Finbarr O’Neill, head of Cypress-based Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc., hopes some of his past magic rubs off on the troubled automaker.
Particularly with its marketing.
Mitsubishi has taken a page from Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America Inc., which O’Neill led until late last year. He’s started pushing a beefy warranty and service in Mitsubishi’s latest ad campaign,the same messages Hyundai has used to lure buyers.
The campaign, which broke Oct. 11, is dubbed, “Best Backed Cars in the World.” It pushes Mitsubishi’s new five-year or 60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper coverage. The spots also tout a 10-year, 100,000-mile engine warranty and three years of free scheduled maintenance.
Deutsch LA, part of Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Deutsch Inc., did the 30- and 60-second commercials.
Mitsubishi, part of Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors Corp., “wants to assure people that we are a high-quality product,” Ian Beavis, senior vice president of marketing, recently told the New York Times.
Mitsubishi has a tough road ahead.
The automaker still is stinging from aggressive financing that moved a lot of cars but forced it to take a $300 million charge on bad loans for its fiscal year ended March 31.
For the first nine months of the year, Mitsubishi’s U.S. sales were down 35% to 132,997 vehicles from the year-ago period, after falling 26% in 2003.
In April, DaimlerChrysler AG, which has a 37% stake in Mitsubishi, said it was pulling back on its investment and would stop financing Mitsubishi’s turnaround efforts.
The latest marketing is part of a push to jumpstart sales and rebuild the brand.
The automaker made a series of changes in the past year or so, including bringing on O’Neill a year ago. He replaced Pierre Gagnon, who resigned.
O’Neill hit the ground running. He overhauled Mitsubishi’s U.S. headquarters in Cypress, including slashing about 200 jobs in the credit and sales departments.
“We have restructured to reflect our leaner and more efficient approach to business,” O’Neill said in a statement.
Other changes include cutting production at Mitsubishi’s Illinois factory from two shifts to one and laying off workers there.
The TV commercials, which are set to run through March, are a definite departure from ads of the past, which showed the cars as cool for a young crowd. The new spots are running on cable stations, such as Turner Network Television, Black Entertainment Television, Food Network and MSNBC.
Mitsubishi, which cut its TV advertising from about 75% to half of its marketing, also plans to focus on radio and the Internet, according to the New York Times.
Mitsubishi has a lot riding on the new strategy. Its U.S. market share has fallen to 1% so far this year, down from 1.6% a year earlier, according to a recent report in BusinessWeek Online.
Diet Loco
Like other restaurant chains, Irvine-based El Pollo Loco Inc. is caught up in the health craze.
The company recently hooked up with Costa Mesa-based Lindora Inc., operator of Lindora Clinics for medical weight loss, to offer food that’s “Lean for Life Certified,” or low in calories and fat, and moderate in protein.
Among the dishes: the Choice Meal, which includes chicken breast, steamed veggies, salad and salsa, and a Monterrey Pollo Salad with chicken and romaine lettuce.
Lindora, which has 10 clinics in Orange County, including in Newport Beach, is helping El Pollo Loco promote the menu on its Web site, where consumers can click on a link for $1 off coupons.
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Oakley’s Thump: headphones, digital music player, glasses in one |
In Focus
Foothill Ranch-based Oakley Inc. continues to beef up its prescription glasses business.
The maker of sunglasses and clothes recently added three collections to its line of frames for prescription lenses.
One features a thin alloy frame dubbed “O Metal” that Oakley bills as more flexible and 80% thinner than other metal frames.
The glasses also feature a quick-release lens system, which lets eye doctors make instant samples for customers, the company said.
Oakley has been pushing prescription frames, clothes, shoes and watches to offset sluggish sales of sunglasses, which still make up the bulk of sales.
For the three months ended June 30, sunglasses sales were up 4.6% to $110 million, while other products were up 9.2% to $40 million.
Meanwhile, Oakley been spreading the word about its much-hyped new invention: Thump, sunglasses that can play digital music.
The company teamed up with Circuit City Stores Inc. to sell the glasses, which also are set to be sold in Oakley O shops.
Oakley said it hopes Thump will help drive sunglass gains, as it expects Circuit City to order a “large number of units” as part of an exclusive pact for the holidays.
The two companies started taking online orders in early October for shipment on Nov. 20, when Thump is set to hit stores.
The glasses come in two variations, one with 128 megabytes of storage for two hours of music, and another with 256 megabytes, holding more than four hours of songs.
Oakley has sought to generate some buzz about Thump by hosting launch events at its stores and at Circuit City stores.
