Mitsubishi's change of atmosphere
BY BRUCE NEWTON | 10th Feb 2003
"I wouldn't say we are killing it," said MMAL sales and marketing executive vice-president Bill Pike. "We would hope it would evolve into something that will surely reflect where we are going to.
"The essence will survive, but the words may change. Because that's what we are about - we build spirited cars for spirited people."The new line could appear around mid-year when the $70 million "XR" Magna is launched.
Along with the new tagline, get ready for more edgy advertising like the television spot for the NP Pajero launched late January, featuring the Big Audio Dynamite song Change of Atmosphere, and depicting the popular off-roader powering across the Outback.
"I think it's sensational, and it reflects where we are moving to," Mr Pike said of the NP ad.
Mitsubishi wants to continually lift its image to a highpoint in 2005, when the all-new Magna replacement is launched.
"I think our image prior to that (the "Spirited" tagline) was very apologetic," Mr Pike said.
"It was ultra-conservative and you really only got a very small breakthrough on that. We're not moving from the Stone Age to the space age in one step, we are trying to manage it a little better."Mitsubishi has delivered its brief for change to long-standing advertising agent, Y&R, in "words of one syllable or less" Mr Pike said.
While Y&R has produced such conservative messages as "Please Consider" and "It is Mitsubishi" in the past, the new advertising and tagline will project a much more outgoing view from the Adelaide-based company.
Mr Pike says that under new Australia/New Zealand boss Hamish McLennan, Y&R has installed a new management and creative team to work with Mitsubishi on the image lift. The NP Pajero campaign is the first example of that change in direction.
The local search for change is part of an international debate within Mitsubishi about image projection and just what that image should be in the first place.
"This is not just an issue for Mitsubishi in Australia, this is a global issue," Mr Pike said.
"How to position ourselves and what do we want to convey to the public as being the image of Mitsubishi. We are coming up with a concept which will be quite universal across the globe."
Magna key to sales
IN-line with most other major players, Mitsubishi Motors Australia is forecasting a shrinking new vehicle sale market in 2003, predicting a total number around 810,000.And like Ford, Holden and Toyota, Mitsubishi believes it will increase its share in a smaller market, albeit only marginally from 2002's 67,396 sales to about 70,000.
Keys for Mitsubishi to achieve this will be the addition of the all-wheel drive Magna to the range and the updated XR Magna/Verada to be introduced mid-year.
The company aims to keep Magna/Verada sales above 25,000 per annum domestically until the all-new Magna replacement arrives sometime in 2005.
It is a tough task for a front and tail redo to achieve considering Magna/Verada has not hit that target since 2000.
Mr Pike expects Magna to be supported in achieving the total 2002 sales target by the recent addition to range of the Outlander compact all-wheel drive wagon, the forthcoming CG Lancer base model and the Triton turbo-diesel, all launched in the first half of 2003.
"This is going to be a pretty exciting year for us," he said.
"I think the biggest problem we are going to have is getting everyone in the corporation to understand - including our dealer network - what a big year this is for us.
"You look at the number of quality launches in such a short period of time, we've never had that in our franchise."In export terms, Mr Pike is confident of selling 20,000-plus Magna per annum until the new car arrives, when volumes are expected to kick significantly.
* MMAL is looking at rebranding its "Remanufactured Cars" used car program. A general manager has been appointed to lift its image and profile.