Stakeholders

Discuss about the Communication in Business Ethics Strategy.

This report discusses about the Toyota Motor Group, it is a public company in automotive sector started in 1937.Toyota deals in automotive vehicles, metal building and component manufacturing like trucks, utility vehicle, heavy duty vehicles and many other electrical and electronics equipment. Company’s main competitors are Honda, General Motors and Ford. In this report, we are going to discuss about our new product Prius which will target our lower to medium range of customers. Toyota is going to launch new model of car Prius and will be 4600 mm long and 1800 wide. It will have good wheelbase of around 2700 mm. It will target our lower to medium range of customers and will provide both affordability and comfort to our customers. Due to its less operational cost, it will be useful both for rentals and private customers. We will discuss the list of various stakeholders which will be relevant for our product and how can be communicate and engage with them. We will also discuss how important are these stakeholders for new product launch. Ahead of this, we will discuss various communication channels to launch our product in the market. We will analyze each channel in detail and check feasibility of each channel.

Our communication strategy will be different for all stakeholders in Australia, and we will make sure that we follow a code of ethics while dealing with our stakeholders. We are member of the Australian Industry group, automotive Industry Innovation council. Below given are the relevant list of stakeholders for Toyota Prius and the communication channels that how will we engage with them.

Our new car Toyota Prius is a product of Toyota Australia. Toyota Australia is a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation. Being a parent company, we will share a high level of interaction between the two companies. This will be our internal stakeholders where we will share knowledge and relevant information about our new car. The discussion could be both informal and formal. This will help us to improve our performance and internal operation regarding our product (Toyota Team, 2014).

Employees are also important internal stakeholder for our new product Prius. Our car will manufacture at our Altona, Victoria site. Only motivated and managed employees can give us desired results. When employees are engaged and guided properly only then they can work at their best. We will engage and employees via both formal and informal communication channels. We will conduct annual presentations with a President and regular discussions with the board of Director. Before each shift start for manufacturing of Prius, we will hold a pre-start production meeting and they will be given thorough training for its parts. Monthly, quarterly meetings will be held with Directors and seniors to make sure employees have got the message effectively. For our product we will also employee engagement and communication through our formal consideration like employee bulletins and newsletters (Rowland, 2015). We will also ask for suggestion and improvement areas from our employees to make our Product best in the industry.

Objective and scope of communication plan

For Prius, we will target lower to medium passenger buyers. Our car is ‘first mass hybrid car’ and has less competition and substitute compared to others in the segment, we will provide comfort and affordability to our customer which no other car in the same segment will provide. Our market will consist of business buyers and private buyers. Business buyers will be who will give a car on rental purpose, due to its less operating cost it will affordable for all. Private buyers are those who are willing to purchase our car for their personal use. This is an important stakeholder and our profits are dependent on them so we need to understand their wants and desires thoroughly to succeed in the market. We will engage our customers through the dealers’ network in Australia. We will communicate with customers regarding our new product launch through customer assistance centers.

Our dealers will be important for our new product launch of Prius. With our dealers’ network of 210 and around 300 dealers we will be able to achieve our initial sales target of our product. We will communicate with dealers through reference bulletins, newsletters and social media. All bulletins will be updated to get latest information about our product.

Suppliers will support us to get the viable material time to time. Our large supple chain will help us to get the right material for our product Prius. Only quality material will help us to produce best cars. We will engage our suppliers through regular information updates and annual conferences (Toyota Motor Corporation, 2013).

By producing Prius, we aim to provide a car to the community which is affordable, environmental friendly which will produce less pollution and will provide a great deal of comfort for our customers. We will take the help of our Toyota Community Foundation to spread awareness about our product. We will involve our employees for the same.

Maintaining good relations with local Government is very important for our new product launch. This will become a medium for us to discuss public policy decision related to our industry in open. We will take help from the local government of Australia regarding key issues and challenges of our new product launch (Nkomo, 2012). We will take help from our Australian Industry Group, Center for Corporate Affairs and many more as we are permanent members of such organizations.

Campaign Objectives are essential to set goals that have to be attained by strategic activities. There are three levels at which objectives are required to be set. These are Corporate, marketing and communication. For an effective introduction of a brand new vehicle in the market, marketing objectives are very important. The name of the car that is to be launched is Prius. A communication plan is very essential in fulfilling the goals and is in coordination with the various activities of the company such as production, sales, and purchasing etc.

