Q1. What micro-environmental factors affected both the first generation and second generation models of Toyota Prius? How well has to Toyota dealt with these factors?
At first it is important to understand the microenvironment .
Microenvironment:
The factors close to the company that affects ability to serve its customers-the company, suppliers, marketing, Intermediaries, customer markets, competitors and publics.
The first generation Prius was small, cramped, and not very attractive, although not too pretty or fancy. It was the first of the hybrid model and launched in 2001 in the United States. However, the second generation Prius was introduced three years later, which was much more pleasing to certain players of the microenvironment. First of all, the first generation Prius greatly affected the company. Toyota wants to promise its customers a car that will save them money and be environmentally friendly. They cannot promise it until their manufactures can create a car that can do those things, like run on an electric motor and be much more efficient with gas. The company has to get on board with the top management, finance, R&D, purchasing, operations, and accounting before they can work on the new Prius model. They all have to think consumer while performing these functions within the company. Toyota also has to be in good relationships with its suppliers those who provide resources needed for the company to produce its goods and services. Without the suppliers, Toyota would not be able to produce the first or second generation Prius. The United States, without marketing intermediaries, would not have to privilege to sell the Prius. Since the yare Japanese cars, they usually are not bought directly from Japan, which means Toyota would need resellers in the U.S. They sell the cars in the states to help the company find customers and make sales. The first generation did not have any competitors because at the time it was the only hybrid. However the second generation Prius started to face its competitors uch as the Civic. Although the Honda Accord, Mercury Mariner and FordEscape were competitors as well, they still were not near as successful since they were less efficient and more expensive hybrids. Other cars of the Toyota family, such as the Camry are more competitive with the Prius than models outside of Toyota. However, there is continual growing.
Q2. Outline the major macro-environmental factors – demographic, economic, natural, political and cultural - that have affected the Prius sales. How well Toyota dealt with each of these factors?
Macro-environmental factors deal the larger societal forces that affect the microenvironment. Some of the factors are demographic, economic, natural, technological, political and cultural forces. With that said, I believe the macro-environmental factor that affected the Prius sales (in a positive way) is the Natural forces. Now, it would not be fair if I do not mention the technology force as well as the economic one. So there is a vehicle that saves on gas, which means that also helps with the pollution. Technological advances are probably the base of the Prius and this gets even better with the second generation. The first generation was fairly basics while the second generation was release with more gadgets and extras. The prices of the gas keep raising non-stop. That fact definitely affected the sales of the Prius, especially in a society dominated by Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs)
Macro-environmental factors
Demographics
The main customer focus of the company was those people who were youngsters i.e. belonging to generation Y. so the main focus of the entire promotional activities were the techies due to which a major portion of their profits was contributed by them.
ECONOMIC
With respect to the economic factors, the case shows that the customers had enough income to spend on this luxury. This is shown by the fact that the company was able to sell 1800 cars in immediately and also had to raise the monthly production level by 33% and then even by 100% to meet the demand.
NATURAL
Toyota is an environmentally concerned company since it had greater fuel efficiency and lower emissions. It also took advantage from the environmental appeal by sending out green seed cars shaped like Toyotas logo to prospective buyers on Earth Day.
TECHNOLOGICAL
The technological factor is explained by the many factors including adding cruise control by some wiring, dashboard display screen, playing videogames, installing sniffer, 7-inch energy monitor, a CD player holding 6 discs at a time and many more. Since the customers favored technological products and had enough knowledge Toyota was able to maintain customer loyalty .
POLITICAL
Politically, the company received support form the government in the form of tax deductions which helped efficient production but on the same note the speed limit factor acted as a hindrance but was covered by extensive marketing campaigns.
Q3).Evaluate Toyotas marketing strategy so far. What hasToyota done well? How might it improve its strategy?
The marketing strategy consists of 4 Ps which are product, price, place and promotion.
PRODUCT
The product that was re-launched had far better and attractive features as compared to its previous version, which included its outer appearance as well as the inner characteristics.
PRICE
Secondly, the price maintained was also competitive and helped the company to maintain an edge over the rivals as well as retain its customers profitably.
PLACE
The product was well received by the market in the sense that it was available easily in the showrooms as well as on the internet. The customers were able to make well- informed decisions because of the detailed website and the personal assistance provided by the trained agents. They were also able to share their experience through chat rooms such as Prius envy.
PROMOTION
ComExtensive marketing campaigns and heavy promotional activities through TV(Discovery channel, MSNBC, History and Learning Channel etc), billboards, auto magazines (Newsweek, Vanity far), newspapers, leaflets along withemotional taglines and environmental appeals helped Toyota set itself as the market leader.
Finally, the betterments may include higher quality for the inner features so as to improve the actual driving experience of the customer i.e. it is not a muscle car and doesn’t even provide very high speed. This factor should be considered since their main focus is on youngsters. Then it should use below the line advertising strategies and maintain direct and personal contact with the existing as well as the new focused customers.
by Mohammad Imrul Hasan
At first it is important to understand the microenvironment .
