Mazda needs to change its approach in order to rise above the 2 percent of the US market at which the brand has been stuck for at least five years. So this weekend, Mazda is launching a new US advertising campaign that not only is meant to break through auto-marketing clutter but also to help stake the brand's attempts to move to a more upscale positioning.

"Game Changers" will feature TV spots that highlight "game-changing" American figures from sports to science. The idea is to communicate to US consumers that Mazda demonstrates some of the same attributes as these heroes, which admittedly may come as a revelation to many Americans.

"We're focusing on courage, creativity and conviction" in the new campaign, Russell Wager, Mazda's US CMO, told brandchannel. "Those three words are basically what consumers told us they thought Mazda was about." He explained: "Versus just being 'any brand,' the idea is to align our products with people who changed the world for good."Continue reading...

Mazda continues to attempt to climb out of the fray in the US mainstream car market with a determined repositioning as more upscale. The brand continues to add to its tech chops by pushing its SkyActiv sub-brand in creative new ways as well.

The latest: a tie-up with the formidable Star Trek franchise, with a cross-promotion with the latest Paramount film in the sci-fi series, Star Trek into Darkness. With TV, digital, CRM, out-of-home, social media and retail fronts, Mazda is spotlighting the revamped 2014 Mazda6 as well as the SkyActiv powertrain technology. Mazda staged a similar partnership last year with Universal's The Lorax, that time spotlighting the Mazda CX-5 crossover.

One feature of the new platform is a Paramount Star Trek app that has five "interactive missions," one weekly leading up to the movie's May 17 premier. The app launches a scavenger hunt for Star Trek and Mazda content, ascension through the "Starfleet Academy" and merchandise, according to Marketing Daily.Continue reading...

What becomes an auto brand most? A reputation for speed and responsiveness certainly helps, and sometimes, a celebrity endorsement or two. And now, in the case of Mazda, perhaps even a move upscale.

Mazda executives in Japan and the United States want to convert the brand's small sliver of global sales, less than 2 percent of the industry, into a premium slice instead of simply a share of the mainstream. They also want to bump up U.S. sales to around 400,000 from a typical annual total of about 300,000.

"If we make ordinary products for the mass market, there would be no reason for us to exist," CEO Takashi Yamanouchi told Automotive News. Of course, the challenges in breaking into the near-luxury segment of any developed market are legion.Continue reading...

Mazda may be zigging with its decision to bet heavily on making more of its vehicles in Japan and exporting them in the nation's classic Japan Inc. way. But all of its Japanese rivals are zagging — and sinking unprecedented amounts into building up their manufacturing presence in North America, as the lofty yen gives them little choice but to do so for currency hedging.

The little automaker has declared that 90 percent of the output of its new CX-5 crossover, in Japan, will be aimed for export and that it can make a profit on sales to the U.S. even if the yen continues to appreciate against the dollar.Continue reading...

The catchphrase of The Lorax — "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing's going to get better" — can mean a lot of different things depending on one's perspective when it comes to the marketing of Universal's record-breaking new #1 movie.

To purists, it means that unless consumers speak up, Hollywood's commercialization of Dr. Seuss, including signing a cross-promotional sponsorship deal with an automaker, the movie's environmental message is for naught. To Mazda, the brand that's ponying up for The Lorax tie-in, it means that unless some consumers care an awful lot, sales numbers are not going to get better.

But is the outrage about Mazda's Lorax partnership making "perfect" the enemy of "good" — and overlooking ?Continue reading...

100 likes, 857 dislikes. That's the YouTube tally for the Mazda tie-in commercial for Dr. Seuss' The Lorax movie, based on the animated version of the kids' classic environmental-themed book that's hitting cinemas on March 2nd.

The comment "I'm absolutely disgusted with this! The REAL Lorax would never work with the Onceler. Mazda, stop using Dr. Seuss's material, it's only going to make your company look bad and downright stupid" has been voted up 28 times. Another irate comment, "Consider the movie and car both boycotted. WTF were you thinking?" is par for the course.

The shame of it? It all could have been avoided.Continue reading...