Objectives:-

• To reach the target audience effectively (Takeuchi, Osono, & Shimizu, 2008).
• To make the prospective customers aware about the new car that is to be launched.
• To let know the customers about the features and specifications of the new car since it is launched with new technology. Only then they would be interested in buying the same.
• To generate lots of excitement among the target audience through word of mouth.
• To inspire customers to discover more about the new car Prius. Provision of visiting the website, ordering flyers, visiting a nearby dealer or requesting a test drive should be created for the customers (Prius, 2003).
• To marketed the car in such a way that it may be considered as a total substitute to outdated cars.
• To enable the purchase. Stress should be given on converting a large percentage of customer visits to showroom into sales.

Communications Mix

Public relations are helpful because it brings great credibility to the company at a minimal price. Communication through Public Relations will be very significant Prius car campaign will rely on a combination of communication media rather than commercial advertisements. PR activities would stress on print publications, but will also focus on Television programmes related to cars. Press releases of the launch and other promotional events would be made available to the auto industry and target audience. Hoardings/ billboards would be fixed in cities to reach the broader customer base through less expenditure. Fixing   these at busy areas will invite visibility of the Prius car to more and more people. A website of the car would also provide entire information and electronic brochures for the purpose of download (Team, 2015). The advantage of the Billboards is that it will be highly visible and disadvantage is that it is expensive and the general public might forget about it.

Brand Ambassador: A good celebrity who is known as a family man would be the brand ambassador for our Prius Car. The advantage is that people associate high status and credibility with the right ambassador. The disadvantage is that the communication plan has to work around his schedule.

Another important form of communication that enables sales is Personal selling. It is appropriate in this case because selling a car requires high involvement and requires a higher conviction for enabling purchase. The activity of personal selling shall be performed by local agents who should be given perquisite training about the new car through reading materials provided to dealers and conferences. They would be apprised with the benefits that come with the new car so that they can effectively communicate to the customers and should possess the ability to contradict objections raised by the customers about the product. Personal selling is also effective when the target audience is corporate who require cars for using them as cabs. Corporate buyers make purchases in bulk, so they demand presentations to be made by the seller company to enable a purchase.  Hence, through personal selling Toyota’s representative can convince the buyers that Prius cars are appropriate for their fleet. The expenditure of training will be covered in the dealer’s plus Toyota’s overheads. The advantage of giving presentation is that it will help in marketing and will be available over the internet. The disadvantage is that it cannot withhold the last amount of information. Personal selling is very essential for the general public as well as the clients of the car. Internal communication will ensure that it is incorporated with all other mediums of communication. We have also planned to provide ten vehicles as gifts in lucky draw. Both pull and push market strategy will be used (Calif, 2013). The customer market will be majorly determined by a pull strategy and the business customer market will use push strategy. Sales Promotion is helpful in the initial period of launch to escalate acceptance of the product.

Advertising will be the medium to make the customers aware about the USP of the car. Direct mail will be sent to the customers to inform them about the test drive bookings. Toyota has a complete track of the database of customers. There will be a pre testing of the campaign to verify if the message has reached the customer in the way it was intended to. A second mail or newsletter will be sent at the time of the launch of the car with detailed specifics and would also formally announce the launch of the car. At this point in time the clients can pre order the car. They can also book a test drive with the nearby dealer. The process has to be incorporated with the nearby dealer’s mailing process. These mails will also be sent to the corporate buyers. The mails will be in electronic form in order to emphasize on the modern outlook of the car. These emails would facilitate the customers to purchase the car online which would be convenient for the customers. The mails will also have attached brochures. The advantage of brochure and newsletter is that it can provide lots of information and is not expensive. The disadvantage is that it would have limited distribution and requires written literacy (Buttner, 2015).

Press release will be done at the time of the early stage of the launch of the car, it will create a positive impact and provide awareness and interest in educating customers about the advantages and features of the car. The car is a breakthrough technological innovation therefore media will automatically talk about it and more coverage will be requested.

