Brand Management for Mazda Motor Corporation

This report highlights upon a brand audit for automobile giant Mazda. The brand’s several elements and building blocks have been critiqued to gain a deeper insight about the brand’s image and equity in the minds of its customers.

Brand Management
Mazda Motor Corporation

Executive Summary
Brand management is an essential aspect for any business. Effective brand management helps
firms in associating with customers and building long term relationships with customers.
Customers do not consider brands as simply products that they need. Instead, there are a lot of
emotions and feelings associated with different brands in the minds of various customers. Brands
management assists brands in generating these feelings. This report highlights upon a brand audit
for automobile giant Mazda. The brand’s several elements and building blocks have been
critiqued to gain a deeper insight about the brand’s image and equity in the minds of its
customers.

Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................1
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Critique of brand elements...............................................................................................................2
Brand resonance model....................................................................................................................5
Brand Salience.............................................................................................................................5
Brand Performance......................................................................................................................5
Brand Imagery..............................................................................................................................6
Brand Judgments..........................................................................................................................7
Brand Feelings.............................................................................................................................7
Brand resonance...........................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
Mazda Motor Corporation was founded in 1920 and is headquartered in Japan. At present the
organization is led by a transformational leader Masamichi Kogai. The brand has earned a
significant name in the automobile industry through effective manufacture and sale of passenger
cars and commercial vehicles. Mazda hires over 48000 employees. Mazda has a strong brand
name that is synonymous to power, speed, quality service and immense trust. Over a period of
time, Mazda’s target market has significantly increased due to enhanced brand awareness. Mazda
has been manufacturing and delivering automobiles in different parts of the world and hence has
a massive target market that it caters to. This report aims to gain a deeper insight on Mazda as a
brand. In order to achieve the same, several brand elements of Mazda have been analyzed based
on the six criteria for choosing brand elements. Followed by which, brand resonance model has
been created which throws light upon six important brand building blocks. The primary objective
of the report is to gain a deeper insight about various facets of Mazda as a global brand.
Brand management strategies are adopted by several leading brands in order to set the right
positioning in the mind of their consumers. These strategies include curating creative content for
their brand, enhancing awareness about the brand, making the brand responsive to customers and
delivering quality products and services which exceed customer expectations. There are several
elements of a brand which help the brand in gaining likability, being adaptable, transferable and
increase its recall value. Mazda’s brand elements are described as below:
Critique of brand elements
There are six essential criteria for choosing brand elements (Heding et. al., 2015). These criteria
involve memorability, meaningfulness, likability, transferability, adaptability and protectibility.
The brand elements for any particular brand includes its logo, slogan, symbols, characters, names
and URL. The critical assessment of these elements is as below:
Logo: The logo of the brand represents a well styled first letter of the brand’s name. This shape
has often been recognized as the 3D model of stretched wings placed inside an oval. The V
shaped wings represent growth and improvement. The logo is meaningful and memorable. The
color of the logo is also appealing. The logo is easy to understand and since the brand effectively

places its logo across all advertising platforms, it also easy to recall. However, the design of
Mazda’s logo lacks creativity when looked at from a layman’s perspective as it is simply the
brand’s first alphabet written in a stylish manner. Hence a little more effort could have been
invested in the designing process of the logo. The logo is protected as the brand has complete
copyright on this design.
Source 1: Mazda
Slogan: Mazda has essentially been using two important slogans “Zoom Zoom” and “Driving
matters”. The slogan “Zoom Zoom” gained a lot of attention from customers across the globe.
Since a long time the phrase “Zoom Zoom” has been used as a symbol of speed. Therefore the
introduction of this slogan was nostalgic and hence garnered immense praise from customers.
This largely increased the slogans recall. If people hear “Zoom Zoom”, they immediately think
of Mazda. The slogan represents speed implying the high speed and pick up of Mazda Cars.
Slogan “Driving matters” helps in throwing light upon the importance of driving.

