Marketing and Communication Plan Toyota Petite

Question: Discuss about the Marketing and Communication Plan for Toyota Petite. Answer: Introduction: The report is a business proposition for the idea of channel communication for the newest product of Toyota, Toyota Petite, which is all set to hit the market in another 10 months from now. The product is for sure innovative and the kind of world that we are living in, where everyone loves to be compact, this product is surely going to be a revolution(Hayes, 2013). This report will capture all the existing channels that we can leverage in order to enhance the know how of the product in front of the target audience and also the impacts that are projected on the identified set of stakeholders and what are the benefits that each of them can gauge through this innovation of Toyota. Target Audience: The compact size car that Toyota is launching now in the form of Toyota Petite is all set to tickle the customers requirement from all the ages and it is basically positioned to be the second preferred car of the people apart from the Luxury car that they may be using. Apart from that it is also positioned as the choice of the first car of the people, when they are buying the car for the first time. The working couples, who are planning to buy a second car, the retired couple, who just need car for regular visits within the city and the young population who are just planning to buy their first budget car are the target audience for whom the car is basically positioned(Kramer, 2010). This is the first of the kind of offering by Toyota as they are known for offering heavy cars to the customers. Product Introduction: Toyota Petite is a small 1000 cc car what is going to be launched in mostly developing countries in another 10 months time. This is the premiere innovation offered by the company in the segment of budget cars, which is the kind of choice people are making in the developing nation due to increasing issues of traffic and also due to the fact that people are not willing to invest a lot on the car needs. The target audience is already defined in the previous section. This is going to be car in the range of 4500 to 6000 USD and will be coming with the features of a premiere segment car like Toyota Etios. With these innovative offering and the defined market segment it is all set to become the peoples choice car and it has the potential of achieving that fate. Toyotas Management: The management of Toyota is the main stakeholder here since it is the first time that they are coming up with a car that is not heavy and is not in the luxury segment at all. This is a big step and is absolutely against the philosophy of Toyota till now. The major benefit that they can get is that they are all set to redefine the proposition and offering of Toyota and in case they are able to make it a big hit, then there will be an all new market that is open for Toyota which they are unable to tap till now(Humphrey, 2012). The management has a huge stake in order to make this car more successful and it is going to decide their stint success in the company. Shareholders: The shareholders of the company are the one who will get impacted on the largest scale, the people and the market always expects that Toyota will be launching a car in the luxury and heavy segment. The biggest expectation from the market is that Toyota will be launching something in the SUV segment post the innovation they have brought in Toyota Etios Hatchback. But when the compact car concept from Toyota is going to hit the market then it surely going to make a huge impact in the market and the sentiments are surely going to go up. However it depends on the performance of the car that if the sentiments will remain the way they are. Customer Base: The customer base here is the prospective customer base that Toyota is targeting through this new innovation. Toyota is a leader when it comes to power and performance and all their car is a huge hit. Now the new target audience will get the flavor of that performance in the form of Toyota Petite and that is going to be a huge success in the market Current Customer Base: The current customer base are an important and sadly the ignored lot of stakeholders who do not get the due worth that they deserve. There has to be some offers that needs to be floated in the market like buyback options and free test drive or even door step test drive. These things will earn Toyota the loyalty and people might consider buying the new offering(Jamieson, 2014). The overall things still remains the same that target audience is still what was defined earlier, however, the company must ensure that any leads or sales generated in a benefit for the taking and that is where the difference in the channel marketing comes in, the difference in tapping strategy of the company is something that will elevate the thought process of the customers. Production and manufacturing Manpower: There needs to be a change in mind set of the production and manufacturing manpower, as till now they are used to bringing up heavy and bulky car models in the market but now the strategy is flipped and the offering is a new one. In the same way there is a need to change the setup of the factory and the working style and dealing with compact cars is a different deal. Like the maintenance of jig need not to be very rigorous but the spare management has to be more rigorous and that is where the change in the mindset and working style will help the company a lot. This is a thorough case of change management and that can be achieved by properly devising the training and plan in case of this new concept to be inculcated in the culture. Communication Channel: Existing Communication Channel: There is a great communication channel that is already in place for Toyota, the loyal media partners and the distribution and retailer set up that is maintained thoroughly by them is all there to ensure that the right communication reaches the right set of people. However, the effectiveness of the classic style of communication is an objectionable thing as that will again link Toyota to the preliminary image that it is carrying it in the form of the legacy (The Chartered Institute of Marketing, 2016). The existing channel will be able to position the product on the first go itself in the eye catching manner and thus will be able to make an impact in the mind of the prospective customers as well(Risnen, 2011). The platform can be used as a Launchpad and not as the full-fledged solution to the communication process. Advertisement: The advertisements that Toyota has been following till date has been focused on product more and less on the customers and this is the first innovation that they are bringing up that is more focused towards the customers (Fill, 2011). There is a specific set of customers that they are targeting and hence the advertisements will be a huge scope of market penetration and this