CHAPTER 11: SETTING PRODUCT STRATEGYMarketing Management by Kotler

What is their Product

Strategy?

How does Toyota do it?

PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION

•Customization

•Reliability

•Features

PRODUCT MIX•The Product Mix Width and Product Line length of Toyota. Has a car from cheap and reliable to Luxurious

PRODUCT MIX contd.

• Follows both Product Line Pricing and Optional-Feature Pricing

ADVERTISING• “Lets Move Ahead”- the recent tagline, general for every product

line.• For the luxury brand Lexus a different tagline.

Manufacturing strategy to

complement it

Integrated its assembly plants around the world into a single giant network.

Toyota has built a huge manufacturing company that can produce millions of cars each year for a wide variety of consumers. Why was it able to grow so much bigger than any other auto manufacturer?

• Line Modernization• Line Filling• Production techniques and mass customization.

Has Toyota done the right thing by manufacturing a car brand for everyone?

• Again, its in line with its production techniques.• Its target is high market share and market growth.• Sales & Profit reasons.

THE DOWNSIDE OF LINE FILLING

• In 2009 and early 2010 there were a lot of recalls for almost all the product lines of Toyota.

• This hit Toyota and its sales hard.

• Part 1: Did Toyota grow quickly as Toyoda suggested?

“We pursued growth over the speed at which we were able to develop our people and our organization”- Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota.

• Self-cannibalization• Satisfied the internal need.• Toyota which prides on its employees went lagging

with the speed at which its technology was growing.

Continued…

What should the company do over the next year, 5 years, and 10 years?

How can growing companies avoid quality problems in the future?

RECAP• Toyota’s brand image and positioning• Its product differentiation• Product Mix• Advertising• Production Techniques• Questions 1, 2 & 3 from the mini case

DISCLAIMER

Created by Nitya Joshi, BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad, during a marketing internship under Professor Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow