Marketing Co mmunication Channels in

TOYOTA
Marketing Principles

BUSI 3313 Sec.202

Farah Al-Turki 201002577 Nourah Alsubaie 200900021

Sokaina khuraidah 200900401 Muneerah AlKhaldi 200901568

Fatima Alsaif 200901560 Sabreen Maqladi 200800225

Dr. Kumarashvari Subramaniam

Fall 2012/2013
SUMMERY

This research discusses the marketing communication channel in Toyota company.

Toyota is very popular company and it is known as best car manufacture all over the world.

Production strategy in Toyota is very processional and accurate and this performance will lead

to have a customer satisfaction and loyalty. The literature review explains how the marketing

communication channels are important to every organization. Through talking about; first, how

social media helps business to communicate with customer and have their feedback directly. For

example, Face Book, Twitter, YouTube and linked In. Second, how television campaigns are

very useful tools for advertising and then build a relationship between Toyota campaign and

social media. Third, how the magazine and newspapers print campaign are still valid tools;

considering the fact that they are outdated, in order to advertise wide range of customer. Also

billboard advertising, which is crucial and effective tools for advertising, especially in Saudi.

Finally, e-mail marketing; which is an environmentally friendly method, yet is not considered

highly effective. Toyota's highest marketing budget is allocated for TV advertisement

campaigns, second highest is allocated to printed advertisements, third highest is allocated to

social media, while the least budget is allocated to billboard advertisements. For analyzing

and collecting data for Toyota marketing communication, it has been used primary and

secondary data. Primary data was for interviews and questioners and it explains how the

survey and interviews questions were useful for gathering information about Toyota

company. However, secondary data is the data that can be collected from the internet. Its

quick information and it can be easily find. Both methods are helpful for analyzing the data.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction
What is Marketing? ……………………………………………………………………………………… 1
Toyota ………………………………………………………………………………………………….…. 2

2. Literature Review
Marketing Communication……………………………………………………………………………… 6
Marketing Communication strategy…………………………………………………………………… 6
Marketing Communication in the 21st Century………………………………………………………. 6
Social Media……………………………………………………………………………………………… 8
The Influence of Marketing Communication on Costumer Relationship…………………………. 12
Relationship Marketing…………………………………………………………………………………. 12
Toyota's Relationship Marketing………………………………………………………………………. 13
" Let's Go Places" ………………………………………………………………………………………… 15
The Toyota Television Campaign……………………………………………………………………… 16
The Magazines and Newspapers Print Campaign …………………………………………………. 17
Billboard Advertising…………………………………………………………………………………… 18
Email Marketing………………………………………………………………………………………… 18
Social Media Campaign………………………………………………………………………………... 19
3. Research Methodology
Data Collection………………………………………………………………………………………..… 22
Questionnaire…………………………………………………………………………………….………. 23

Questionnaire Design…………………………………………………………………………………… 24
Interview…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 25

4. Data Analysis
Primary Data………………………………………………………………………………..……………. 26
Interview…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 26
Questionnaire……………………………………………………………………………………………… 27
Secondary data……………………………………………………………………………………………. 30

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

5. Conclusion and Recommendations

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………… 34
Recommendation………………………………………………………………………………………….

6. References
References…………………………………………………………………………………………………..

7. Appendix
Appendix A: Interview ……………………………………………………………………………………. 1
Appendix B: Questionnaire ……………………………………………………………………………… 3

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INTRODUCTION

What is Marketing ?
Marketing is an ongoing process that offer a special value for customers in order to

attract them and build a strong profitable relationship (kolter & armstrong, 2012). It is one of

the important elements in any successful business. According to Lorette & Media, 2008 who

stated that “The heart of your business success lies in its marketing”. Most aspects of your

business depend on successful marketing; in order to have a successful marketing plan and

build strong relationship with customers ,many points must be taken into consideration.

First of all, understand the market place and recognize the customer`s needs, wishes

and demands. Through research, advertising their products , experience, services depend on

that, and attain the customer’s expectation. Second of all , design a marketing strategy by

characterizing their customers through marketing analysis; find out the best way to serve them,

and offer value of the product through special features or characteristics that meets the

customer expectation. Also focus on different concepts that assist the organization in

designing their strategy such as: production, product, selling and marketing concepts. Third,

construct marketing plan by putting the marketing strategy into action. Finally, build customer

relationship by applying these steps and offering the best quality to attract and retain the

customers (kolter & armstrong, 2012). Moreover, once the business accomplishes this, they

will gain many benefits.

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INTRODUCTION

Toyota
Toyota is multinational automaker company. It is also known as TMC (Toyota Motor

Company). It started in 1890 when the father of kiichiro invented the wooden Toyoda

handloom. Later on, he completed the automatic loom (type G). In 1933 Kiichiro created

automobile department, produced the first vehicle in 1935, worked on logo and exported for

the first time in 1936. Finally, Kiichiro established Toyota motor company in 1937(Toyota,

2012). It is a Japanese organization which generate full range of model , starting by small

vehicles to large trucks ( Toyota, n.d). The headquartered of Toyota is located in Japan. It owns

around 12 plants and 11 manufacturing auxiliary in Japan. It also has 45 manufacturing

company around the world (Toyota, n.d). By 2001 Toyota became the third largest automaker

company (Toyota, n.d). Since it’s established, Toyota has special vision and philosophy

toward its company. It follows certain principles that help them create unique vehicles and

keep up development of society all over the world through recognition, respect and

appreciation of the language, spirit, culture and customs of every nation, and enhance the

quality of life all over the world by their activities. In addition, construct advanced

technologies and offer wonderful products and service that meet the needs of customers in

different parts of the world and opened to global community through innovative management

(Toyota, 2012).