Microenvironment:
The factors close to the company that affects ability to serve its customers-the company, suppliers, marketing, Intermediaries, customer markets, competitors and publics.
The first generation Prius was small, cramped, and not very attractive, although not too pretty or fancy. It was the first of the hybrid model and launched in 2001 in the United States. However, the second generation Prius was introduced three years later, which was much more pleasing to certain players of the microenvironment. First of all, the first generation Prius greatly affected the company. Toyota wants to promise its customers a car that will save them money and be environmentally friendly. They cannot promise it until their manufactures can create a car that can do those things, like run on an electric motor and be much more efficient with gas. The company has to get on board with the top management, finance, R&D, purchasing, operations, and accounting before they can work on the new Prius model. They all have to think consumer while performing these functions within the company. Toyota also has to be in good relationships with its suppliers those who provide resources needed for the company to produce its goods and services. Without the suppliers, Toyota would not be able to produce the first or second generation Prius. The United States, without marketing intermediaries, would not have to privilege to sell the Prius. Since the yare Japanese cars, they usually are not bought directly from Japan, which means Toyota would need resellers in the U.S. They sell the cars in the states to help the company find customers and make sales. The first generation did not have any competitors because at the time it was the only hybrid. However the second generation Prius started to face its competitors uch as the Civic. Although the Honda Accord, Mercury Mariner and FordEscape were competitors as well, they still were not near as successful since they were less efficient and more expensive hybrids. Other cars of the Toyota family, such as the Camry are more competitive with the Prius than models outside of Toyota. However, there is continual growing.
Q2. Outline the major macro-environmental factors – demographic, economic, natural, political and cultural - that have affected the Prius sales. How well Toyota dealt with each of these factors?
Macro-environmental factors deal the larger societal forces that affect the microenvironment. Some of the factors are demographic, economic, natural, technological, political and cultural forces. With that said, I believe the macro-environmental factor that affected the Prius sales (in a positive way) is the Natural forces. Now, it would not be fair if I do not mention the technology force as well as the economic one. So there is a vehicle that saves on gas, which means that also helps with the pollution. Technological advances are probably the base of the Prius and this gets even better with the second generation. The first generation was fairly basics while the second generation was release with more gadgets and extras. The prices of the gas keep raising non-stop. That fact definitely affected the sales of the Prius, especially in a society dominated by Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs)
Macro-environmental factors
Demographics
The main customer focus of the company was those people who were youngsters i.e. belonging to generation Y. so the main focus of the entire promotional activities were the techies due to which a major portion of their profits was contributed by them.
ECONOMIC
With respect to the economic factors, the case shows that the customers had enough income to spend on this luxury. This is shown by the fact that the company was able to sell 1800 cars in immediately and also had to raise the monthly production level by 33% and then even by 100% to meet the demand.
NATURAL
Toyota is an environmentally concerned company since it had greater fuel efficiency and lower emissions. It also took advantage from the environmental appeal by sending out green seed cars shaped like Toyotas logo to prospective buyers on Earth Day.
TECHNOLOGICAL
The technological factor is explained by the many factors including adding cruise control by some wiring, dashboard display screen, playing videogames, installing sniffer, 7-inch energy monitor, a CD player holding 6 discs at a time and many more. Since the customers favored technological products and had enough knowledge Toyota was able to maintain customer loyalty .
POLITICAL
Politically, the company received support form the government in the form of tax deductions which helped efficient production but on the same note the speed limit factor acted as a hindrance but was covered by extensive marketing campaigns.
Q3).Evaluate Toyotas marketing strategy so far. What hasToyota done well? How might it improve its strategy?
The marketing strategy consists of 4 Ps which are product, price, place and promotion.
PRODUCT
The product that was re-launched had far better and attractive features as compared to its previous version, which included its outer appearance as well as the inner characteristics.
PRICE
Secondly, the price maintained was also competitive and helped the company to maintain an edge over the rivals as well as retain its customers profitably.
PLACE
The product was well received by the market in the sense that it was available easily in the showrooms as well as on the internet. The customers were able to make well- informed decisions because of the detailed website and the personal assistance provided by the trained agents. They were also able to share their experience through chat rooms such as Prius envy.
PROMOTION
ComExtensive marketing campaigns and heavy promotional activities through TV(Discovery channel, MSNBC, History and Learning Channel etc), billboards, auto magazines (Newsweek, Vanity far), newspapers, leaflets along withemotional taglines and environmental appeals helped Toyota set itself as the market leader.
Finally, the betterments may include higher quality for the inner features so as to improve the actual driving experience of the customer i.e. it is not a muscle car and doesn’t even provide very high speed. This factor should be considered since their main focus is on youngsters. Then it should use below the line advertising strategies and maintain direct and personal contact with the existing as well as the new focused customers.
by Mohammad Imrul Hasan
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