toyota is the biggest automotive spender, with an estimated advertising bill of $73.9 million
ranking it sixth overall behind such brands as Harvey Norman, Woolworths, Coles and
McDonalds. The spending followers are Hyundai which spent $54.2 million and Holden which
spent $46.8 million.

Automobile industry advertising expenditure in 2012
Source: Dowling, 2012

Toyota Prius market in Malaysia
The Toyota Prius is a hybrid vehicle that belongs in the lower/medium passenger car segment
(C). Toyota Prius boasts itself to be the first mass produced gasoline-electric hybrid car, since its
launch in 1995. Despite the fact that the car has been in the market for. years the sales are
still low. Additionally regardless of the tax exemptions that were proposed by the Malaysian
government in 2009 on hybrid cars the market in Malaysia is still slow compared to other
countries. This is because Malaysian would rather spend the same amount they would for a small
hybrid car on something bigger like Honda Accord, furthermore many Malaysian are still
unaware of the environmental issue and benefits of driving hybrid cars. But
nevertheless, Malaysia is moving up the ladder and keen to learn more about hybrid technology
from Japanese car makers. Honda is currently the only other brand offering hybrid cars in the
Malaysian market.
STAGE 1: BRAND POSITIONING
Toyota Prius Target Market
The target market for the Toyota Prius can be split into two major categories which are
customers (B2B) and consumers (private buyers).
B2B Market
The customers are either corporate buyers or car dealers. This market can be reached more
effectively through the business press and the traditional media as well.
Private buyer market
Demographic
The private buyers are the more important market for the Toyota Prius. The consumer can
be either male or female aged between 30 to 50 years. These buyers are more likely to be
married, have children and many responsibilities. They are learned and well informed
individuals and for those reasons they are thereby in higher managerial, administrative or
professional occupations and of upper middle class. income
Psychographic
Three key mindsets of probable consumers could be identified within the demographic
profile which includes early adopters, environmentally friendly and value conscious. Early
adopters are those people that are interested in the latest technology and thus must be one of
the first to own this technology. Environmentally friendly are those people that are
concerned about how their actions impact the well-being of the environment. Finally value
conscious are those people that are looking for the ideal combination of high fuel economy
and low maintenance cost in long run at an affordable price.
Geographic
The private buyer will be from anywhere in Malaysia however the target buyer is more
likely to come from an urban area or a large city as they are likely to be more
technologically savvy.

The Category need
The Toyota Prius is a 5 door hatchback hybrid vehicle that belongs in the lower/medium
passenger car segment (C) which is the third smallest car segment. Lower Medium passenger car
segment is the most popular globally due to its functionality as a family car.. Thus the Toyota
Prius is a typical small family vehicle.

Key (unique) benefits
Environmentally friendly and cost saving
The Toyota Prius according to Toyota (2014) uses Hybrid Synergy Drive technology to
optimize fuel consumption. This then results in very ultra-low carbon dioxide emission
particularly in urban driving, during congestion when traffic constantly stops and starts at
slow speeds. When stationary, the petrol engine switches off to lower fuel consumption even
further. This in turn leads to cost saving on fuel as people will be consuming less of it when
driving the Prius. Furthermore the Prius can also run on pure electric power for 2km at up to
50km/h delivering a silent and emission-free drive. These key benefits thus fit well with the
target market which is the technology savvy, environmentally friendly and value conscious
male or female buyer in the mid-life age.

STAGE 2: CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES
Developing campaign objectives is one of the key components in the preparation and planning of
every campaign. The campaign objectives entail what an organization hopes to achieve.
According to Armstrong and Kotler (2007), objectives need to be specific, measurable,
achievable, realistic and time bound (SMART) if there are to be attainable.

The first objective that the campaign wishes to achieve is reaching the target market as fully as
possible. This thus implies a wide extensive coverage as the target market is spread across the
whole of Malaysia.

As a car that is already in the market but unfortunately not selling very well in Malaysia the next
campaign objective is to educate consumers and explain the working of the Prius and the key
benefits that the buyers will get when driving it. Full knowledge about the key benefits that
buyers will get from driving a Prius will generate interest.

Another campaign objective is that after education the target markets should be excited about the
Prius and therefore spread positive buzz/word of mouth to friends and family leading to greater
exposure for the Prius.

Another campaign objective is that the communication should motivate consumers to find out
more about the Prius by visiting the website, ordering brochures, visiting local dealers so as to
have a test drive. Learning more about the Prius will lead to desireas the buyers will more of the
key attributes that make it unique and different from other cars.

Another campaign objective is that the communications should drive prospective car buyers to
consider the Prius as a full and valid alternative to traditional cars during their purchase journey.

Ultimately communications should lead to a higher percentage of showroom visits by
prospective buyers which in turn will translate to purchase (action) resulting into higher sales,
market share and profits for Toyota.

STEP 3: CREATIVE STRATEGY
To get the best creative advertising communications points for the Prius the creative strategy will
be outsourced to a reputable advertising agency in Malaysia.
However the advertising agency will be informed that .The Prius unique selling points should
be emphasized in the promotions so as to weaken the barriers to purchase (inferior benefits) such
as high initial cost.




References
Armstrong, G. and Kotler, P. (2007) Marketing an Introduction. 8th ed, New Jersey, USA:
Prentice Hall.
Dowling, J. (2012) Car brands spend millions to catch your eye. Available at:
http://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/car-brands-spend-millions-to-catch-your-eye-
21105#.U6aJfZSSzbg (Accessed: 22 June 2014).

Malaysia. Malaysian Investment Development Authority (2012) Malaysias Automotive
Industry. [Online]. Available at:
http://mset.org.my/myraig/pdf/Industry/Automotive_Industry.pdf (Accessed: 22 June 2014).
Market Watch (2012) The Malaysian Automotive and Supplier Industry. Available at:
http://www.malaysia.ahk.de/fileadmin/ahk_malaysia/Market_reports/The_Malaysian_Automotiv
e_and_Supplier_Industry.pdf (Accessed: 22 June 2014).
Malaysia. Department for Economic Planning Unit (2013) The Malaysian Economy in Figures
[Online]. Available at: http://www.epu.gov.my/documents/10124/2257e64f-b08d-41b7-bed0-
b6e6498c38a3 (Accessed: 22 June 2014).
Toyota (2014) Toyota History. Available at: http://www.toyota-
global.com/company/profile/facilities/worldwide_operations.html (Accessed: 22 June 2014).