Brand management at a motor manufacturing company

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the brand management of a motor manufacturing company. The study set out to establish what the most important elements are that contribute towards a successful brand and to identify a potential model that can be used to measure the brand elements that are evident in the Toyota brand. By using this model, the Toyota brand was evaluated, bringing to the fore the key success factors that have made Toyota the number one motor manufacturing brand in South Africa. The qualitative research was conducted to evaluate Toyota's understanding of its brand and then questioning the usage of the brand through an individual interview with the custodian of the Toyota Brand in South Africa. The results of this qualitative research were used to identify the key values that the manufacturer sees as brand-building elements and to then evaluate how they are using these values to build and enhance the brand. These core brand values were then evaluated in the quantitative research that followed. The quantitative research was conducted through questionnaires where the retail network (General Managers, Sales Managers in the Toyota retail network) evaluated Toyota SA's implementation of its brand's core values through the dealer network. The sample size consisted of twenty nine (N=29) randomly selected Unitrans Toyota dealers in the country. An extension of the study compared these key success factors with the values that are delivered through the retail network to the customers. The brand expectations that the customer has in mind to the realisation of the brand promise at retail level were compared. This study gives insight into the workings of the Toyota brand and tests the communication of the brand blueprint through to the retail network. This study allows Toyota to review the way they communicates their brand to the direct customer, the retail network. The study also found that Toyota should use the opportunity to communicate the brand name to its direct customers, namely the retailers, and that, if needed, Toyota should revise the communication strategy. Other recommendations are that both Toyota and its retailers should take note of the fast-changing business environment, acknowledge the importance of managing the length of the product line, and that Toyota should embrace the retailers as partners rather than mere franchisees. The retail network, in turn, can get a better understanding of the role it has to play to ensure the sustainability of the Toyota brand. The study also allows the retail network to realize the importance of customer service in the whole Toyota brand set-up.