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INTRODUCTION

Toyota has a global vision, global and localization manufacture, and production system

philosophy. Toyota global vision aims to view the company as one of the largest automaker

company that “customers choose and brings a smile to every customer” (Toyota,2012), while

global and localization manufacture philosophy aimed for “Global Quality Assurance” through

producing the same high level of quality vehicles in different parts of the world(Toyota,2012).

In addition, Toyota production system philosophy consists of two basic concepts: the first one

is “jidoka” or “automation with human touch” which means when there is a problem , the

equipment breaks off immediately from producing a defective product; the second one is

"Just-in-Time" which means producing only "what is needed, when it is needed, and in the

amount needed!" (Toyota,2012). Based on this philosophy, the Toyota production system can

professionally, efficiently and effectively produce vehicles that satisfy customer needs.

Toyota’s mission is to provide the best customer experience and grant their satisfaction

through continuous maintained growth and development to produce safe efficient service with

high quality (Bhandari,2007).

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INTRODUCTION

Toyota Company is characterized by a popular car industry through having a

reasonable price that will be convenient to any customer, cutting edge technology through

keeping up with advanced technology, and low operating cost such as, lower sticker

price(Bhandari,2007). It also famous for professional managers especially in the marketing

department who set strategies toward reaching and acheiving success in their economy . By

2009 Toyota increased selling in all over the world by applying different special strategies –

see Figure 1- (Watanabe, 2007)

Figure 1, TMC, (2009).

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INTRODUCTION

TMC categorized their market into region such as: Asia, US and India and focusing on

the demographic and psychographic features of each market. Also, focusing on the brand

through improving the lineup such as; Lexus (Watanabe, 2007). Moreover, Toyota has made a

special website in order to, communicate and advertise their products to the people around the

world. they also share their marketing through the social networks such as, Facebook ,

Twitter and You tube in order to pass their customers satisfaction message ( Toyota, 2012).

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Marketing Communication
Marketing communication is related to media and it is a part of the marketing mix:

price, place, promotion, and product.. Marketing communication is global and has been

affective in many ways and have the power to promote the product ; especially advertisings,

promotions, TV advertising , print media, public relations, sales and online marketing.

Marketing Communication Strategy

The strategy of marketing communication is to deliver the product or service; in order

to obtain the satisfaction of consumers. Every organization has a message to the consumers,

these messages are different messages; some might reflect positively on the marketing

process., while other might reflective negatively. As the research was conducted , it was found

that marketing communicating is a combination of science and art; which helps the

organization deliver its promoted message in the most creative way. This combination is set

in a process that the organization makes depending on public needs.

Marketing Communication in the 21st Century

In the twenty-first century the marketing communication become different from the

past; today new technology brings new ideas for marketing that deliver promotions it in a

short time, high quality and less cost. Accordingly, organization have today have many

promotional options to market their product or service. Nowadays, social media affect the

consumers in long range; internet nowadays has huge effect in marketing . Studies show the

increasing usage of the internet on annual bases; according to internetworldstat.com internet

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LITERATURE REVIEW

growth worldwide is equal to 566.4% between the years 2000 and 2012 (2012). In contrast of

that the print media has limited number of views; according to stateofthemedia.org " Daily

circulation, which stood at 62.3 million in 1990, fell to 43.4 million in 2010, a decline of 30%.

Sunday circulation fell by about the same percentage, though Sunday editions have performed

better than daily the last two years" (2012) .

Today, using internet in marketing has a significant impact in every organization. For

example, Facebook and Twitter become public interest; it helps in tracking people in different

countries, it also helps in expanding the business and in giving feedback for services. It is not

all about showing their product or services, it also improves the awareness of their business.

Today, creating or developing an online service is important for every organization that wants

to run their relationship with consumers in modern way.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Social Media
Social networking applications, has been in constant growth; according to Mark

Nowotarski; the number of published social network application in 2010 is 1200, while the

number of issued patents is 200 – see chart 1- . This growth is affecting marketing, for today

those social networks are used by businesses to deal with their customer or even to know their

comments of their product, and have their feedback.

Chart 1, Ipwatchdog.com. Number of US social network patent applications published per year and patents issued per

year (2012).

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 LITERATURE REVIEW

Furthermore , the following table by Kelly Loubet (who is head of the Social Media

and Community Development at Spellbinders Paper Arts, LLC.) shows the effect of social

media on people, and how it is used in marketing and promotion services and products:

Social Media Usage Effect on Marketing

 Facebook has more than 800 According to Corey Eridon (2012) :

million “active” users worldwide
(Facebook.com, 2012) .
 People spend over 700 billion
minutes per month on Facebook
(Loubet,2010).
 There are more than 200 million
active users currently accessing
Facebook through their mobile
(Loubet,2010).
 About 70% of Facebook users are
outside the United States
(Loubet,2010).
 42% of businesses say facebook is
important for their businesses.
 77% (B2C) businesses acquired their
customers from facebook, while the
rest; 43% of customers are acquired
by (B2B) businesses.
 90% of retail businesses acquired their
customers through facebook .
 Exposure of business has increased
by 80%.
 65% of businesses provided marketing
insight through facebook.
 60% of marketers struggle with lead
generation on facebook.
 The ratio of customer feedback on
facebook is 9:1.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

 Marketer estimates 20.6 million US Pick stated in his article (2012):

adults will access a Twitter account at
least monthly this year (Loubet,2010).
 There are more than 500 million Twitter
users around the world
(Statisticsbrain.com, 2012).
 Twitter now comes in English, French,
German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish
(Loubet,2010).
 95M tweets are written per day (Sept.
2010)
 34% of marketers have generated
leads using Twitter, and 20% have
closed deals.
 77 of the world’s 100 largest
 companies maintain a corporate
Twitter account. But media outlets
are the most active users.
 Companies that use Twitter, leads
two times the average per month.

