Marketing communication: principles and practice

1The Yaris communications task
: research showed that the decision to buy a small car
is often influenced by emotional factors, more than in any other sector of the market. The
decisions are made based not only on specification and price, but image, style,
personality, character, and individuality.

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I N T E G R A T E D M A R K E T I N G C O M M U N I C A T I O N
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This appeal to the heart rather than the head can be seen in many of the successful
advertising campaigns in this sector, so the key task was to ensure that rational product
information was presented in a style that was relevant to the target audiences and that
would serve as a foundation to deliver focused messages. Therefore the product strengths
of the Yaris were summarized into six key attributes embracing the Yaris offering. These
formed the tone for communications with the objective that this was the overall impression
customers should have of the Yaris. These were:
•
extraordinary
•
intelligent
•
stylish
•
substantial
•
accessible premium brand
•
a car with character
These were the bedrock of all communications activity.
With one of the main target groups being not overly familiar with Toyota, delivery of
this message relied on ensuring that the Yaris was positioned in the right place and in
the right manner over a long period of time. This process started in November 1999
following the Birmingham Motorshow and continued up to and through the launch date.
The activity was split into pre-launch and launch – pre-launch to develop awareness
among a targeted group and start word-of-mouth activity, and launch to communicate to
the general audience.
2 Pre-launch
: This was driven by direct mail and the Internet and started with the 1998
Birmingham Motorshow. Activity followed two streams, as shown in Figures 13.4.