1. Mazda North American Operations
Social Media Strategy
Re-Positioning the Brand and
Improving Perception Using Social Media

2. - Introduction
- Competitive Analysis
- Recommendations
- Action Plan
- Conclusion

3. Introduction: BYU Team
John Dodson Sarah Low
Jared Klundt Tyler Margetts

4. Introduction: Project Initiative
- Objective:
“How can Mazda utilize social media to engage with a
more mature, aspirational, sophisticated target
audience and improve our brand perception on the
mid-Funnel metrics of familiarity, opinion and
consideration?”

5. Introduction: Project Initiative
- Deliverables:
- Social media strategic approach
- Competitive benchmarking
- Engagement and partnership ideas
- Metrics/measurement

6. Introduction: Mazda’s Current Social Media
- Mazda is doing a phenomenal job engaging Mazda’s current audience
- Building high engagement with consistent, effective content

7. Introduction: Mazda’s Current Social Media
- Current engaging content focused on product photos and car enthusiast topics
- Engagement measured in Reach, “Talking About This,” and Virality
“The per-post percentage of users who can be
classified as talking about a post from all those
who the post reaches is called virality, and is the
strongest metric we have in assessing post
performance.”

8. Introduction: Mazda’s Current Social Media
- Compared with the
successful competition in the
social media space, Mazda’s
social media shows high
engagement from it’s current
audience.

9. Introduction: Mazda’s Current Social Media
- Mazda’s current least engaging social media content
- Content featuring human
interest or charitable
giving currently
demonstrates lower
engagement from
Mazda’s extant social
media audience

10. Introduction: Mazda’s Current Social Media
- Mazda’s current Facebook demographics and psychographicsa,b:
Redacted
a. Trace Przybylowicz, “Mazda Social Insights” Oct. 2012
b. GTM “BYU Social Media Guide” Nov. 2012
c. Eric Watson, 16 Nov 2012

11. Introduction: Project Objectives
- Our goal was to explore how Mazda could utilize social
media to expand the current audience with whom they are
successfully engaging, in order to:
1. Help reposition the Mazda brand towards a market
segment that is sophisticated, mature, and
aspirational.
2. Use social media to improve brand perception in the
key indicators of familiarity, opinion, and
consideration.

12. Introduction: Project Objective
Current Social Media Audience:
- Consistent high engagement on motorsports
posts and product-centric content Motorsports
- Low engagement on human-interest or Car Fans
charitable/community content Enthusiasts
- Current Facebook demographics show that
over 2/3 of users are between 13-24,
and nearly 70% are male
Younger Male

13. Introduction: Project Objective
Target Social Media Audience:
- BYU’s team explored how to use social media Global Mazda Target
to help reposition the Mazda brand towards a
market segment that is:
- More Mature Motorsports
Sophisticated Fans
- Sophisticated Car
New Enthusiasts
- Aspirational Segment
Mature
Younger Male
Aspirational

14. Introduction: Project Objective 2
- In addition to attracting this new
market segment, Mazda needs to
modify brand perception.
- Focus on mid-funnel areas of
Familiarity, Opinion, Consideration
(FOC)

15. Introduction: Project Objective 2
- Familiarity, Opinion, Consideration are measured by GfK
Redacted

16. - Introduction
- Competitive Analysis
- Recommendations
- Action Plan
- Conclusion

17. Competitive Analysis: Post with Purpose
Our research shows that posting along these guidelines can
keep content aligned with current and future objectives.
Content Benefits Objectives
Know Audience & Post to Passion Points Word of Mouth Mid-Funnel Perceptions
Highlight User Generated Content Awareness Brand Reposition
Invite Interaction Trust/Loyalty
Frequent & Lightweight Create an Identity
Emotional (Feelings Over Facts) Perception Post with Purpose
Differentiation Brand Reposition Brand Perception
Mature Familiarity
Sophisticated Opinion
Aspirational Consideration

18. Introduction: Competitive Analysis
Volkswagen
- Leverages
longstanding brand
perception and
historical connection
with customers
- Primarily human-focused content Post with Purpose
Brand Reposition Brand Perception
Mature Familiarity
Sophisticated Opinion
Aspirational Consideration

19. Introduction: Competitive Analysis
Subaru
- Cultivating a
“Subaru Driver”
identity
- Authenticity: “It’s
the best car for the
job”
- Emphasizing
experiences, not Post with Purpose
makes and models Brand Reposition
Mature
Brand Perception
Familiarity
Sophisticated Opinion
Aspirational Consideration

20. Introduction: Competitive Analysis
Hyundai
- Interactive, invitational
posting
- Keen focus on intended
target market interests and
passion points
- Rewards engaged fans
through recognition and
Post with Purpose
product/experience Brand Reposition Brand Perception
giveaways Mature
Sophisticated
Familiarity
Opinion
Aspirational Consideration

21. Introduction: Competitive Analysis
Our Target vs. Their Target
- Mazda’s competitors’ social media content varies widely
- Without administrator access to their accounts, we can’t
know for certain what their current demographic is...