 LinkedIn has crossed the 100 million  41% of people using Linkedin for
user milestone (Loubet,2010). marketing have generated
 LinkedIn said that it is adding 1 million businesses with it.
new members every week, which (grmwebsite.com, 2012)
equates to one new member every
second (Loubet,2010).
 LinkedIn now has presence in 200
countries and territories around the
world, with 56 million of the 100 million
users being from outside the US.
Another reason to make a business is
part of the global market (Loubet,2010).

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LITERATURE REVIEW

 70% of YouTube traffic comes from According to Jeff Bullas (2012):

outside the US.
 YouTube is localized in 25 countries
across 43 languages.
 YouTube’s demographic is broad: 18-54
years old.
 YouTube reached more than 700 billion
playbacks in 2012.
 Over 4 million people are connected
and auto-sharing to at least one social
network.
 YouTube is monetizing over 3
billion video views per week
globally
 98 of AdAge’s Top 100
advertisers have run
campaigns on YouTube and the
Google Display Network
 Hundreds of advertisers are
using TrueView in-stream and
60% of our in-stream ads are
now skippabl.

Table 1

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LITERATURE REVIEW

The Influence of Marketing Communication on Costumer Relationship

The influence of marketing communication on costumer relationship is huge, for

according to Halimi and others; having such relationship helps in generating mutual values for

both costumer and business through the growing marketing effectiveness (2011). It is believed

that marketing communication tactics can highly effect customer satisfaction; thus loyalty

(Halimi, Chavosh, Choshali, 2011). Furthermore, it is also that believed customer loyalty and

retention is effected by relationship marketing; which is the process in which marketers attract,

maintain and enhance customer relationship (Halimi, Chavosh, Choshali, 2011).

Relationship Marketing
Relationship marketing have taken a central position in marketing strategies in the past

two decades (Palmatier, 2008). In a world where technology, communication and logistics are

increasing; "consumer silence" no longer exists ; accordingly customer loyalty and satisfaction

became more crucial than ever (Palmatier, 2008). The beliefs of loyal customers can help a

business gain profit, achieve competitive advantages, and attain higher degree of customer

satisfaction relationship (Halimi, Chavosh, Choshali, 2011). According to Hennig-Thurau and

Hansen, the raise of relationship marketing was due to regaining lost customers (2000, p.18).

Any business could face losing its existing customers, due to many reasons; thus straggle in

keeping their existing customers and gaining new ones. One of the most successful

relationship marketing strategies is carried out by Toyota; not only is it one of their primary

marketing strategies, it is also the strategy they used in their latest campaign " Let's Go places

".

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LITERATURE REVIEW

"Toyota's Relationship Marketing

In November 2012, Toyota had to recall 2.77 million vehicles around the world; in

specific models; due to a water pump problem and a steering shaft defect that may result in

faulty steering (CBCNews, November 14, 2012). CBCNews stated the following in

November 14, 2012:

" Some 1.51 million vehicles are being recalled for the steering defect in Japan and
1.25 million vehicles abroad . Affected models include the Prius hybrid, Corolla, Wish and
other models produced from 2000 to 2011 in Japan, and from 2000 to 2009 overseas. Of those
vehicles, some 620,000 spanning five hybrid models, including the Prius, have a defective
water pump in addition to the steering shaft defect. Those vehicles were produced from 2001
to 2010 in Japan, and from 2003 to 2011 overseas. Another 10,000 vehicles with only a pump
problem are also being recalled "

Despite the fact that the defect caused no reported accidents (CBCNews, November 14, 2012).

Toyota customers, along with the media reacted negatively. Such reaction effected Toyota's

unites sales as shown in the following chart, according to Toyota's 2012 annual report :

8,000,000

7,000,000

6,000,000

5,000,000
Japan
4,000,000
Overseas
3,000,000 Total
2,000,000

1,000,000

0
2010 2011 2012 Chart 2, Author generated (2012)

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LITERATURE REVIEW

As noticed in the chart there is a slight fluctuation between the years 2012 and 2012

within the same market sales; in the year 2010 Toyota sold in the Japanese market 2,163,000

unites, while in 2012 they sold 2,070,000. There is 93000 unites decrease in sales, however

compared to the 2011, which was the lowest in between years ; selling only 1,913,000. The

2012 Japanese sales are considered relatively high. On the other hand the oversea sales of

Toyota were at their lowest in the year 2010; compared to 2011 which was 5,395,000 units ,

and 2012 which was 5,281,000. Selling only 5,074,000. While the recall might have affected

the oversea sales, it did not affect the local market; considering the increase of sales

(Toyota,2012). As noticed Toyota's sales in the local market were not affected for accordingly;

Toyota took some of the measurements order to reverse the negative side impacts of the recall.

In order to do so, Toyota used different forms of media in order to reach out to their customers

and restore the positive image. In its new campaign Toyota use TV advertising campaigns,

print magazine campaigns, billboard advertising, e-mail marketing, and social media

campaigns; Toyota's new camping is called "Let's Go Place". In general Toyota spend around

8-10% of its sales on marketing (Tutor2u.ne, 2012); which is around $2.86 billion on

marketing per year (webcache.googleusercontent.com, 2011). In General is stated in their

mission; which is to provide best customer experience and dealer's support. By understanding

their costumers needs, in Toyota they do not relay on long endless surveys or sampling; they

prefer talking to our clients and the public to understand their needs, thus develop them

(Personal Interview, November 29, 2012). In Toyota they "walk the talk", they rely on

common sense to develop our product in order to reach customer satisfaction (Personal

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Interview, November 29, 2012). We really focus on the product, and believe that a good

product that satisfies the customer will market and sell itself (Personal Interview, November

29, 2012).

