Exploring the Art & Science of Marketing
Archive for February, 2007
Toyota teaches a lesson in branding
Feb 7th
Toyota could teach a thing or two to the auto industry about branding. Volkswagen Group, listen up. I made this case about the Volkswagen Phaeton, and I’ve made this case twice about the Audi S8. (Enter hate mail).
Toyota sells three levels of cars, and it has a different brand for each car. Three car names. Three brands. Three markets. Toyota gets it, and the sales have followed. Toyota is now the second largest car manufacturer in the world.
Toyota – Notorious for selling quality cars that get good gas mileage. Wide ranging demographic.
Lexus – Instead of selling the Toyota IS 350 or the Toyota LS or GS line, Toyota wisely launches a completely different line of automobiles and calls it Lexus. Lexus becomes notorious for luxury, quality and reliability.
Scion – Wanting to get more younger people into it’s stores and familiar with the Toyota brand, Toyota launches a completely different line of automobiles and calls it Scion. No Toyota Xb or TC. It’s the Scion, which means descendent or heir. Where do you buy a Scion? At a Toyota dealer. The demographic is younger folks. Buyers can customize their cars in hundreds of ways, and the budget fits.
Audiworld fans go to town
Feb 7th
In case you haven’t been following the Audi saga, I made two posts about Audi and the Audi brand, and it pissed a few people off.
1 – Getting blasted on the Audi S8
2 – The problem with Audi
I got attacked, and I thought it was maybe a PR firm or something. It was just some very loyal Audi fans from AudiWorld.com. The comments from these folks are a little vulgar and childish, but worth a chuckle nonetheless.
Donkey farts, Morons and Bull#$%& Galore
“No offense to Russell, but his comments are less meaningful than a donkey farting through the wheat fields.” – Daniel
My thoughts: But what if those farts separate the wheat from the chaff?
“Obviously, the author of this article knows very little about automotive marketing. Just plain stupidity, nothing more can be said…a real moron.” – Rick
My thoughts: Marketing is marketing. It’s people selling to people. Consumer behavior. Marketers who think the magic is in the product (in this case cars) don’t know what they are talking about. Build what people want and what people feel good about and they’ll pay a premium for it. Some brands command a premium and some don’t. Hey, a least they called me “the author.”
“i advice you not to ever comment on any car related issues, not just Audi’s, given your limited and deceptive knowledge.” – Audi Fan
My thoughts: I’ll quit writing about cars when I quit driving. I drove an Audi S4 and was unimpressed. No curb appeal. I liked the Mercedes e55 WAY better. To be fair, I haven’t driven an S8 yet, but I don’t personally know anyone who would buy one either. Maybe I’ll change my mind about it when I drive one . . .
“honestly, who the hell are you to comment on what price range an Audi should be, If you dont like it, go buy a BMW or mercedes, keep your thrash talk inside of your head instead of your website.” – Audi Fan
My thoughts: I’m Russell, a guy who comments on what price range he thinks an Audi fits in. Did you miss that whole part about price and brand? When college kids can no longer buy an Audi while working part time the brand might change. Until then . . .
P.S. Did you forget? It’s my website. I write about brands all the time. I don’t believe Audi quite has the name of BMW or Mercedes . . . yet, and it certainly doesn’t carry the “prestige” of names like Maserati, Ferrari or Aston Martin.
“this is about the stupidest most biased most ridiculous article I have ever read about Audi. Unjustified, bull$$%& galore, I wish to meet the editor and smack his face.” – Audi Fan
My thoughts: I love being called “the editor” or “the author.” It makes me feel . . . important. One thing I have learned for sure is Audi fans are more like soccer hooligans. Audi hooligans.
“This is the most idiotic thing I have read in a long time…” – Alex
He, he he. Think what it would be like if I based on Apple at the same time.
What I’ve Learned
- Audi has some very, very, very dedicated buyers.
- The Audi S8 will likely sell better than I thought it would.
- It’s still an Audi. (Enter hate mail).
Getting blasted on the Audi S8
Feb 6th
More than a month ago I wrote a post called “The Problem with Audi.”
A month later, I somehow got two comments (on the same day) blasting my post saying things like “This is the most idiotic thing I have read in a long time…” Thanks! I’ll poke a hundred holes in this exact comment later. But let me be clear to these two . . .
- This post wasn’t about my like or dislike; it was about pricing and branding.
- Pricing has a lot more to do with branding than some people think.
- Most of Audi’s brand presence on the road today is in the A4, which costs far from 120k.
- Reliable or not, someone I trust very much says his Audi is junk.
- You can still buy a brand new Maserati Gransport or a used Aston Martin or Ferarri for 120k.
- If I’m willing to drop 120k on a car do you think all I care about is reliability, which my personal friend says doesn’t exist in an Audi?
To emphasize the point AGAIN! Maserati, Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari and Aston Martin command 120k (new/used) because the brand commands 120k. Big whoop if Audi can sell a few machines at 120k.
For my regular readers: These comments remind me of letters to the editor. Letters to the editor often come from people on far sides of an issue. In this case, it sounds like I either struck a chord with a few Audi fanatics or landed on the radar screen of an outside firm Audi uses to track blog conversations. Possibly a PR firm. Isn’t it odd that both comments showed up a month later? On the same day?
New York, New York
Feb 2nd
