16
media & marketing
getstough
when the going gets tough
Advertising,
technology
drives Toyota
by Meena L. Ramadas
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
UMW TOYOTA is banking on adver-
tising and promotions, as well as its
Toyota Racing Development (TRD)
technology to drive through the eco-
nomic crisis.
Despite the rather turbulent eco-
nomic situation, the company will
continue to spend a significant amount
of money on advertising, said UMW
Toyota president Kuah Kock Heng.
“We believe that even during such
times, advertising is still very impor-
tant to communicate, promote and also
to compete for attention.
“If your competitor is advertising
and you don’t, you will lose out,” he
said.
“Advertising also
helps our sales people
as it makes their jobs
easier. And it’s good
for employee morale
because when you see the product that
your company advertises, you natu-
rally feel good.
“So, from that angle, Toyota must
maintain the level of advertising and
brand positioning,” he added.
“We definitely have advertising
programmes for every quarter. We
had our Lexus Master Craftmanship
advertising in May. In June, our focus
was on the Vios TRD. Right now, we
are preparing for the launch of the
Prius in August.
“We are also planning for our Sep-
tember campaigns – for both products
Kuah ... Every and our strategic brand positioning,” he said
product has adding that the company runs ads in the me-
a different dium most consumed by the target audience
media and of a particular Toyota vehicle.
advertising “The contact point of our advertising de-
strategy. pends on the product. Lexus will be different
from Camry and from Vios. Even Lexus 460
is different from Lexus IS. All models appeal
to different age groups,” said Kuah.
“So every product has a different media
and advertising strategy, depending on
our target audience to suit their lifestyle.
Our product model has a certain potential
customer base then we follow their reading
habits and lifestyle,” he said.
For example, the Vios is targeted at the
age 35-and-below group while the Camry is
targeted for the 35-and-above age group, so
both models are advertised in newspapers.
However, the Lexus is more frequently
advertised in lifestyle maga-
zines than newspapers.
“The print media is
still dominant here so we
still spend significantly on
advertising in it, but we are
also exploring digital media
to reach the younger genera-
tion,” he said.
Kuah said although the
company’s overall advertis-
ing budget (based on per-
centage of targeted sales) is
a bit smaller this year, it has
increased its advertising per
unit basis.
“On a per unit basis, we are actually
spending more. Let’s say, last year we spent
RM1,500 per car sale, this year we will spend,
per unit basis, RM1,600,” he explained.
Besides advertising, Toyota also strives
to attract attention to its products including
TRD through its promotion activities which
include road shows and showroom events.
“We recently launched the TRD to repack-
age our products to make them more exciting
because, as the emotional aspect to buying
a car still resonates with people, engaging
the consumer on an emotional level is also
important.
“If you want to customise your Toyota,
TRD is the choice,” he said. That conversion
could be either for competitions or merely
AirAsia to fly from Miri, Tawau to Singapore
by Hemananthani Sivanandam
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
AIRASIA will launch two new flights from Miri
and Tawau to Singapore from Sept 9 to build up a
stronger virtual hub in the “lion city”.
The introduction of these new routes makes
AirAsia the first and only airline flying the Singa-
pore-Miri and Singapore-Tawau sectors.
With its vast connectivity around the region,
AirAsia now has a total number of 406 weekly
flights to and from Singapore.
“We are proud to open up new markets as
these sectors are not served. Students, families
and foreign workers can now take advantage of
our low fares and renew their social ties more
frequently or even indulge in leisure holidays to
both countries,” said AirAsia regional head of com-
mercial Kathleen Tan.
“There are countless attractions in East Malay-
sia and Singapore offering a wonderful journey of
discovery into their culture and heritage.
“Our recent initiative to remove the administra-
tion fee reiterates AirAsia’s commitment to offer
theSun | MONDAY JULY 20 2009
for “oomph!”
“The conversion can be to increase car’s
performance for competitions or for cosmetic
purposes like colour, sport rims and exhaust
of the car for louder sound,” he said.
Since TRD’s inception in Malaysia a year
ago, the Vios, a Toyota core model which
contributes to 30% of Toyota’s sales has been
re-packaged and recently launched as the
Vios TRD Sportivo.
The company projects sales of the Vios
TRD Sportivo to be 20% of all Vios units
sold.
Besides advertising, Toyota also strives
to attract attention to its products through
promotions which include road shows and
showroom events.
For example, a Toyota Hilux road show
was held in conjunction with the harvest
festival in Sabah and Sarawak.
“Last December, we
offered four Toyota Hilux
units to be used as the of-
ficial cars of the Rainforest
Challenge in Terengganu,”
said Kuah. The units were
modified for the pro-
gramme.
UMW Toyota has also
upgraded some showrooms
such as the ones in Subang
Parade and Section 19,
Petaling Jaya to be more
family-oriented.
“Once or twice a month,
we have showroom events, which include
activities like test drives and colouring so that
families can spend the weekends and school
holidays over at our showrooms,” he said.
Kuah said due to the economic crisis,
Toyota’s sales have decreased as the 13%
contraction of the Malaysian automobile
market caused a slump in Toyota’s overall
sales.
Nevertheless, the company has so far this
year kept a market share of 16% and is still
the number one non-national brand in the
country.
“Even though overall sales has decreased,
we are still happy with our performance. Vios
is still No 1, Hilux is still No 1 according to
vehicles segments. These are the things that
matter to us,” added Kuah.
big value so everyone can fly following our move
to abolish fuel surcharge last year,” she added.
The two new routes will draw more inbound
international tourist traffic arriving from Singapore
into Sabah and Sarawak alongside from Kuala
Lumpur through AirAsia X’s long haul network.
This brings in Chinese, Australians and Euro-
pean tourists, who are often interested to explore
surrounding cities in the region and these routes
will entice them to visit the state for its rich eco-
tourism activities.
AirAsia, through its holiday division GoHoliday,
is also offering its guests free rooms (subjected
to terms and conditions) when they book at its
partner hotels in Singapore such as Concorde
Hotel Singapore, Le Peranakan Boutique Hotel
Singapore, Siloso Sentosa Hotel, The Metropolitan
Y Hotel, Hotel Royal and Quality Hotel Singapore.
This promotion is valid via goholiday.airasia.
com and is available on first come, first served
basis.
Passengers can also follow AirAsia on Twitter,
Facebook, and AirAsia blog where they will provide
real time updates on the latest promotion.