Source 2: Brands of the world
The weakness of the slogan is that “Driving matters” which has been recently introduced has
failed to gain the same amount of attention as “Zoom Zoom”. Unlike the previous slogan, the
brand has also not introduced a song to promote this slogan.
Song: Mazda also released a song “Zoom Zoom”. The song was played during all Mazda
advertisements and gained immense responsiveness. The lyrics of the song have been carefully
curated and are highly meaningful. Unfortunately, this is the only song that has been released by
the brand which gained the tremendous level of attention.
The song is well written and hence makes it easy for listeners to understand and memorize it.
Songs launched by brands for advertising purposes serve to build a connection with customers.
These songs also have an emotional appeal that throws light on the beauty of the Mazda
experience. Mazda should introduce more such songs.
Symbol: The Mazda symbol as shown below is simply the brand’s name written in a stylish font.
The symbol is depicted over all advertising platforms of the brand and even on Mazda
automobiles. The brand symbol should ideally be something creative and innovative which could
be symbolic of something. The fact that the symbol is simple enhances its chances of recall and
makes it meaningful as well as transferable but the symbol is not something entirely likable.

Source 3: Car Type Magazine
Names: Ahura Mazda is known as the highest spirit of worship in Zoroastrianism. Mazda stands
for wisdom and aims to reflect the wise decision making strategies adopted by the firm. The
name of the brand is easily recognized and recalled and is highly meaningful.
Mazda’s name is easily recalled because of the brand’s high level of awareness and reach but
very few people know the meaning behind the name as this has not been advertised as
effectively. This lack of awareness makes it difficult for people to relate with the brand.
URL: http://www.mazda.com/
This is the organization’s primary website which has been effectively designed. Proficient search
engine optimization has been done for the brand and all the leading search engines generate
sufficient information about the brand upon using the right keywords.
These brand elements that have been defined are easily recognizable and can also be easily
recalled. The logo as well as the slogan have been carefully designed. For high level of brand
recall, it is important that the brand elements are meaningful (Hanna & Rowley, 2011).
The logo of Mazda has been changed four times since its inception. This suggests that the
marketers of the brand are flexible and adapt to the changing circumstances. The logo is
designed in the manner to look like a free bird in the sky which is soaring high. This makes the
logo likeable and aesthetically pleasing.
Mazda has also been competently using its brand elements across all advertising platforms.
“Zoom Zoom” slogan given by the brand earned a lot of attention. Children through the streets
sang “Zoom Zoom” and danced on the same which suggests that the jingle was highly likeable.
These brand elements are meaningful and liked by all the stakeholders.

Brand resonance model
Brand resonance model highlights or views brand building as six important building blocks or
steps that take help the brand in enhancing awareness, image and equity (Keller, 2012).
Source 4: Brand Management
Brand Salience
Brand salience is the degree to which a brand is considered or thought about while customers
buy products (Smith, 2011). Mazda is a strong brand and hence has a decent level of brand
salience. The automobile market is highly competitive and predominantly dominated by Toyota,
Honda, Maruti and Ford. But even so, it is definitely considered by customers while making their
automobile purchase. The weakness in the matter is the high level of competition that exists in
the industry. Mazda can improve its brand salience by offering more choices to customers.
Brand Performance
Brand performance relates how a particular brand relates to customer’s functional needs. This
performance is a result of likeability and profitability of the brand (Luxton et. al., 2015). Mazda
manufactured 1.5 million vehicles for global sales in 2015. This alone is a sign of a high brand

performance. Mazda focuses on top quality customer service, state of the art designs and high
speed vehicles. Combined they lead to high brand performance. For more environment friendly
customers, Mazda can introduce more options for solar cars.
Brand Imagery
Brand imagery throws light on the aesthetic appearance of the brand. This includes the brand’s
logo, touch, taste, smell etc. (Singh, 2013). This aspect also highlights the attempts by the brand
to meet the social needs of its customers. A brand’s imagery largely impacts the positioning that
the customers hold. Therefore organizations tend to use their logos during all forms of
advertisements, curate creative content for the brand’s promotions and ensure that the overall
imagery of the brand is positive and likable. Mazda targets premium customers who are looking
for high speed premium cars. The positioning of the brand is also premium which tends to meet
customer’s social and psychological needs. Social media marketing of the brand can be
improved. Increasing presence on Instagram and Pinterest can largely improve the brand’s
imagery.
Source 5: Zoom Zoom Magazine