22. Introduction: Competitive Analysis
...but we do know that it’s different from Mazda’s current demographic.
VS.

23. - Introduction
- Competitive Analysis
- Recommendations
- Action Plan
- Conclusion

24. Recommendations:
- Our recommendations include mechanisms to drive members of the
Mazda target market to our social media outlets. Mazda must then
ensure that there is sufficient content aimed at this new market to
convince them to stay
Recommendation #1: Leveraging Bloggers, Vloggers and Pinners
Recommendation #2: Fuelly – featuring apps and competitions to
improve mid-funnel perception
Recommendation #3: Featuring the Best of the Local Best –Selecting
and using the best dealer-created social media content
Post with Purpose
Brand Reposition Brand Perception
Mature Familiarity
Sophisticated Opinion
Aspirational Consideration

25. Recommendation #1: Leveraging Bloggers, Vloggers and Pinners
-Select Bloggers, Vloggers and Pinners are currently
engaging a mature, sophisticated, and aspirational audience
-Mazda can recruit these existing influencers to use and
document their experiences in a Mazda
Post with Purpose
Brand Reposition Brand Perception
Mature Familiarity
Sophisticated Opinion
Aspirational Consideration

26. Recommendation #1: Leveraging Bloggers, Vloggers and Pinners
- Make use of blogging networks’ intimate knowledge of their
demographics to leverage this solid relationship with their audience
Gawker: Blog BlogHer: #1 Cross-
Conglomerate with Platform Network for
broad audience Women in social
media
Post with Purpose
Brand Reposition Brand Perception
Mature Familiarity
Sophisticated Opinion
Aspirational Consideration

27. Recommendation #1: Leveraging Bloggers, Vloggers and Pinners
Example: Weekend Getaway
- Weekend getaways align with Mazda’s target customer
personalities and passion points:
- Values experiences over things
- Actively engaged in their lives
- Young at heart
- Higher income
- Enjoys dining out, going out, being fit, etc. Post with Purpose
Brand Reposition Brand Perception
Mature Familiarity
Sophisticated Opinion
Aspirational Consideration

28. Recommendation #1: Leveraging Bloggers, Vloggers and Pinners
Example: Weekend Getaway
- Mazda provides a car and accommodation at a
mature, sophisticated or aspirational destination
within driving distance
- Influential Blogger/Pinner photographs weekend
experiences, including a pre-determined set of
shots featuring the Mazda vehicle
- Blog entry or Pinterest Album are cross-posted
to Mazda’s Blog and social media outlets,
driving traffic from their blogs and albums to
Mazda pages and sites
Post with Purpose
Brand Reposition Brand Perception
Mature Familiarity
Sophisticated Opinion
Aspirational Consideration

29. Recommendation #1: Leveraging Bloggers, Vloggers and Pinners
Case: Ford Fiesta Movement
- 6.5 million YouTube views
- 50,000 requests for information about the car—
virtually none from people who already had a
Ford in the garage
- Ford sold 10,000 units in the first six days of sales
- The results came at a relatively small cost. The Fiesta Movement is
reputed to have cost a small fraction of the typical national TV
campaign.

30. Recommendation #2: Fuelly – Apps & Competitions
- 110,000+ users have tracked 3.3 million fuel-
ups in 154,000+ vehicles over 930 million miles
- Drivers create a profile for their vehicle,
and track and compare fuel efficiency
- The Mazda3 is the seventh-most tracked
vehicle
- 4,400 Mazda owners currently track their fuel Post with Purpose
efficiency on Fuelly Brand Reposition
Mature
Brand Perception
Familiarity
Sophisticated Opinion
Aspirational Consideration

31. Recommendation #2: Fuelly – Apps & Competitions
- Fuel economy enthusiasts have strong online communities with
significant engagement
- Mazda owners have been tracking their fuel economy on all Mazda
models for years
- Mazda can feature the accomplishments of owners who are
publishing their fuel economy to reinforce Mazda’s efficiency, and
increase opinion and consideration Post with Purpose
Brand Reposition Brand Perception
Mature Familiarity
Sophisticated Opinion
Aspirational Consideration

32. Recommendation #2: Fuelly – Apps & Competitions
Example: Feature Fuelly users on Mazda’s Social Media
- Tweets and Facebook posts featuring Mazda
drivers on Fuelly
- Building rapport with fuel economy
enthusiasts
- Shining the spotlight on Mazda’s real-life
efficiency achievements
- Creating opportunities for further engagement
through incentives and competitions
Post with Purpose
Brand Reposition Brand Perception
Mature Familiarity
Sophisticated Opinion
Aspirational Consideration

33. Recommendation #3: Featuring the Best of the Local Best
Selecting and using the best dealer-created social media content
- Dealers across the U.S. maintain their
own social media pages and accounts
- Mazda USA can re-post the best
locally-generated content on Mazda’s
own social media outlets, spotlighting
dealer successes and benefiting from
no-cost content
- Mazda can provide on-message Post with Purpose
content ideas to dealers Brand Reposition Brand Perception
Mature Familiarity
Sophisticated Opinion
Aspirational Consideration