The communication with the help of TV, internet will affect the most in terms of communication. A creative strategy will be used to target the mindset through these mediums. Advertising will be a step by step process and will aware, educate the general public and would eventually turn into a visit to the dealer. The major advantages are that television has a wide reach. It has high status and credibility attached to it. Customers can see both audio as well as video. The disadvantage is that it is expensive communication channel and programmes are not on air at the user’s convenient time. Nevertheless, communication through Television is the most preferred medium as it caters to a broad range and has a huge effect in the minds of the audience. The popular programs would be made use of to a large extent along with the ads. Big and popular TV channels will be used (Pratiwi, 2013).

Print advertising will be done through popular newspapers on both back cover and the second page. More advertisements will be done through a car magazine. The advantage is that the audience can review and re-read about the car, also it has high status attached with it. The disadvantage is that does not has a wide reach as that of a television.

Our communication strategy would comprise of a mix of advertising through TV and print, PR, mail and intensive selling that will be offered by the dealers. Internet will be having an essential role in case of advertising. Though this plan is a model and is likely to change if testing does not deliver positive results. Several meetings will be held to plan the unanimous message of the communication before the launch of the car.

Conclusion

In the end we can conclude that to launch our new car Balinia, all internal and external stakeholders are important. We will engage with our parent company, employees, customers, local government, community, suppliers and dealers get the best results which are desired for our new car. The product will be launched in the market through various communication channels. PR activities would stress on print publications, but will also focus on Television programmes related to cars.  Press releases of the launch and other promotional events would be made available to the auto industry and target audience. Hoardings/ billboards would be fixed in cities to reach the broader customer base through less expenditure. Fixing   these at busy areas will invite visibility of the Prius car to more and more people. A website of the car would also provide entire information and electronic brochures for the purpose of download. Advertising will be the medium to make the customers aware about the USP of the car. Direct mail will be sent to the customers to inform them about the test drive bookings. Press release will be done at the time of the early stage of the launch of the car, it will create a positive impact and provide awareness and interest in educating customers about the advantages and features of the car. Our communication strategy would comprise of a mix of advertising through TV and print, PR, mail and intensive selling that will be offered by the dealers. Internet will be having an essential role in case of advertising.

References

Buttner, D. (2015). Toyota Sustainability report. Toyota. Retrieved from https://www.toyota.com.au/toyota/sustainability/cms/download/2015/Toyota_Full_Report.pdf

Calif, T. (2013, September 05). Integrated Marketing Campaign Elevates 2014 Toyota Corolla to New Heights. Integrated Marketing Campaign Elevates 2014 Toyota Corolla to New Heights. Retrieved from https://toyotanews.pressroom.toyota.com/releases/2014+toyota+corolla+integrated+marketing+campaign.htm

Nkomo, T. (2012). Analysis of Toyota Motor Corporation. Harvard. Retrieved from https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/tnkomo/files/analysis_of_toyota.pdf

Pratiwi, M. (2013, April 09). Toyota Marketing Mix. Toyota Marketing Mix. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/zghlss-wt99b/toyota-marketing-mix/

Prius, T. (2003). Toyota Prius; Marketing Communications Plan . Andidas. Retrieved from https://images.template.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/09232204/example-of-marketing-communication-plan.pdf

Rowland, C. (2015, September 24). Toyota’s Stakeholders: A CSR Analysis. Toyota’s Stakeholders: A CSR Analysis. Retrieved from https://panmore.com/toyota-stakeholders-csr-analysis

Takeuchi, H., Osono, E., & Shimizu, N. (2008, June). The Contradictions That Drive Toyota’s Success. The Contradictions That Drive Toyota’s Success. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2008/06/the-contradictions-that-drive-toyotas-success

Team, U. (2015, March 23). Integrated Marketing Communication Plan For Toyota Motor Corporation Marketing . Integrated Marketing Communication Plan For Toyota Motor Corporation Marketing . Retrieved from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/integrated-marketing-communication-plan-for-toyota-motor-corporation-marketing-essay.php

Toyota Motor Corporation. (2013). Stakeholder engagement. Toyota. Retrieved from https://www.toyota.com.au/toyota/sustainability/cms/download/Why_We_Report_5-8.pdf

Toyota Team. (2014). Our stakeholders: Sustainability Report . Retrieved from https://www.toyota.com.au/toyota/sustainability/cms/download/Toyota_Stakeholder.pdf.