종목토론카테고리
게시판버튼
게시글 제목
Let's Get Small: Kia Latest To Face Scion
게시글 내용
Let's Get Small: Kia Latest To Face Scion
|
By Steve Miller
DETROIT -- Thanks to Toyota's success with Scion, more carmakers are thinking small. And square-ish.
Kia, for one is preparing what marketing chief Ian Beavis calls a "Scion fighter." It's named Soul and hits the market next year. Shown as a concept at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the car sports a boxy design similar to a Scion xB.
"Scion has created a segment, and there is more and more room in that for others," Beavis said. "We've been in there, with the Rio, then Nissan came in with the Versa and Honda with the Fit, and it has lifted everyone's boats."
Kia has been studying Toyota's Scion brand for three years, he added, "but [we] don't plan to emulate them." Nor does Ford, but last week the No. 2 automaker confirmed it will finally enter the sub-compact segment in the next couple of years. The move also was seen as a rare nod by Ford to a Japanese competitor.
"It's an important segment for any automaker, but Toyota has done a masterful job with Scion," said Barry Engle, general manager of marketing at Ford. Chrysler has signed on with Chinese automaker Chery to jointly produce a small car for the Dodge brand, filling a lack in Chrysler's portfolio.
General Motors' concession to the sector, the Aveo, has been available since 2004, but thanks to a slew of new segment competitors like the Nissan Versa and the Honda Fit, sales for that model fell 14% last year, per Autodata, Woodcliff Lake, N.J. Even BMW is gunning for the segment with a new Mini, tentatively called the Traveler, which is set to show up in 2009 sporting a square-ish design.
"Everyone needs a Scion fighter now," said Art Spinella, head of CNW Marketing Research in Bandon, Ore. "It's not really about profits, either. It's about getting younger buyers into the brand."
Gen Y, born between 1981-95, is the largest consumer group in history at 57 million. The idea behind Scion is to attract those consumers and then migrate them to Toyota later on. There's no way to tell yet if that's working, but 80% of Scion buyers are new to Toyota.
Toyota introduced Scion in 2002 as a line focused on the demo. At the time, many thought Toyota was an old person's brand and the company needed to catch up with Honda on the Gen Y front. Part of Toyota's plan was to import the kinds of boxy small car designs that were popular in Europe and Japan but not in the U.S.
The bet on smaller cars paid off for Toyota: Small car sales last year jumped 32%, according to Edmunds.com figures, as market share for the segment moved from 4.2% in 2005 to 5.7% in 2006.
Many attribute the jump to rising gas prices. But there also is a youthful appeal at play. Scion eschews most TV advertising save for hipster programming like Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block and relies largely on Internet-based viral efforts. Creative often aims to confuse people over 30; one ad featured a robot turning into the car.
"[Scion] made small cars really cool," said George Kang, an analyst at Edmunds, Santa Monica, Calif. "Before Scion, it was Toyota and the Matrix. But it was still a Toyota, which would have divorced it from the cool car thing. Scion has done its own thing." Scion sold 173,000 cars last year with just three models, more than Lincoln and about 7,000 units shy of Mercury. Given such success, it’s easy to see why other automakers are mimicking the brand's marketing approach.
For instance, Nissan cast the Versa as the anti-small car combating "autoclaustrophobia" and launched a teaser campaign on AOL's weekly Network Live concert series. Honda, meanwhile, used 5-second ads on Cartoon Network and other youth-skewing media and created Fit Nights, a House of Blues sponsorship. Chevy used half of its total online budget to push the Aveo last fall, claiming that its targeted buyer, aged 18-34, spends an average of two hours a day online.
How will Scion keep its lead against all these new comers? If recent campaigns are any guide, more of the same. Last week, for instance, Scion launched another under-the-radar push at want2bsquare.com where consumers can play games and watch videos to score points, the ultimate prize being a 2008 xB. The site was publicized via a single 60-second, darkly themed in-cinema trailer, created by Attik, San Francisco. Simon Needham, Attik co-founder and group creative director, said more categories need to follow Scion's example: "Nobody has any bal
게시글 찬성/반대
- 0추천
- 0반대
내 아이디와 비밀번호가 유출되었다? 자세히보기 →
운영배심원의견
운영배심원의견이란
운영배심원 의견이란?
게시판 활동 내용에 따라 매월 새롭게 선정되는
운영배심원(10인 이하)이 의견을 행사할 수 있습니다.
운영배심원 4인이 글 내리기에 의견을 행사하게 되면
해당 글의 추천수와 반대수를 비교하여 반대수가
추천수를 넘어서는 경우에는 해당 글이 블라인드 처리
됩니다.
운영배심원(10인 이하)이 의견을 행사할 수 있습니다.
운영배심원 4인이 글 내리기에 의견을 행사하게 되면
해당 글의 추천수와 반대수를 비교하여 반대수가
추천수를 넘어서는 경우에는 해당 글이 블라인드 처리
됩니다.
댓글목록