way it will have a higher impact in the mind of the customer(Egan, 2007). Through advertisements that idea is to ensure that the psychology of the people change and they start to treat Toyota as a peoples choice brand, they shall project and see the offering made in Toyota Petite and that is positioned to be as the peoples car. Advertisement hence has to be more customer focus and less of product focus. Automobile Magazines and Journals: This is where the real target audience will actually grab the eyeballs. The youth basically tend to make an informed choice and so does the working couples and for the retired couples the choices are made by children only. This induces the fact that in case there is a strong presence that is maintained in the journals and magazines then it is going to boost the communication by a large manner and hence it is going to be a huge positive for the company. The magazines will be able to cover the competitive focus and the esthetics of the car and the journals and articles will be able to cover the technical aspects of the car (Owen). Both these sources are thoroughly followed by the target audience making it to be the most appropriate manner of conventional communication system. These are however only focused towards the reading and the educated class that anyhow captures a huge level of customer base but still not all (Saeed, 2013). There are however other proposed modes of communication s discussed later that can be more appropriate for the customer base Toyota is trying to ideate. Positives and Negatives of the Existing Modes of Communications: Positives: The major positive aspect of the existing communication set up is that they are operationally stable and have been there for a long time. Toyota is maintaining a cordial link with these setups and hence they will be able to show instant fruits and results for them(Glasner, 2014). The contacts with the media houses and the journals will be able to get the traction in the desired customer base and that is very easy to achieve with these mediums. For the other readers and audience the advertisements will be able to make a huge impact. These are set traditional and conventional setups and will be there for the taking always. The people associated with Toyota knows the procedures and tastes very well and hence will be very impactful. Negatives: The negative aspects of these channels is that since they are set channels it is difficult to mold them in the desired manner now. The idea is shared in the previous section that the communication has to be more towards the customers and less towards the product. This is exactly opposite to how the Toyota communication channel has been running these while (Varey). There is a need to revamp the thinking of the channels in a way that they are able to understand the current psychology of the new desired set of customers and that is going to be very painstaking. The need to develop the new set is difficult and these efforts may also completely go in vain for them. Hence that is the reason the new channels are to be conceptualized and developed. Innovative Marketing Channel: Targeting the existing Customer base: This can be a breakthrough mode of customer development and equally innovative mode of creating the leads for the sales. The referral sales has an history of developing 34% more effective sales proposition and this it is in the case of core sales, where the pitch is directly made to the customers. The existing customer base are mostly the loyal customers of Toyota and there can be a chance that they might be looking for a second car option as well and that is where the enhanced services of Toyota towards their customers comes into picture. It is 56% more effective to actually grab the existing customer rather than developing a new one and this mode of communication is exactly the same. It is also in line with the business proposition as Petite is also positioned to be a second car for the family who already have a luxury car with them. The customers of Toyota are mainly luxury car owners and hence the pitch for a second car is always going to be handy and effective for the sales peop le(Sebastian, 2012). The people trust the quality and brand of Toyota and when it serving their core need then it is without a doubt a good offer(Kotler, 2010). Buyback of Old Toyota Cars: The buyback option is also a very handy option the restriction is not made only for Toyota cars, but also for the other brand cars. It is a heavily assumed hypothesis that many of the customers who visits to buy a Toyota car do not end up buying this car as they are expensive and hence they buy another car in the same league. There is no denial to the fact that the quality and services are heavily acknowledged. In the same pretext it is considered that if the option of buying a new Toyota Petite is given to the people they will be happy to exchange it with their existing car and that is further a very unique proposition for the company that no company has ever done in this league(Baines, 2008). Computing the effectiveness of the Communication Plan: Investment Expected: This is the setup expected to be implemented in two countries and will capture the three channel mode of communication and these are the estimated costs link to it: S.No. Channel Communication Subhead Cost ($s) 1 Advertisements Contracting 10000 Designing 5000 Testing 2000 Go Live (2 mins per day for 5 channels) 3000 2 Reconnect with existing customers Customer Connect 5000 Implementation Strategy 10000 3 Buyback system Strategy Designing 5000 Handling the old cars 5000 Total 50000 Impact: The following money is recoverable in a brief period of 11 months (assumption), since the car launch is in 10 months and by that time these communication channel can strategize the changes appropriately and hence can come up with a suitable business proposition good for the overall company. Conclusion: In the end it is concluded that the communication set up must be towards the customers and for the customers and not for the products and also the proposition must be towards the existing customer and not towards the acquisition of new customer base. The channel that is most suitable for the communication of Petite is the journals and magazines and the new channels that are to be developed must be around the leveraging the existing customer base by utilizing their leads and buying expectations. In this way the overall need of the sales and market penetration will be utilized and also the much needed marketing communication will also be set in place by the company. This is an important activity that needs immediate attention of the company and this is the most potent way of elaborating the customer base and ensuring that the sales are high and flying. There must not be any compromise around the services and offerings made in the market by Toyota. References Baines, P. F. 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