Case Study: Toyota Scion

“If you are the new CEO of GM, how will you fight back”.

Scion’s entry into the market was sixteen years ago. Toyota’s obvious intention was to target younger individuals who, thanks to the social media boom of the 2000’s, were infatuated by everything on-line and were most likely inclined towards engaging on virtual platforms. Scion’s strategy was well put together and it was not too long before they had a significant following. The brand was immediately recognized as an attainable, yet sophisticated and current in terms of the on going trends at the time.

In my opinion and in the case I was the new CEO of GM, my initial focus would be on marketing, since branding and brand perception is more important than reviews to most people these days. Not to mention that if we are focusing on a younger portion of the market, which have demonstrated a wide concern towards the environment, social corporate responsibility and such, will be more inclined to make the switch if the product being purchased conveys the message, that not only are you buying the latest technology, but you are also conscious of the environment and supporting your local businesses. Now that I have focused on advertising and influencing my targeted market, I would tailor my already existing products to their needs and wants. In terms of advertising, GM did make a remarkable come back after being showcased in the first Transformers movies. Reports have indicate that the Chevy Camaro at the time, portrayed in the movie as “Bumble Bee”, outsold Ford’s all-new Mustang at least for the first two years. In my opinion, this is well along the lines of what I would have done as CEO of GM. Scion’s strategy was most effective at the time, but as we all know, every business needs to be constantly re-inventing itself, especially when it comes to dealing with worthy competition. Clearly, Scion’s needed to revamp or re-strategize since Toyota officially pulled the plug on its smaller brand in 2016.