" Let's Go Places"

On September 11,2012 Toyota's president, Akio Toyoda; revealed at the Toyota

National Dealer Meeting in Las Vegas their new tagline " Let's Go Places" (Toyota). This was

the first time that Toyota changes their tagline since 2004, Replacing " Moving Forward";

Toyota hired six agencies to come up with their new tagline (Felix, 2012). According to

Toyota the new tagline is "reflecting the company’s commitment to more exciting products

and the promise that customers are invited to take part in shaping Toyota’s future" (September

11, 2012). The new campaign suggests a forward-looking and optimistic thrust of Toyota in

the states and worldwide, through this campaign Toyota invites customers on a journey to see

new places and opportunities; through discovering Toyota (Toyota, September 11,2012). Bill

Fay, the group vice president and general manager said " “Let’s Go Places” speaks to the

evolution of Toyota and our commitment to leading through innovation, enriching lives and

connecting with customers in new ways they define" (Toyota, September 11,2012 ).

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Bill Fay also said:

" It is energetic, aspirational, inclusive and very versatile. The phrase conveys a dual

meaning of physically going places and taking off on an adventure, while also expressing

optimism and the promise of exciting innovation that enriches people’s lives. It allows our

associates, customers, dealers, and suppliers to interpret it in ways that are most personally

relevant to them.”

Through this new tagline, Toyota is trying to restore its relationship with its customer and

regain new customers; as well as keep the existing ones.

The Toyota Television Campaign

On average Toyota spends around 795, 60$ on TV commercials (statista.com, 2012).

Earlier this year Toyota purchased a 60 second spot during the American Super Bowl

commercials; the average 30 second spot costs around 3.5 million dollars, thus it is estimated

Toyota paid at least 7 million dollars for the spot to be played for more than 111 million

viewers (Stampler, January 30, 2012). TV adverts are be created to enhance the relationship

between the Toyota campaign and social media; this will use the media and consumer

generated strategy certificate to show Toyota customer that the recall has a positive

side .Toyota also created affordable effective male-oriented strategy, by taking morning

advertisement slots on sports channel like ESPN. Furthermore Toyota advertised home

shopping channels; such as ShopNBC, to target figures that are not mostly home spending.

Moreover, Toyota has sponsored successful TV series such as Suburgatory; that airs on ABC

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LITERATURE REVIEW

network, with estimated 7.54 million viewers in the United States (Hibberd, October 14,

2012). Toyota has also featured their own cars in the series

The Magazines and Newspapers Print Campaign

As mentioned printed magazines and newspapers distribution has fell compared to the

early 90's; however Toyota still features its advertisements in both. Matter of fact the allocated

budget for print campaigns is larger than social media with an estimated 140, 10 million

dollars for magazine adverts and 31.40 dollars in newspaper advert; making the total 171, 50

million dollars (statista.com, 2012).. After the recent recall the Toyota print advertisement

Campaign was also featured in several magazines that cover a wide consumer base; these

categories of magazines will include Automotive (Automotive, AutoWeek, and Car and

Driver) Business (Forbes, Fortune) and General Interests (The New Yorker, Readers Digest).

Those print advertisements will also be featured in news print in national and city Newspapers,

each will have a different form of print compared to the TV commercials; These printed

advert acts as ;first, an apology and reassurance that Toyota is working on recalling the

problem. Second, as an appreciation through thanking the customers for their collaboration,

and as declaration to their customers to understand that the recall was due to short defect that

is over. Finally those printed advertisements were to assure Toyota customers that it has move

on with providing high-quality products to them.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Billboard Advertising
Lowest marketing budget has been allocated to billboard advertising, with only

average of 17, 20 million dollar budget per year (statista.com, 2012). Even though billboard

advertising is not popular around the world in, in Saudi Arabia; it is considered one of the

most effective methods. According to Mr. Ahmed Al-Ghamdi; billboards in major Saudi

Arabia cities will act as an effective method, through allowing customers to see Toyota

rebranding efforts as they drive in their vehicles. Mr.Al-Ghamdi added that their target

customers are middle aged working men, and having billboards in major city highways; will

guarantee that those men see those billboards on their way back and forth from work. Those

advertisements will serve as a reminder to check online content to make sure if their vehicle is

affected by the recall to act soon; the billboard advertisements will contain important

throwback to information sources such as the Toyota Blog, and the Facebook Contest. Also

work on their relationship marketing in Saudi Arabia.

Email Marketing
E-mail marketing is Toyota's new approach to going green. Plus it is also considered

relatively economic, more personalized in some cases. However it was not as successful as

Toyota thought it would. Even though recorded current consumers affected by the recalling,

and have registered their e-mail accounts; have received an email with information package

that contains important information such as dealer sites, how it has affected their registered

model to fix them, and an official apology from the senior management. The e-mail was

decorative, and consists of graphics that shows an image of the issue rather than simply text.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Email marketing started off in 2009; when "teamed up with the Los Angeles Saatchi & Saatchi

team to create an email marketing campaign to gain awareness for the Toyota Matrix through

some rather extreme ideas along the lines of “terror marketing” " (Rob,2012). The campaign

was aimed at young adult; to market the Toyota Matrix, through pranking people. This

campaign failed for it ended with nothing but law suits for conducting and inducing such

pranks (Rob,2012).

