Marketing and Management Case Study: Toyota RAV4 in Australia

This case study delves into the marketing and management strategies employed by Toyota for its RAV4 model, particularly in the Australian market. It identifies weaknesses in RAV4's market positioning, including an identity crisis stemming from a lack of challenger spirit and increased competition from brands like Mazda and Mitsubishi. The analysis covers the product lifecycle, noting RAV4's decline stage, and suggests revitalizing the marketing mix through sporty designs, technological enhancements, and social media promotion. The study also evaluates the effectiveness of targeting older versus younger customers and recommends improvements to the decision-making process by emphasizing customer feedback and adapting to evolving needs. The goal is to restore customer loyalty and regain a strong market position through strategic planning and customer-centric approaches.

Running head: MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT
Case study analysis of Toyota
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Table of contents
Macro environment forces depicting the strengths and weakness of RAV4.............................2
Product lifecycle and marketing mix of RAV4 in Australia......................................................2
Effectiveness of older loyal customers towards new positioning campaign for RAV4.............3
Recommendations for improving the decision-making process of RAV4................................4
References..................................................................................................................................6

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Macro environment forces depicting the strengths and weakness of RAV4
In spite of being a leading brand, RAV4 suffered an identity crisis. The major drive
behind this is losing challenger spirits. The contemporary brands exposed a neglecting
attitude towards competition, providing a middle ground for RAV4. Lack of planning by the
brand did not bring any change in the minds of the customers. As a matter of specification,
the customers did not get scope to exercise their buying powers. Consistency in failure to
attract the customers declined the market share. Along with this, the brand faced severe
competitive threat from the contemporary brands like Mazda CX3 and Mitsubishi ASX.
Predominance of these brands increased the annual growth rate of SUV category by 27% and
market share by 9%. This growth enlisted SUV in the fifth position in the Australian
segment. Style, agility and freedom adversely affected the business of RAV4 and the
compactness of the SUV.
The business of RAV4 was in a freefall stage. Enhanced quality of the services by the
contemporary brands exploited the resources in the middle stage. This compelled the brand to
think of something creative for restoring the mainstream position in the market. All these
aspects reflect the absence of strategic planning within the operations of RAV4. This is a
weakness, which stalls the productivity, adding vulnerability into the market position. Under
such a situation, assistance with a brand like Toyota is a wise step in terms of restoring
normalcy. Plans regarding the development of a communication platform are one of the other
strengths, indicating the likeliness of winning back the attention of the clients and the
customers.

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Product lifecycle and marketing mix of RAV4 in Australia
The sequential stages, through which a product passes is known as the product life
cycle. Current strategic position of RAV4 reveals that it is in the decline stage. The major
drives behind these changes are the changes in the marketing conditions. Launching a
campaign with style can be considered as appropriate tool for marketing mix. For this, the
brand can introduce vehicles with sporty look. This would attract the teenagers and the office
goers. In-built technological features would enable the brand to achieve large-scale customer
satisfaction. For this, expert engineers can be hired for enhancing the appearance of the cars.
Adopting social media would act as an innovative channel for enhancing the trafficking of the
audience towards the brand image. Social media marketing would act as an efficient
promotional tool.
Uploading survey and feedback forms on the websites and social media would help
the personnel to gain an insight into the customer approaches. Along with this, selling
pamphlets along with the newspapers would act as a direct marketing for the brand.
Advertising on radio, televisions and social networking sites would be an example of indirect
marketing. However, he would add to the stock of customer base.
Using premium-pricing methods would help the brand personnel to gain an insight
into the customer approaches. Experimenting with the prices needs financial flexibility, for
which partnership with the trade unions is necessary. Evaluation is vital in terms of assessing
the appropriateness of the undertaken steps. This is in terms of aligning the undertaken plans
with that of identified aim of restoring customer loyalty.
Effectiveness of older loyal customers towards new positioning campaign for RAV4
Market dynamics is vast, which makes the buyers and sellers confused of the
transactions. In order to achieve an understanding over the transactions, segmentation is

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needed. Identifying target audience is necessary for improving the focus of the business
activities. Teenagers and adventure loving people can be the target audience for RAV4
campaign. The sporty look of the cars with in-built technology would grab the attention of
these customers. However, according to the psychographic segmentation, the mentality of
these people would change if the contemporary brands come up with some cars with better
mileage and fuel efficiency. Therefore, their needs, demands and requirements are ever
changing. On the other hand, if the brand focuses on the customers belonging to the old age,
they would be able to gain their loyalty. This is because they are experienced and are very
well acquainted with the tactics adopted by the marketers for gaining the attention of the
customers like them. Apart from this, they know the ways and means for attaching value
towards the efforts put in by the personnel towards designing a product.
Designing a product for the customers belonging to the old age would be an
innovative concept for the brand Toyota RAV4. They would be benefitted if they get the
opportunity to possess a quality and branded car with all the latest features. Along with this,
cars of latest design would provide them a better companionship. Their suggestions would be
crucial for the brand in terms of bringing noticeable changes in the products.
Recommendations for improving the decision-making process of RAV4
The marketing operations revolve around the customers, who are the main agents for
achieving success. The decisions of the customers need to be valued for earning huge profits.
The decision-making process for the customers consist of five stages- need recognition,
information search, evaluation of the alternatives, purchase and post-purchase behaviour.
These are the factors, which influences the purchases made by the customers. If the
customers are aware of their needs, they would be able to make proper purchases. If the brand

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personnel are aware of the needs, demands and requirements of the customers, they would be
able to achieve trust, loyalty and dependence.
Uploading the survey and feedback forms on the websites and the social networking
sites would help the personnel to gain information about the specific tastes and preference of
the clients and the customers. On the other hand, conducting search engine optimization
would enhance the awareness of the customers about the latest trends adopted by the brand.
This search would also enrich the knowledge of the brand personnel and the customers about
the alternatives, which would secure the market position. The sequential step is the purchase,
which actually makes the brand personnel aware of the effectiveness, appropriateness and
feasibility of the manufactured products. Evaluation of the customer approaches at this stage
would be crucial for both the brand personnel and the customers. This is because of
identifying the changes required for upgrading the standards and quality of the vehicles.