Random Acts of Prius
The common theme that plaques the headlines are increasing gas prices, economic recession and a tragic oil spill that continues to threaten our Gulf Coast region. Images of the oil spill as seen on nightly television can truly shake our psychological moral fiber and pose the question, what are we doing to our environment? If I was a Toyota Marketer, I would capitalize on these unfortunate chains of events and provide the public with an opportunity to do their part in making a difference, one alternative automobile solution at a time. Is this the angle Toyota is driving at? Using my own desire to own a Toyota Prius in the foreseeable future, I will be evaluating the Toyota marketing plan and what it has done to push this revolutionary product.
As for the traditional route of marketing via television ad campaigns, Toyota has truly struck gold by segmenting its marketing and targeting the pro-environmentalist groups states Gutsa, N.H. (2009). Part of the success of the Prius, Maynard (2008) suggest, “the Prius has been featured in dozens of movies and TV shows as the car driven by the main actor, such as CSI Miami, Weeds, Evan Almighty, and Superbad,” therefore not only giving it the Hollywood endorsement but also the star appeal that it needs to penetrate an already challenged automotive industry.
To obtain a better understanding of what marketers of the Toyota Prius have done to heighten awareness with their line of popular Hybrid car, I performed an exhaustive search online to understand what the Prius marketing strategy is. I started my search utilizing Google, utilizing the following search criteria: Toyota marketing, Toyota green, Toyota press release and Toyota celebrities. This definitely led me to numerous articles written regarding the Hybrid, but none of my search has actually provided true marketing collateral for the Prius. The closest I have encountered is actually the website for Toyota which has a special web page dedicated to the Prius. It has a tagline that states, “Harmony between man, nature and machine,” along with links to numerous Prius related content. Part of the experience one would have by visiting the Prius web site is access to other marketing venues that a lot of companies are beginning to utilize now such as Facebook and Twitter. It is obvious to me that Toyota is trying to appeal to the population that is hip to this new era of social networking. Upon visiting the Prius Facebook site (http://www.facebook.com/prius), it is very clear that the site is meant to conjure up excitement over the Prius. The Facebook page allows existing owners to share their experiences with their beloved Prius. One can even clearly see that Prius is clearly trying to appeal to the eco conscious as evidenced by a section of its page publishing the, “random acts of prius.” Prius calls the campaign as, “the little things you can do everyday to make the world brighter (http://www.facebook.com/prius?v=app_139815434211).” Now, I must admit, it appears that one of the unintended consequences of the Facebook page is for the unhappy customers to now visit the Facebook page and express their dissatisfaction with the product. The Facebook page seems to lack moderation from Prius and therefore one can argue what the value is of having this open forum. If I was thinking of purchasing a Prius the commentaries would actually make me think twice before purchasing. A trip down Twitter (http://twitter.com/toyota) land however I find a more benign site mostly praises over the Prius and the company, photo postings of new Prius owners and links for visitors wanting detailed Prius recall information.
If you are eco conscious, tired of paying high prices of gas and want to decrease your carbon footprint, then you are the segmented target audience of the Toyota Prius. It is obvious that Toyota is not launching a heavy marketing campaign for its Prius because they have been able to establish the value that it provides in the marketplace. Not to mention the free publicity it gets by having a product heavily endorsed by Hollywood superstars such as Will Ferrell (Berman, 2006) who states, "I absolutely love our Prius. In addition to being obviously economical and environmentally friendly, they drive great and are just plain sexy. There’s no reason all Americans shouldn’t be driving hybrid cars."
With the automobile industry in such a volatile state, clearly being innovative and providing more eco friendly options has been identified as the best strategy to thrive in such a struggling economy where in automobile owners now more than ever are holding on to their automobiles longer than previous years. Although riddled with bad press, Toyota is clearly trying to pull itself out of this public relations nightmare. Toyota has started a commercial campaign showing people re-purchasing Toyota products therefore pushing the issue that their products are safe to drive. Luckily in terms of the Prius in a side by side comparison with other hybrid models, it still ranks number one in most miles per gallon (http://www.allabouthybridcars.com/comparison-chart.htm). This has allowed the Prius in my opinion to prosper despite the negative publicity it has experienced lately. As a matter of fact for 2009 the Prius has won a prestigious loyalty award (http://usa.polk.com/Company/Loyalty/). According to Polk the loyalty award is based on Toyota’s ability to retain previous customers. Although Polk does not publish how loyalty was established one can speculate that the marketing push Toyota embarked on with its commercials showing actual testimonials form return customers purchasing a Toyota product has assisted them to turn the tides. The on-line presence of Toyota as well, allowing existing customers to connect with each other and share their great experiences with the product via Facebook or Twitter can do nothing but increase buyer confidence on the Prius. Who would resist the notion of purchasing a product that not only will allow you to save in a world of increasing gas prices, but also do your part in preserving the environment? It sounds like a win-win proposal to me or rather, “a random acts of prius.”
Bibliography
Allabouthybridcars. (n.d.). Website. Retrieved July 16, 2010, from http://www.allabouthybridcars.com/comparison-chart.htm
Berman, Bradley. (2006). Celebrity Hybrid Cars. Retrieved July 12 2010, from http://www.hybridcars.com/hybrid-drivers/celebrities.html
Maynard, Micheline. "Toyota May Make Prius a Brand and Widen the Model Lineup ". New York Times10/9/2008: B1-B8
Nyasha Harmony, Gutsa. (2009). Marketing Mix in Action: Toyota Prius. Retrieved July 13 2010, from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1804334/marketing_mix_in_actiontoyota_prius.html
Polk. (n.d.). Website. Retrieved July 16, 2010, from http://usa.polk.com/Company/Loyalty/
Toyota. (n.d.). In Twitter [Twitter page]. Retrieved July 16, 2010, from http://twitter.com/toyota
Toyota Prius. (n.d.). In Facebook [Fan page]. Retrieved July 15, 2010, from http://www.facebook.com/prius
Flickr