Brand Judgments
Brand judgments focus on customer’s personal views and opinions regarding the brand. They
vary from customer to customer (Kaur & Agrawal, 2011). Customer’s opinions towards the
brand directly impact the brand’s sales as well as its positioning in the minds of its consumers.
Mazda has a positive positioning in the minds of its customers and personal views of its
customers are also positive. Across various social media platforms, customers have shared
positive reviews about the brand and this positivity has also led to word of mouth publicity for
Mazda.
Brand Feelings
Brand feelings are essentially customer’s emotional responses and reactions to a particular brand
(Aaker & Biel, 2013). Mazda’s “zoom zoom” slogan created an immediate likeability among
children. They developed positive feelings towards the brand. Mazda signifies high speed and
passion for driving. Their new slogan as well as all the ads are aimed at ensuring that people feel
the speed and passion for driving every time they think of Mazda.
Mazda aims to instil the feelings of trust and respect in the minds of its customers through
effective promotions, high responsiveness on social media platforms and quality service offered
across all target markets. At present the social media responsiveness of Mazda is limited and
hence customers may find it difficult to connect with the brand.
Brand resonance
Brand resonance refers to the degree to which customers feel that they are in sync with the brand
or they feel related to the brand (Kakati & Choudhury, 2013). It is important for brands to build a
connection with their customers because that is what will determine the loyalty of customers.
Customers of Mazda associate with high speed cars and excellent designs. Mazda curates its
advertisements and manages its positioning in the market keeping the same image in mind and
hence effectively targets these customers. Specifically in the automobile sector, it is important
that customers resonate with the brand since customers give a lot of thought before making the
final decision about buying the product. The repeat purchases also take time owing to the
relatively long life cycle of the product. Once again, owing to the high competition in the

automobile industry, the brand’s resonance reduces as people connect better with leading brands
like Toyota, Honda, Ford and Maruti.
Conclusion
Brand management for any organization plays a significant role in the growth of the
organization. Managing a particular brand requires tremendous creativity, efficiency and tact.
This report highlights upon various brand elements for the leading automobile brand Mazda.
These elements have been evaluated on the basis of six critical factors that critique the success of
these brand elements (Keller et. al., 2011). Brand resonance for Mazda has also been discussed
in the form of building blocks that help brands in building a strong connection with customers.
Mazda has a strong brand image in the minds of its consumers however the increasing
competition in the industry make it difficult for the brand to build the same level of connection
with its customers. Mazda’s promotional strategies are highly efficient and the brand has been
able to gain a large number of customers by applying these strategies. However, Mazda must
work towards enhancing its social media presence, being more responsive and curating creative
content for its advertisements in order to enhance the level of brand resonance that its customers
currently share with the brand. These efforts will not only help Mazda gain customer attention
and loyalty but will also help the brand in gaining a competitive advantage against other players
of the industry.

References
Aaker, D.A. and Biel, A.L., 2013. Brand equity & advertising: advertising's role in building
strong brands. Psychology Press.
Hanna, S. and Rowley, J., 2011. Towards a strategic place brand-management model. Journal of
marketing management, 27(5-6), pp.458-476.
Kakati, R.P. and Choudhury, S., 2013. Measuring customer-based brand equity through brand
building blocks for durables. IUP Journal of Brand Management, 10(2), p.24.
Kaur, M. and Agrawal, S., 2011, February. Corporate social responsibility-a tool to create a
positive brand image. In Proceedings of ASBBS Annual Conference (Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 681-
688).
Keller, K.L., 2012. Understanding the richness of brand relationships: Research dialogue on
brands as intentional agents. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22(2), pp.186-190.
Keller, K.L., Parameswaran, M.G. and Jacob, I., 2011. Strategic brand management: Building,
measuring, and managing brand equity. Pearson Education India.
Luxton, S., Reid, M. and Mavondo, F., 2015. Integrated marketing communication capability
and brand performance. Journal of Advertising, 44(1), pp.37-46.
Singh, D., 2013. The brand personality component of brand goodwill: some antecedents and
consequences. Brand equity & advertising: Advertising's role in building strong brands, pp.83-
96.
Smith, T., 2011. Brand salience not brand science: a brand narrative approach to sustaining brand
longevity. The Marketing Review, 11(1), pp.25-40.