Social Media Campaign

Toyota spends more than 131.30 million dollars on social media (statista.com, 2012) to

ensure the success of their social media campaigns; which are featured in Youtube, Twitter ad

Facebook. The Toyota channel in Youtube has got more than 23,089 subscribers and

54,959,153 video views (Youtube.com ,2012). While on twitter they have more than 111,320

followers (Twitter.com, 2012). Furthermore, they have 1,210,017 likes on facebook and

18,931 talking about this (Facebook.com, 2012). Toyota also came up with an idea for a social

media strategy is to have consumers generate their own personal videos of their positive

experiences with the recall. The span of the content will be from direct communications from

Toyota staff to existing customers, to positive dealer experiences during repairs. Customers

loaded personal experiences online using YouTube, Facebook and communication tools. Once

uploaded the staff of Toyota arranged them, then selected a winner video to be featured as or

in a Toyota advert; the winner also got a Toyota Prius. Toyota also used social media campaign

in order to generate positive word of mouth about the recall, and have shared up to date

information on how to help solve the problem. Toyota also enabled their consumers to use

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LITERATURE REVIEW

platform and social media to create a collective dialogue, and share stories, and discuss the

issue with representatives of Toyota.

Putting high emphasis on using social media will allowed Toyota to communicate using

new era tools, which are intended to help emphasize Toyota superiority over their competition.

Below the graph – chart 3- show a more graphical depiction of the communications budget

separated by the tools Toyota usually replay on in their campaign (Aug 2010)

Advertising Spending Per Category

20% TV
%32 Print
Billboard
20% Email
Social Media

%12
16%

Chart 3, Author Generated (2010)

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Finally in several cases of model public relations and advertising, and marketing

activities used to provide a basis for believing that there are some differences between them.

Advertising and public relations are individual tools for marketing. Have strengths and

weaknesses, and each has a specific purpose. However, the gap between public relations and

advertising is close. Eventually, there will be more similarities than differences and as a result,

there are public relations tactics to replace traditional advertising methods.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Data Collection

As for the data collection part, the primary data will be the main source for collecting

data and information as it will be conducted for the exact means of the research which makes

it more valid than the secondary data might be found. Also it will be more updated comparing

to primary data which might be gathered years ago so it becomes less likely to provide reliable

answers to the questions the data needs to answer.

Therefore, online questionnaire and interview will be taken for this research.

According to Dr. Pharlain Ross, online questionnaire is the best way to collect primary data:

“As the internet is changing every single industry. It has certainly changed Marketing
Research. There are many different ways to conduct research projects but Web based surveys
are the newest and best as its speed, cost effectiveness, ability to cover a country or even one
geographical area. Additional to that, it allows to add multimedia and send automatic e-mail
reminders.”
Likewise the face-to-face interview which called synchronous communication, it can

takes its advantage of voice, intonation, body language of the interviewee which give the

interviewer more information that can be added to the verbal answers. Dr. Gray stated that the

interview is one of the best way to collect primary data for research as “ there is a need to

attain highly personalized data, very convenient for the respondent, ambiguities can be

clarified and incomplete answers followed up and it allows more detailed questions to be

asked”.

On the other hand, secondary data will be collected as well from the Internet as it is

often quick and convenient to search, has brief information and quick facts, can find old and

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

new information easily and most companies have official websites of them which contain all

the information needed and about their products. Some of the websites that will be used to get

the data from are Toyota-Global.com , CBC.ca and facebook.com.

Questionnaire

The online questionnaire will be sent to almost seventy people who are above twenty-

years old and who can drive or even can buy a car (users of the products). In addition, around

thirty questionnaires will be distributed at Toyota showroom after taking permission from the

showroom center manager. The online distribution will be by sending it to emails, post it on

social networks such as Facebook and twitter and sending broadcasts on Blackberry

messenger and WhatsApp application. Also the other thirty questionnaires will be distributed

by hand to costumers at the Toyota showroom.

This type of distribution has been chosen as its cheaper comparing to other primary

data collecting ways, more likely to get more people to answer, its easiness to be analyzed,

cultural confidential and it also gives the ability to set a deadline for answering the

questionnaire. As for the deadline, the questionnaire will be available to be answered for six

days; e-mail reminder will be sent after the third day of distribution. As a result and after six

days, the expected replies are between seventy to seventy five. After all, the replies will be

analyzed by the website used to conduct the questionnaire which is surveymonkey.com.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Questionnaire Design

The questionnaire will take maximum two minutes to answer. It has four parts, part A

is called personal information and it has three questions which state the gender, the age group

and if s/he has a car or willing to have one. Part B is called the brand recognition and it has a

picture of Toyota’s logo and two questions after it. The two questions will tell how familiar

the logo is and if the current communication method is sufficient or not. Part is C contains

two questions and it tries to define if Toyota has achieved its mission and made the wanted

perception in the costumers’ minds. In last part is D which called your Toyota, my Toyota and

has two questions. It tries to measure the awareness of Toyota recall car and if it will affect

the decision of buying one of its cars or not.

The questionnaire planned to be as short as it can be as the need of getting more

responds. Most people will avoid filling out the survey when it has lots of open-ended

questions and this what leaded the questionnaire to be short with only seven close-ended

questions (multiple choice with one or more answers) and two open-ended question to

describe how interest the people are to buy a Toyota car or to describe Toyota in one word.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Interview

In order to have a better insight about the marketing strategy of Toyota and their

communication channels, and interview was conducted with Mr. Ahmed Al-Ghamdi; who is

one of the marketing directors at Abdulateef Jameel, one of the 16 Toyota dealers in the

Middle East (Toyta, 2012). The interview was conducted over the Phone, where he was asked

four questions; the interview lasted around 20 minutes. First question about the Toyota

marketing strategy; what is it? In order to understand the tactics Toyota uses to market their

product. Second question was about the Toyota budget; how much is it? In order to assess,

how much Toyota is concerned with marketing. Third question was about the marketing

communication channels; what is most effective here in Saudi and why? For customers react

differently to channels from region to another, such difference is controlled by many aspects

such as region, culture and age. Final question was about the change in marketing

communication channels in Saudi; how did it happen? Why did it happen? And what are the

consequences related to such change? As mentioned the customer reaction towards

communication channels is different, however change is a must in order to keep up to date

with the current communication methods.

