Grip Juicer Case Competition

Client – HONDA
SCRIPT
Competition:
Honda dominates four international business markets, including motorcycle, power products, financial
services and automotive industries. They are considered one of the leading manufacturer of general
purpose engines, having produced over 27 million units of engines in 2015. 73% of their total sales
revenue comes from their automotive division, making it their most profitable business segment. In
Canada, Honda is a major player in the car and automobile manufacturing industry, making up 15%
percent of the total industry market share. Their biggest Canadian car manufacturing competitors
include Toyota, who makes up 16.9% of the Canadian market, and General Motors who lead the
market with a marketshare of 25.9%.

As you can see on the brand perception map, Honda’s vehicles are positioned to be affordable and eco-
friendly, in contrast to the luxury and environmentally hazardous brands like Mercedez and Bentley.
This position is attributed to them for the reasons being that they brought the 1 st hybrid car to market
and they continue to achieve high sales from their hybrid, and fuel-efficient vehicles. As you can see
Honda is competing in a highly saturated market, with several companies delivering the same product
differentiators to that of Honda, including Toyota, Chevrolet GM, Nissan and Hyundai.
(https://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/swot-analyses/honda-swot-analysis.html)(
http://clients1.ibisworld.ca.ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/reports/ca/industry/majorcompanies.aspx?
entid=816#MP9949)

This chart identifies the Canadian Automobile Industry through looking at the key players with respect
to their unit car sales in 2017. Honda and Nissan both acquired 6% (independently) of total car
sales. Meanwhile, Toyota remains ahead of the major competitors by achieving 9% of the
market share. We found that Toyota’s vision is to enrich lives around the world with the safest
and most responsible ways of moving people – a statement that really reiterates their position
as an eco-friendly brand. They deliver this by offering the most extensive line of hybrid vehicles
in comparison to any other manufacturer in the automotive industry. Their best selling vehicle
class worldwide is their Hybrid Prius, which has achieved a number of awards in regards to its
eco-friendly characteristics. A variety of their other products have achieved numerous awards
in the past, including the notable Canadian ecoEnergy award. More recently, three of their
models were ranked highest on a list of the “12 greenest cars of 2017”.
(https://www.toyota.com/prius/awards) Taking this into consideration, it is no doubt that
 Toyota is Honda’s largest competitor. Chevrolet and Nissan come close by acquiring 8 and 7%
respectively, of overall Canadian car sales in 2017. Chevrolet’s competitive advantage is that
they practice environmental and sustainable policies through their research and development
processes. Nissan on the other hand is considered a pioneer in the electric car segment. Both
companies are considered fierce competitors as they compete with a variety of award winning
environmentally-friendly vehicles that are sold at similar price ranges to that of Honda’s
products. Examples of their highly regarded products eco-friendly products include the
Chevrolet Bolt to the Nissan LEAF, which are comparable to Honda’s Plug-in hybrids and are
price similiarly around the 30-40k range. (https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/media-room/news-
release/2012/3a/3253)

Campaign Timeline – 2nd half

During the next 5 months of the campaign, we will continue to advertise the “_______” car throughout
multi-channel social media platforms. During this timeframe, we plan on leveraging the fact that it’ll be
Winter season – ridesharing will be in higher demand. People will be willing to track down where the
car is to avoid having to drive themselves in bad weather. It is also a great opportunity to showcase
Honda vehicles’ capabilities in tough weather. While the car drives across several cities, we will
continue to keep our online community engaged by releasing viral content about the contest winners.
To remain exciting, the stories of each individual will not be released all at once, but will instead we will
focus on one winner’s story throughout a 3-week time span. (i.e. video of them introducing themselves
in one week followed by a photo series of their environmental work; the next week we can release a
video of them explaining their passion about the environment, and go into more depth about their
past experiences; the final week we can release a video of how Honda has helped them so far with
their initiatives) Releasing the winners’ stories through this staggering method will not only keep the
audience engaged, but will more importantly build anticipation for the next winners’ stories.