34. Recommendation #3: Featuring the Best of the Local Best
Example: Road Race/Half Marathon
- Road-race runners fall in our target
demographic: between the ages of 30 and
50, above-average education and income
- Road races gather men and women whose
lifestyles and interests align with our target
customer: they enjoy physical exercise/
fitness, the outdoors, and being an active
participant in life
- Experiences on the open road create a shared identity Post with Purpose
Brand Reposition Brand Perception
between Runners and Drivers Mature Familiarity
Sophisticated Opinion
Aspirational Consideration

35. Recommendation #3: Featuring the Best of the Local Best
Example: Road Race/Half Marathon
- Mazda cannot sponsor the hundreds of
races across the country
- Mazda creates and sends
“How to sponsor and create a social
media presence at a half marathon”
information to local dealers
- Mazda can share these local photos on
their national social media channels Post with Purpose
Brand Reposition Brand Perception
Mature Familiarity
Sophisticated Opinion
Aspirational Consideration

36. - Introduction
- Competitive Analysis
- Recommendations
- Action Plan
- Conclusion

37. Action Plan: What to Measure
Targeting the right audience
“Many focus on numbers without first analyzing who
they’re trying to reach and, more importantly, how
engagement satisfies the needs of their customers.”
--Brian Solis, Principal, Altimeter Group
From: http://mashable.com/2011/04/28/14-best-practices-for-long-term-social-media-success/

38. Action Plan: What to Measure
Improve mid-funnel perceptions
- Focus on changing perceptions to specified target
Action: Cater content to this group
Result: Engagement and perception increases
Benefit: Obtain desired ROI from efforts

39. Action Plan: What to Measure
Grow brand Familiarity
- Engage with desired target group
- Focus on brand Familiarity (overall and model-specific)
- Post engaging content:
- Calls to action
- Targeted promotions

40. Action Plan: What to Measure
Improve brand Opinion
- Maintain perception in Fuel Economy
- Improve target market perception in key areas:
- Quality, Safety, Trust, & Brand Image/Prestige
Redacted

41. Action Plan: What to Measure
Increase purchase Consideration
- Expand social media demographic
- Maintain perceptions:
Exciting and Innovative
Redacted - Improve perceptions:
- Responsible, Confident,
and Trusted

42. Action Plan: How to Manage and Integrate
“We see a lot of focus on vanity metrics like ‘likes,’
shares and the number of followers, but how do you
translate that back to the actual revenue the campaign
will grow?”
Aseem Chandra, VP of Product Marketing, Adobe
From: http://mashable.com/2012/09/06/adobe-social-salesforce/

43. Action Plan: How to Manage and Integrate
Digital marketing tools
- Managing social media strategy is still a new
area of focus
- There are a number of tools available on the
market including Adobe Social, Radian6 by
Salesforce, and HubSpot
Tool of focus: Adobe Social

44. Action Plan: How to Manage and Integrate
Why a digital marketing tool?
- Simplify: Post content across all platforms from one tool
- Data & Analysis: Better understand what is actually happening
- Multiple Teams: All stakeholders can have instant access to data
- Advertising: Understand best content, transfer that to promotions
- Maintain Control: Set authorization to content releases
- ROI: Connect social marketing strategy to bottom line with DATA

45. Other Recommendations: External Links
Resolve external link patent issue
- Not using external URL links affects Mazda USA’s ability
to leverage social media posts:
- Creates disadvantage as Mazda USA is the only major
car company not using external links
- Affects effectiveness of calls to action in posts
An external link is easier:
-For the consumer to understand
-For the marketing team to insert
-For the executive to track ROI

46. Other Recommendations: External Links
An example
- Mazda followers would benefit from being able to click on a link to
access content; for example, a Twitter post:
“Mazda just announced US release of new SKYACTIV-D lineup!
http://mazda.us/ak3z”
(Mazda.us domain currently registered to Ford Motor)

47. Other Recommendations: Mazda Blog
Hub & Spoke Model
mazdausa.com
+ blog
All social media channels
link to the content hub

48. Other Recommendations: Mazda Blog
Japan: “Zoom-Zoom Blog”
Mazda Cars
Mazda Manufacturing
Mazda Spirit
Reports / Events
Mazda People
Mazda History
Facebook Archives

49. Other Recommendations: Mazda Blog
Australia: “Mazda Community”

50. - Introduction
- Competitive Analysis
- Recommendations
- Action Plan
- Conclusion

51. Conclusion: Wrapping it Up
Our research suggested the following recommendations:
- Identify target audience, post with a purpose
- Find and leverage target market influencers
- Spotlight enthusiast communities
- Select and use the best dealer-created social media content
- Utilize data analysis tools to accurately gauge impact on key metrics
By incorporating these suggestions, Mazda can utilize social media to reposition
the Mazda brand and improve mid-funnel perception

52. Q&A