25
DATA ANALYSIS

Primary Data
As mentioned primary data was collected through two methods, an interview as well as

a questionnaire; each targeted a certain aspect that would support this research about Toyota

and their marketing communication channels.

Interview

The interview focused on understanding Toyota's marketing strategy, as well as their

communication channels; and the change in those channels through time. When asked about

their marketing strategy Mr. Ahmad answer stated that Toyota does depend on relationship

marketing. For they believe that their marketing strategy reflects on their mission; which is to

provide the best customer experience and dealers support. By providing the best costumer

experience as well as support, and understanding customers' needs; they will be able to

develop products that will reach customer's satisfaction. They also focus on the product, for

they also believe that a good product will market itself. Mr. Ahmad also talked about the

assigned budget for marketing in Toyota, and he stated that was relatively low compared to

another automobile marketing budget, for again in Toyota they rely on the product to sell

itself. Especially Toyota is very famous in the Middle-East and GCC. When asked about the

most efficient marketing communication channels in Saudi, Mr. Ahmad said that he believes

that the most efficient marketing channel in Saudi is billboard signs; and that they are

distributed in major roads in cities, in order to grab the customer's attention with their latest

offers and products. Plus the fact that their main target customers is middle aged working

26
DATA ANALYSIS

men, for in general those men will be interested in having a Toyota not only to themselves, but

also for their families and sons. However, things are changing; according to Mr. Ahmad. For

today Toyota is also targeting younger customers, and in order to do so they are trying to reach

out to them through more modern channels; such as social media. This way, Toyota in Saudi

will be able to reach out to different demographics. Mr. Ahmad also believes that there are no

consequences to using new channels, and that there are lots of benefits to using new channels;

such as regularly updating their customers with their offers and products, as well as engaging

with them.

Questionnaire

First part of the questionnaire, was personal information were the participants have to

specify their gender, age, and whether they are a car owner or not. 74.4% of the participants

were males while 25.6% were females; and about 27.9% were above the age of 18, 44.2%

above the age of 24, 11.6% above the age of 30 and 16.3% about the age of 35. 69.8% of the

participants were car owner, while 18.6% were not and 11.6% stated they will own a car in

the future. In Saudi, women are not allowed to drive; only men. Accordingly has always been

perceived that men in Saudi are more familiar with cars, compared to women; thus it is very

important in this survey to know the percentage of participants from each gender. This survey

only included those who are 18 and above, to ensure that the participants were old enough to

drive (in and outside of Saudi); considering that further questions will include details that

requires those who are eligible to do so. It is also important to know the percentage of car

27
DATA ANALYSIS

owners, also to help answer and asses further questions. In the second part, which is brand

recognition, 90.50% identified the logo, while 4.8% did not; and thought it was a BMW and

4.8% thought it was other. 18.6% said they did from social media, while, 34.9% from printed

media, and 46.5% from TV. Moreover, 46.5%. recognized the logo from billboards, while

20.9% drive their cars, 81.4% see people driving Toyota cars, while 7.0% said they

recognize it from other channels. Brand recognition nowadays become highly important in

marketing, for customers relate to brands they are familiar with, thus are willing to buy from;

compared to ones they do not recognize. Knowing where the participants recognize the logo

from will narrow down the most effective and efficient communication channel for Toyota in

Saudi which is TV advertisements. Despite the public awareness, Mr. Ahmed claimed that

billboards are their most effective communication channels, while the survey results clearly

prove that TV advertises are the most effective method. During the third part of the

questionnaire, participants were asked to describe Toyota in one word, in order to perceive

what the public thinks of Toyota, 55.0% described it as economical; while10.0% as

environmentally friendly. On the other hand, 35.0% described Toyota as good quality and

47.5% as Japanese. The participants were also asked whether they are interested in buying a

Toyota or not, and why; 47.6% said they were while 50.0% they were not, for different

reasons. One of the participants said he or she was not interested because he or she does not

like the design, while another said he or she would prefer a more luxurious car. This shows

that Toyota did brand position itself as an economical, Japanese car; compared to other brands

such as Audi which is perceived as an expensive, European car. Even though, Toyota does

28
DATA ANALYSIS

manufacture Lexus. Final part was about the recent Toyota recall; this survey was conducted in

order to assess the amount of awareness Saudi customers have in regards to Toyota's global

news. Whether they were up to date with the latest Toyota's news or not; which shows how

effective is the Toyota global marketing communication channels. Also how the recall affected

the customers decision to buy a Toyota. While 47.6% said they were not familiar with the

recall, 35.7% said they were and 16.7% asked what a recall is. 9.3% said the recall affected

their future Toyota buying decision, 32.6% said it did not and 37.2% said maybe, while

20.9% do not know.

