Marketing Thoughts by Domus Inc.

When Toyota’s first recall was announced a few weeks ago, their brand image took a hit, but not enough to destroy what had taken decades to solifify. But then they got hit with another recall and another, with the most recent being steering problems with the 2009-2010 Corollas. Not only has one after another problem arisen, but most of them affect newer models, which is indicative of the current state of the automaker’s quality. And, if that weren’t enough, a former Toyota lawyer is alleging that Toyota had been involved in “a calculated conspiracy to prevent the disclosure of damaging evidence.”

The damage now is severe, especially given that the U.S. Congress has decided to hold hearings, which means that the news will drag out for a long time to come. Moreover, Toyota’s President, Akio Toyoda, initially stated that he would not appear before Congress, although he just reversed course given the mounting bad news.

So, can Toyota recover? It will be difficult and costly – a PR nightmare – but they have no choice. They became an industry giant by owning the word, “quality”. This will be the beginning of a long decline if do not take immediate and long term steps to regain that brand position in people’s minds.

Domus is an advertising, public relations, and internet marketing agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

GM recently launched its new advertising campaign for Buick with the slogan, “The New Class of World Class”. Moreover, Buick ads now prominently feature comparisons against Lexus. (And, in fact, people who are test-driving the 2010 Buick LaCrosse do say that it bests the Lexus ES.)

But how do these ads affect GM’s overall brand mix? Cadillac was always the brand the was positioned at the high end. (Cadillac’s advertising tagline use to be “The standard of the world.”) Over the years, though, Cadillac’s luster faded and Toyota seized the high end market position with the Lexus. So, by constantly comparing Buick to Lexus, is GM blurring the brand positions between Buck and Cadillac? If GM is successful in its Buick ads, how does Cadillac position itself?

Cadillac recently did come up with a great ad – for their SRX crossover. The tag line for this ad was “SRX – the Cadillac of crossovers.” So Cadillac is finally standing tall and proclaiming its former place at as the world standard. But will they limit this tag line to the SRX or will they make a full frontal assault to regain their status across all models? And will they be fighting a war on two fronts – against Lexus and against their sister brand, Buick?

Domus, Inc. is a full service marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, please visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com.