Last night's meeting in Greenhours with the representatives of Toyota Romania was very fun. I shared a happy table with Cabral, Razvan, Corina, Sorin Tudor, Bobby Voicu (great meeting you all, by the way!).
To cut it short, hybrid cars are definitely the shit right now - not only do you do your small bit for the environment, but you also waste less fuel, you help the country be less dependent on foreign oil imports, and you get a very positive zen all around you. And Toyota Prius seems to do the shit well: it consumes at least a third less fuel than other similar non-hybrid cars, and, due to its unique design, it turns your trips to work into strong social statements for protecting the environment.
But I was disappointed by what I felt was a lack of vision for promoting the Prius as the clean, affordable alternative for anyone that is even a little concerned with the environment. We were told over and over again that Mihaela Radulescu drives a Prius (who is she, anyway? how many people from her fan-base can afford that car?). BIG DEAL.
We talked over and over again about education - if people don't seem interested in "green" issues, you make them be interested. Nobody was waiting around for the iPod - but some smart guys just made it "the shit". If people don't know what their "carbon footprint" is, tell them. Eventually they'll find out - why not be the first to tell them? But Toyota Romania wasn't really sure to whom they should market these cars, let alone how to do it.
They seemed taken aback by questions about their target audience, about strategy & promotion.. I wonder what kind of people did they expect to show up at last night's meeting? Because most of us were working in communications (one way or the other), or were independent entrepreneurs..
The moderator seemed more tired than usual, but the bloggers in the audience made it up nicely. What I'd love to hear from Toyota Romania now is a statement along the lines "We met you all, and we learned that[...], and we are doing[...] to figure things out"; there is just so much potential for promoting and selling a car like Prius in Romania, it would be a shame if they only sold 90 units per year...
1 comments:
first of all mihaela radulescu (who by the way is an extremely influential person) has besides the prius a Porsche cayenne turbo (so it's ok. she "saves" the planet with one care and "kills" it with the other).
but what puzzles me most is this: why not promote buses/subways/bikes/roller skates/trains which are by the way the most environmental ways of transportation. or even small cars like c1, aygo, matiz etc.
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