I thought I’d look into how to use the internet to push an environmental friendly vehicle such as the Prius.
I’ve had a lot of experience marketing cars online especially for Honda and Mazda here in Australia. But how do you market a car that has questionable environmental impact (due to battery production and shipping) and low quality driver experience?
I have now read a lot of reviews, which suggest for the same price and better fuel performance I would be better buying one of the new gen diesel vehicles. I must admit I do and because I wanted the performace and driving experience while reducing fuel consumption.
Hybrid cars are not a new concept with Ferdinand Porsche, in 1899 as a young engineer at Jacob Lohner & Co. created the first gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that the idea was brought back in to the light. Interestingly it was Audi in 1989 with the 100 Duo a plug-in parallel hybrid based on the Audi 100 Avant quattro. But no more than 10 were produced. Audi continued to work on the idea with a few releases. In 2010 they will release the A1 a sporting looking car with reasonable 110 kW (150 bhp) compared to the 57 kW (76 hp) in the Prius. But I digress… if you want to know more visit Hybrid Vehicle History website. http://www.hybrid-vehicle.org/
Researching this I was underwhelmed at how Honda, Toyota and Lexus for example used social network marketing. Toyota have gone much further and have succeeded especially when you look at Facebook and Twitter. This may be a reflection on the number of units sold to the marketing spend but none the less there are 45,000 people engaged and talking about the Prius.
The downside for Prius is that it has have come under scrutiny by some of the biggest motoring commentators. The most well know is Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear fame. Prius have been stuck with a 3 year old clip of the underperformed earlier model. Will this endanger sales? I think it is only a bug on the windscreen of the 45,000 seater facebook fan bus.
So what do I think? Well I’m impressed they have used almost every channel available to them. But! I have lost count of how many messages they are try to spread. Different execution for different targets can make sense but I think Toyota has been sucked in by their agencies. Some of the creative is self indulgent design to put another trophy on the reception desk. The stand out is the UK TVC which sells the merrits of the car. Toyota can no longer hangs its hat on the green angle.
The GalleryThere are dozens of Prius twitter accounts. It looks like the Prius marketers have create 3GenPrius twitter account. The content is a follow on to the efforts on Facebook. The account has just over 1,000 followers while following 1,200 Twitter feeds. Nothing exciting here but if you want to watch the conversation in click here.
Facebook has 29 groups you can become a fan. The main group has over 45,000 fans and has developed apps to help “share” the “radom acts of Prius”. Not only have they created a tribe of followers they have given them the tools to spread the gospel.
The group description is “Welcome to Harmony. Where what people want is also what nature needs. With an unsurpassed fuel economy rating, available solar technology, more power and fewer smog forming emissions, it’s no wonder Prius is the most loved hybrid in the world.” But is it the most loved? Well on that I searched for other “popular” hybrids including the Honda Insight – yep they maybe right.
There is also an option to “Ask an Expert” or see the Prius solar flower (you have to see it)
Websites
US: http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/commercial.html
UK: http://www.toyota.co.uk/cgi-bin/toyota/bv/frame_start.jsp?id=MSR_PRIUS
Why Not? http://www.toyotabeyondcars.com
Mobile Site: http://m.toyota.com/prius/index.html
iPhone AppAvailable through itunes contains a lot of information. Photos that you can compare and choose colors, even see how the dashboard navigation system looks. Trim versions, so you can compare prices and option packages. iPhone and iPod Touch users can see videos, including a 360-degree colorizer of the Prius. Within the next couple of months, Toyota will extend this rich media feature to other models – and also to other mobile phone models.
Forums and BlogsThe Prius is all over the internet. One of the biggest forum is PriusChat with 70,500+ threads, 996,000+ comments and over 58,000 members. When I visited the site there were 4,276 active members. Now for a car that is not highly rated that is pretty impressive.
YoutubeGo to YouTube and type in “prius” and you are returned almost 7,000 results. Like most keyword searches only a percentage are of the car. Here you will find the TVCs, the making off the DA DA DA international TVC. Other clips include spoofs and reviews including the Top Gear bashing of the Prius and he does make a good point.
International:
I’ve seen this TVC before. It is visually clever with a mass of people playing the part of trees, flowers and running water. The main message is about the low emmission aspect of the car. The only “more power” and “more space” are the only two other take aways. Impressive yes, persuassive – hmmm maybe not.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq4nrmnqY9o
UK:
I like this TVC as it manages to get the clean energy across but makes more of the features of the car. When looking for a car you have a particular need or desire. With a number of hybrid cars how do you now stand out? Being the original and the most experience is what the TVC communicates. The others are just following our lead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuGJtIUow3o
Top Gear
Unless a cars has 800+ bhp you’re in trouble with these guys. Why are people so unkind! Well they may be onto something.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOvp69lnZbA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqY8FUDcATE
Fifth Gear are a bit more generous with the 3rd gen Prius
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yspf4wbs5uE
Promo
“best selling hybrid in history” – please they should be slammed for that comment alone. I thought the blue man group had vanished in the hallowed halls of the 1990s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Btpk8yTS0
Traditional Media
Here is a range of print ads… still looking for more.
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