Makers are more aggressive
Valor Econômico
The communication strategy of the car makers became more aggressive in the past weeks. Because of the positioning, the volume of trials involving this industry in the Conar, body that regulates advertising, has considerably increased in 2010. The need of newly arrived brands of gaining market and the effort of the companies to keep their sales high, after the end of the benefit of the reduction in the IPI (Excise Tax), provided fertile grounds for public fights.
In the past three months six complaints were filed against companies in the sector - Ford, Peugeot, Fiat and Hyundai, and the last two had each two campaigns analyzed by the body. In the same period in 2009, there were only two complaints against Citröen and Honda. Valor discovered, based on meetings of the Ethics Committee of the Conar, that from June to August 2010, no case was decided. Consumers, businesses and the body are allowed to request analysis of the campaigns.
Such greater activity results from strategic decisions of the groups. It was the first time since Nissan arrived in Brazil in 2000 that it has set a plan of construction of the brand in the country. The idea is to heavily enter in the dispute for the market, as has already repeated in recent interviews the International CEO of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn. The plan is to have 5% of Brazilian car market until 2014. To get there, it will have to be heard, and therefore, they better make a lot of noise.
In three months, three advertising films of Nissan ended up at the Conar. In one, the case was shelved. If they have a point in common it is the comparative level of the actions. In the latest campaign, aired last week, an actor interprets an enraged consumer, distributing money in several places of the city of São Paulo. He claims to have bought a car that competes with Nissan Livina, with the same accessories, for R$ 5,527 (US$ 3,251) more. And he mentions in the text the name of the car he purchased: Fiat Idea.
One day after the Nissan campaign was aired, Ford published a two-page text in nationwide magazines. In it, Ford asks the consumer to pay "attention to the small prints" of the campaigns of car makers, in an indirect reference to Hyundai. The Korean was penalized by the Conar a month ago for making comparative campaigns with research data considered unproven. In the assessment of Jorge Chear, Sales and Marketing Officer of Ford, choosing for those informative ads give brands return in the long-term.