Primary and Secondary competitors:

Who are Honda’s Primary Competitors? Toyota, Chevrolet, Hyundai

Honda’s primary competitors include automobile manufacturing companies who satisfy similar target
markets by offering products of similar vehicle categories within the same price range ($30-40k). Their
competitors are considered environmentally-friendly as they offer fuel efficient, plug-in hybrid cars
alike.

Toyota is a pioneer in hybrid technology, and according to Forbes leads all automakers in the industry
for delivering the “greenest” products. Three of their models (including hybrids and plug-in hybrids)
were rated among a list of “12 greenest cars of 2017”.
Similar to Honda, Chevrolet (GM) offers plug-in hybrid cars to the environmentally conscious drivers,
one of which (The Chevrolet Volt), was the best-selling car model of 2017 in the nation.
(https://www.auto123.com/en/news/2017-hybrid-electric-car-guide/63688/?page=3) In 2016, the
same model was awarded as the greenest Canadian car. https://www.kanetix.ca/most-
environmentally-friendly-canadian-cars

Hyundai’s models were ranked twice in the top 10 fuel-efficient vehicles of 2017.
(https://www.auto123.com/en/news/top10-fuel-efficient-non-plugin-vehicles-2017/64049/?page=11),
It’s electric and hybrid cars are known to have enhanced their brand image.

Secondary Competitors: The remaining major player in Canada’s automobile manufacturing industry –
Fiat Chrysler

Canadian Car/Automobile Manufacturing Industry Overview

http://clients1.ibisworld.ca.ezproxy.lib.ryerson.ca/reports/ca/industry/majorcompanies.aspx?
entid=816#MP9949
Competitor Analysis Checklist:
o Industry overview
o Market positioning/Brand Image
o Financial position
o Mission/Vision/Values
o Technical specs – relating to eco-friendly features?

http://world.honda.com/content/dam/site/world/investors/cq_img/library/annual_report/FY201703_
annual_report_s_e.pdf

Mission Statements

Chrysler
Honda
Toyota
GM
Volkswagen thinks green and blue
Car manufacturers use a system of “Tiering”, with Tier One suppliers delivering items being used directly on a car, and lower
tiers supplying those in turn; tyres are a Tier One component whereas bulbs that go into a light cluster assembly may be Tier
Two or even Three.  Increasingly, manufacturers are demanding that their suppliers be not only local to them, but in many
cases, actually part of the overall production line.

This is a system that has been pioneered by Volkswagen in Germany, and their “Think Blue” concept, in which they
consider not only how a car is build but also how energy, and other resources such as water usage, CO2 emissions, and
solvent disposal handled. A total of 27 out of VW’s 43 operated plants now run according to the ThinkBlue policy, making a
meaningful impact on how the company interacts with the environment, and making their products credible from an
ecological point of view. As a group and using this method, VW have identified over 114 million Euro’s worth of savings,
while occupying a much better environmental position than other manufacturers.
https://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre-article/green-car-companies-and-eco-cars-manufacture

Ranking of most eco-friendly cars

In the minivan segment: Nissan, Honda, Chrysler, Kia, Toyota

Small sports cars: Lexus, Honda, Buick, Lexus, Mazda
Subcompact: BMW (wins in most categories), chevrolet, Mitsubishi, Cadillac, scion

https://www.thrillist.com/cars/nation/the-most-environmentally-fuel-efficient-new-cars-in-2016-2017

https://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/automobiles/1197-honda-motors.html

http://www.majestichonda.com/compare/honda-models-vs-competitors.htm

http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/efficiency/transportation/cars-light-trucks/buying/7479

TOP 10 FUEL-EFFICIENT VEHICLES

https://www.auto123.com/en/news/top10-fuel-efficient-non-plugin-vehicles-2017/64049/?page=11

http://www.perceptualmaps.com/example-maps/
http://agnesvanzanten.be/fr/10/car-brand-map