29
DATA ANALYSIS

Secondary Data
According to CNN Money Toyota is ranked 8th in the World Largest 500 Cooperation

List for 2011; after it was ranked 5th (2011). According to CNN Money, this decline is due to

the slowdown in production; which is due to the latest earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan

(2011). CNN Money stated that:

"sales in North America, Europe and Japan declined during 2010, Toyota sales picked
up in emerging car markets, including Asia, Central and South America and Africa. Emerging
markets ended up being strong enough to carry the company, which sold over 7 million units
in 2010, an increase of 71,000 from the previous year"

Ever since Toyota has been trying to recreate its image to the public, by using more efficient

up to date marketing communication channels; and ever since the latest recall Toyota has been

trying even harder, by purchasing the American Super Bowl advertising spot for at least 8

million dollars. As well as sponsoring shows, and earlier in 2009 when it conducted its e-mail

pranks; in order to market its Toyota Matrix. Toyota is trying to become part of pop culture

and the mainstream by changing its image; which is mostly perceived as Economical and

Japanese. By becoming part of the mainstream Toyota is reaching out for the young

generation, generation Y and millennium generation; who having boosting the current change

in postmodern marketing ( Nair & Subramaniam, 2011) . Accordingly, Toyota became part of

social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube; spending more than 131.30 million

dollars on social media campaigns. Even though it has become" an important tool in the

marketing mix promotion" (Nair & Subramaniam, 2011); and "marketing communication

platform shows a tendency to shift towards innovation technology" (Nair & Subramaniam,

30
DATA ANALYSIS

2011) here in Saudi only18.60% claim that they have recognized the Toyota logo through

social media(author generated survey, 2012). Meaning that social media as a marketing

communication channel, is not very effective here in Saudi; compared to the states for

example where more than 79% of adults are social networks users (Nair & Subramaniam,

2011). Yet, Mr.Ahmad stated that Toyota here in Saudi is promoting their more youthful

modern models, such as FJ, to young customers through social media. Even though social

media marketing; is yet to be popular here in Saudi, businesses such as Toyota; do not have to

worry about any financial consequences compared to other channels. Considering the fact that

popular social networking sites; such as facebook and twitter, do not charge fees upon setting

profiles, accounts and pages. However, they do charge businesses for optional promoting

spots. Nair and Subramanian stated in their research about transformation of traditional

marketing communication in to paradigms of social media networking that "social media can

be viewed as an important channel and tool to interact with target audience and a tool for

creating brand awareness too" (2011). Yet, 47.6% of the survey participants, here in Saudi,

stated that they were not familiar with the recent Toyota recall. Meaning, that Global Toyota

social media marketing is focusing more on Western customers; considering the fact Eastern

are more aware of the brand. According to the Toyota annual report in 2011 Toyota sold 8,019

thousand vehicles, while in the United States they have only sold 21,404 thousand vehicles;

while in Asia and the Middle East they have sold 25,257 thousand vehicles The high sales

figure in Asia and the Middle East clearly proves that, Eastern are more aware of the brand;

take for instance Saudi 90.50% where of the survey participates recognized the brand.

31
DATA ANALYSIS

Regardless of the relatively low sales in the West Toyota Motor Company, held top honors in

the BrandZ Top 100 annual ranking of the world's largest and most valuable brands in 2011

(Kleis, 2011). Of course social media networking has its negatives, for example the rapid

spread of rumors and bad publicity; through negative feedback by customers. Social media

may be one of the most effective communication methods, however; one should note that

internet and certain websites are not available everywhere. For example facebook is not

available in China. Based on such facts, Toyota became more involved in other marketing

communication channels; in order to reach wide range of demographics. Toyota for example

started sending email newsletters, that include updates and promotions give them a marketing

advantage; by becoming more in touch with their customers. Using such channel is

environmentally friendly, and inexpensive however; this method has not been successful. plus

the fact that those newsletters will only reach registered customers. On the other hand, while

billboards are not successful worldwide as they are in Saudi; as mentioned in the study, printed

magazines and newspapers adverts are. Toyota of course is considered one of the most

recognized brands worldwide, which also proves the effectiveness of their communication

channels mix;. While each communication channel directs certain demographic, it is very clear

that Toyota spends more than 795, 60 million dollars on TV adverts, making TV

advertisements their most effective communication channel. Sponsoring a TV show, and

buying prime time spots is the best way for a business to tell their story, in an engaging,

consumer friendly format (Allbusiness, 2012). While TV advertisements demand good

creative scripts and plots, such plots and scripts may not be suitable for all culture. Take for

32
DATA ANALYSIS

example the Super Bowl advert, in it was featured couple of females in bikinis; while it might

be suitable for western culture, it is not for eastern. Accordingly, most eastern Toyota

advertisements are more conservative, featuring young adults and babies; thus in such

situations social media or print may be more creative compared to advertisements. Overall

each communication channel is effective, however; the effectiveness of each depends on the

targeted demographics, their age, gender and culture.

33
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusion

It can be concluded that marketing play significant role in every organization in order

to succeed through a profitable relationship with customer; however, each organization should

follow a marketing plan or a strategy, for instance doing a research about customer especially

if the organization is international and has many branches in different countries it is important

to know the language, culture and so on. After doing the research organization will have the

customer data, their interest, need, wishes and this process will lead to meet the customer

expectation. In addition, organization must have a marketing analysis and strategy to evaluate

different concept in organization like production and selling process. Finally, origination must

put the marketing plan into action to see the results, and build a trust with customer to obtain

their loyalty for a long time. This research discus Marketing Communication Channels in

Toyota, and it shows how Toyota success in their marketing strategy. The literature review

shows that Toyota spends 8-10 percent in their sales in the marketing; which is about one

billion; in which 795, 60$ on TV commercials, 140, 10 million dollars for magazine adverts

and 31.40 dollars in newspaper advert;, 17, 20 million dollar for billboard advertising, and

more than 131.30 million dollars in social media campaigns. Toyota usually prefer to

communicate with the customer direct to know what they actually need rather than surveys

and sampling in order to provide a high quality image to customers and achieve their goal

which is meet customer expectation. In the research methodology its describe data Collection

for primary data such as questionnaire and interview. However, Interview has been done for

34
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

understanding the Toyota marketing strategy and their mission which is providing best

experience for customer, and questionnaire is personal information of the participants such

gender, age, they own a car or not and these are very important information for Toyota

Company to discover the customer demand based on this data. On the other hand secondary

data can be finding in the easy and quick way which is searching in the internet.

