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Mazda Makeover Unifies Marketing

Chief Executive Masahiro Moro’s vision to transform Mazda North American Operations from an automaker “that just sells cars to a company that delivers a great experience” has taken its next steps following staff cutbacks and a restructuring at its headquarters in Irvine.

About 100 employees across all departments accepted voluntary severance packages over the summer months. The move “gave us an opportunity to look at how we are structured,” said Vice President of Marketing Russell Wager. “Now we have an entire customer journey—from the time somebody buys a vehicle to the time they come back to repurchase—all within the marketing team.”

Two groups vied for the attention of Mazda customers prior to the reorganization, according to Wager. Marketing was in charge of brand-related matters, and Customer Engagement focused on offers for parts and service.

“When somebody would buy a car, I would send them a welcome kit, give them a little history of Mazda,” he said.

“I would also send them a couple of Zoom-Zoom magazines [throughout the ownership cycle,] and as they get closer to when their lease is up or they’ve owned (the car) for three or four years and they were getting ready to purchase, I would talk about the new vehicles. [Meanwhile] another team, they would talk about, ‘Do you need accessories? Do you need parts and service?’ during the time that you own the car.”

The distinct efforts, which weren’t coordinated, overwhelmed some consumers.

“It’s now all under my team, so we can have a conversation with the customer, as opposed to an owner getting a mailer one week and getting a parts-and-service thing the next week, and the following week getting a Zoom-Zoom magazine,” Wager said. “We don’t want the customer to be tired of us.”

The move to unify marketing communications “is putting the customer at the center of what we are doing and thinking of them first as opposed to what we want to tell them—thinking about what they want to hear,” Wager said. The marketing team now is 42 people strong—up 10%. Mazda spends about $262.5 million on media placements, according to Kantar Media in New York, while overall headquarters employment is at just under 500 workers.

Other organizational changes in Irvine affected the Customer Insights team, which handles research and demographic and psychographic insights. It was moved under Mazda’s “greater Corporate Planning team.”

Sales

Mazda accounted for 1.7% of U.S. market share in October. Kia Motors America Inc. in Irvine, which sold 625,818 vehicles last year, picked up about 3.8% of the national market. Hyundai Motor America in Fountain Valley sold 761,710 vehicles and has a U.S. footprint of about 4.5%. Toyota Motor Co. commands 12% of market share.

The U.S. customer is even more important to Mazda than to most automakers. The brand sold 319,184 vehicles here last year—more than it sells in Japan, China or Europe.

“The good thing about being an important market is we get some things that are more geared toward U.S. customers,” Wager said. “About 80% of production volume of the three-row CX-9 is coming to North America. It’s too big for most European countries and for Japan.”

The CX-9 SUV is among several “stories” that Mazda’s marketing team plans to talk about in the upcoming months, including the updated Mazda3 and Mazda6 sedans and the MX-5 RF, the hard-top version of its popular roadster.

The automaker took the opportunity of the recent Los Angeles Auto Show to announce plans to offer a diesel engine in the Mazda CX-5 in the second half of next year—news that came just as Volkswagen announced it will no longer sell a diesel-powered car in the U.S.

It also showcased the RT24-P, a race car featuring its proprietary KODO design that will debut in January at the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway.

“[Motorsports] allows us to tell a little bit more of our heritage story and show our technological [capabilities with] racing, because nobody is going to really drive 24 hours straight, racing over 100 miles per hour for three to 12 hours at a time,” he said. “We put our cars through that on the track so that people have more confidence on what they’re driving regularly on the road.”

The automaker also brings racing enthusiasts to its Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey twice a year to drive their vehicles on “a true track,” Russell said, adding that, “we are looking for places to get people to enjoy what they can at Monterey,” since it’s “not necessarily as easy to get to.”

Mazda meanwhile is conducting experiential events, bringing the MX-5 and CX-9 around the country.

“We want people to drive them, and every time we do that, we have the rest of our lineup there so people can see it,” Wager said. “Most people still only know a couple of our vehicles. They don’t know all six or seven vehicles we offer.”

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