35
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendations

It is a fact that nowadays organization is are more competitive than they have ever

been; quality and reasonable price is not enough to stay alive these days a company must

know how to communicate effectively with their customers (marketography.com , 2012).

However, many organization give their all efforts on the quality of their products and prices

forgetting how to make a an effective marketing communication (marketography.com , 2012).

After doing this research it is found that between 2011 and 2012 Toyota announced for a large

scale recall and unfortunately this recall applied for 7.4 million vehicles around the world, and

more than 1.3 vehicles in US. However, this is not the first recall Toyota Company announced,

in 2009 and 2010 there were about 6.7 million cars recall, because it had safety issue and these

specific models were at risk (Dailyfinance.com, 2010). As a result, it is recommended that

Toyota Company should be more aware about their vehicles; such a large company should not

make these mistakes. For such mistakes are not only effecting their sales, but also their

customer relationship. Toyota Company needs to improve their relationship with customer

and build trust by fixing their products problem. This can be done by hiring an outsourced, or

an insourced team to justify and analyze the operations process and strategy inside Toyota

Company (60secondmarketer.com, 2010). On the other hand, Toyota need to have more

channels in more social media sites; such as Instagram, which is "gaining a one new user every

second " (digitalbuzzblog.com , 2012) . Toyota needs to identify them self and let people know

about the company, customer always want to learn more about the company that he or she

36
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

want to buy from. In addition these channels can be used for problem solving

(brandingstrategyinsider.com, 2010) .. On the other hand, providing a chartroom in their

official website with professional employees to answer customer concerns would be great

service.

37
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43
APPENDIX

Appendix A: Interview

Q1. What is your marketing strategy?

 Our marketing strategy is stated in our mission; which is to provide best customer

experience and dealer's support. By understanding our costumers needs, in Toyota we

do not relay on long endless surveys or sampling; we prefer talking to our clients and

the public to understand their needs, thus develop them. In Toyota we "walk the talk",

we rely on common sense to develop our product in order to reach customer

satisfaction. We really focus on the product, and believe that a good product that

satisfies the customer will market and sell itself.

Q2. What is your marketing budget?

 Our marketing budget is not big, again we very much rely on the product to sell itself;

and as you know Toyota in the middle-east and GCC is very famous.

Q3. What is your most efficient marketing communication channel? Why?

 Our most efficient marketing communication channel in Saudi I, we believe, printed

media (billboard and newspaper adverts to be precise) and TV advertisements. Because

in Saudi we our target customers (in business to costumer sale) are middle aged men,

working class men. Not only they will buy cars for themselves, but they will also for

their families. Worldwide channel is different from one country, it all depends on the

culture; for example here in Saudi our target customers are mostly not into technology;

1
APPENDIX

thus we rely on the mentioned channels, in contrast people to social media that is

probably very much relayed on in the western world.

Q4. Describe the change in your marketing communication channel? Why did you change?

What are the consequences?

 We are still using our basic channels, which are again efficient; and did he lp us

communicate to our target customers. Not only that those channels are reaching out to

everybody, not just our target customers. Today we are developing our social media

channels such as twitter, facebook and youtube; to reach younger customers who might

be interested in our new youthful cars such as the FJ. I believe that there are no

consequences to using new channels, and that there are lots of benefits to using new

channels; such as regularly updating their customers with their offers and products, as

well as engaging with them.

2
APPENDIX

Appendix B: Questionnaire

Part 1: Personal Information

Percentage Count

Gender
Male 74.40% 32
Female 25.60% 11

Age
18 - 23 27.90% 12
24 - 29 44.20% 19
30 - 35 11.60% 5
35+ 16.30% 7

Do you own a car?

Yes 69.80% 30
No 18.60% 8
In the future 11.60% 5

35+ Future
16% 18-23 12%
Female
26% 28%
30-35 Don’t Own
12% Cars
18%
Car
Owners
Male
70%
74% 24-29
44%

3
APPENDIX

Part 2: Brand Recognition

Percentage Count

What does this Logo stand for

BMW 4.80% 1
Toyota 90.50% 39
Other 4.80% 2

From where did you

recognize the logo above?
social media 18.60% 8
printed media 34.90% 15
Tv 46.50% 20
billboards 25.60% 11
I drive one of their cars 20.90% 9
I see people driving their cars 81.40% 35
I do not recognize it 0
others 7.00% 3

90.00%
80.00%
Other
11% 70.00%
60.00%
Toyota 50.00%
25%
BMW 40.00%
64% 30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
social media printed Tv billboards I drive one Others
media of their cars

4
APPENDIX

Part 3: Marketing Strategy

Percentage Count

Describe Toyota in one

Word
Economical 55.00% 22
Environmentally friendly 10.00% 4
Good quality 35.00% 14
Japanese 47.50% 19 Not Intereseted
51% in a Toyota
other 3
49%

Are you interested in

buying a Toyota?
yes 47.60% 20
no 50.00% 21

60.00%

50.00%

40.00%

30.00%

20.00%

10.00%

0.00%
Economical Environmentally Good quality Japanese
friendly

5
APPENDIX

Part 4: Toyota Recall

Percentage Count

Are you familiar with the recent Toyota

car recall ?
yes 35.70% 15
no 47.60% 20
what is car recall ? 16.70% 7

Did it effect how you perceive to the

Toyota image (your decision to
buy a Toyota car in the future)?
yes 9.30% 4
no 32.60% 14
maybe 37.20% 16
I don’t know 20.90% 9

yes it
effected
what is a 9%
I don’t know
recall 21%
17% Familiar wth
the recall
36% no
33%

maybe
Not
37%
47%