In an industry where 80% of the workforce is male, female role models are still few and far between so it’s great to hear that Mazda has just appointed a female Marketing Director.

In my new role as IMI Automotive Careers Champion, encouraging more women to consider a career in our industry, I am keen to spread the word that there are many talented women at the top of our industry who are capable of influencing their male colleagues and representing the majority of their (female) customers.

The female in question is Claire Andrews, promoted to Marketing Director at Mazda Motors UK. Claire is clearly a marketing professional and previously was Mazda’s Senior Marketing Manager, Brand Manager, Business Manager responsible for one of the South East territories and originally Events and Brand@retail Manager; all since she joined the fast-moving business in 2002.

When she was Senior Marketing Manager Claire focused on the Mazda brand strategy, seeing the benefits of sponsoring Channel 4’s ‘Jamie’s American Road Trip’ ‘Kevin’s Grand Tour’and ‘Gordon’s Great Escape’ programmes in keeping with Mazda’s brand values (insightful, spirited and fun).

This month, Mazda is sponsoring ITV1’s programme ‘71 Degrees North’ to support its Mazda MX-5 Thrills campaign theme ‘Once driven, thrills are harder to find’ which is due to launch tomorrow.

Interestingly, the Thrills campaign doesn’t show imagery of the car (not sure why?) but features images of people whale somersaulting, condor gliding, buffalo derby-ing (??), lilo rafting down a waterfall, tea-tray sledging off the top of a mountain, or skateboarding down the Hoover dam, to supposedly equal the feeling experienced when driving the car.
Well I certainly don’t consider thrills to be the main reason why women would buy a MX-5  but clearly this is intended to appeal more to young men. Perhaps it is the very fact that the MX-5 is such a popular car for women is the reason why Mazda now wants to market it to men in a different light?

I look forward to seeing how Claire links Mazda’s insightful brand values to what women want from their car. It’s important to recognise that whilst women influence the majority of new car sales they often feel patronised by businesses that are a long way short of female friendly; especially when it comes to aftersales garage services.

Vive la difference and congratulations to marketers like Claire who realise that the same product and service can be sold to different audiences in different ways.

As a parting foxy shot I’d say it’s easier to sell to men if you have designed your product or service to cater for women in the first place – we are so much more fussy and many in the motor industry have yet to realise the value of the female purse here.

FOXY Steph

Find out about FOXY Choice’s female friendly car dealerships that have signed the FOXY Promise to ‘never overcharge, patronise or sell women services they don’t need or want’.

Find out and register to learn more about exciting career opportunities for women in the UK motor industry

What’s your business strategy in this recession?

I hope you are doing well – many independent garages are I find, and perhaps that is because their aftersales prices are often (but not always) cheaper than dealers, combined with the fact that it has been cool to defer buying new cars for a while.  Pre-scrappage I agree but probably true during the rest of 2009, even if there might be a mini car sales bonanza come the summer.

Or are the independent garages marketing themselves more effectively than many dealers or franchised car dealerships?

FOXY certainly has more independent garages promoting themselves as female friendly than new car dealerships but there again new car dealerships have been more affected by the recession because of the down in new car sales. That and the fact that Ford, Peugeot and Mazda, at least, expect their  dealerships to subscribe to the Motor Industry Service and Repair Code even though these dealerships must surely exceed these minimum standards and may well face more complaints as a result in areas where cost conscious motorists have no independent garage choice to meet their needs.

Perhaps it is because most manufacturers are new car sales oriented and few seem to appreciate that the aftersales function is the backdoor into finding new customers that aren’t on their database yet? And maximising workshop income of course.

We find that many Dealer Principals have told Sales and Aftersales Managers to cut all costs including marketing. Others are definitely adopting a ‘let’s wait and see’ approach and of course it’s always easier to do nothing… but is that wise when others are beavering away behind the scenes…?

Fortunately some dealerships (and definitely internet car dealers) are taking a much more bullish stance and using any down time as a sales opportunity to position themselves in a different light, come the good times.

I also see companies quietly buying up struggling competitors and cherry-picking the best local employees that may have been laid off by their competitors – qualified technicians in particular.

These businesses know the good times will pay back this investment in spades and make up for the temporary cashflow shortfall.

They also know and are reacting to the knowledge that customers, including women drivers, are expecting and seeing deals wherever they go. This makes them more likely to shop around than ever, using the interweb, to sample other value-for-money products and services.

This makes a recession a fantastically fertile time to win new customers if you get out there with the right sales message. And if you are not there you send out the wrong message to customers…

I have just read an excellent article written by an American PR company saying things after my own heart in this context, recommending that businesses banish sayings like “but we’ve always done it this way” and replace them with “how can we do different things” and “how can we add more value to the customer experience”.

Gentlemen dealers, you are looking at a UK gift horse marketing solution in the heading of this blog.

You should be marketing to more women drivers. We are the ones that either buy or influence most of the big ticket purchases.  We want to know what makes you better than the rest and that you really do care about us in an industry that, quite frankly, is seen to fall woefully short in so many female customer service areas.

Whereas if you work with a female brand like FOXY you’ll learn to understand women drivers better AND your male customers won’t think that you have had a barand personality change or gone frilly overnight!

For example (shameless sales plug follows…) if you can sign the female friendly FOXY Promise we can start to market you as female friendly, online and in your local community. You get your own female friendly website presence (which you can measure) as well as a Female Friendly Marketing Pack and the opportunity to promote yourself to members of FOXY Lady Drivers Club.

With prices from £60 for a basic (not measurable) entry to £180 plus VAT for a 12 months unique and fully inclusive package what are you waiting for? What’s not to go for it!

FOXY Steph

“Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well”
Josh Billings

See which local garages, dealers and new car dealerships are listed as female friendly already…

Believe it or not, this is a genuine headline that I didn’t write but which has been used to describe a special FOXY day out this Sunday hosted by Hendy Group at their new car showroom in Eastleigh.

When all about is doom and gloom to do with new car sales, I am delighted to report that this is the sort of bullish strategy that is likely to sort out the men from the boys in future. Use the downturn to strengthen local relationships and with a view to reinforcing Hendy’s female friendly reputation and you have some goodwill among local women drivers to rely on come the new dawn.

We’ll be there of course and in good (non motor related) company this time including local businesses Portrait Place, Wannabe Pampered, The Feel Good Factory and Dior Cosmetics.

We met Hendy some time ago and through their aftersales team who are particularly pro-active in marketing their ‘all makes garage servicing’. At their request FOXY carried out a female friendly audit of their South East businesses, made several recommendations which were welcomed, has spoken to their aftersales managers since and now promotes their female friendly garage services and offers to women driver members of the Club. It’s instantly obvious that this is a family run business that genuinely cares about customer service from the top down. I say that after visiting other dealerships who clearly don’t understand the female friendly touch at the very top of their organisation…!!

I expect it to be a lot of fun on Sunday. Anyone in the area who’d like to pop in and say hello are most welcome. It’s at the Hendy Showroom (they look after Ford, Mazda and Kia franchises, offer vehicle rental, parts and car servicing here too) at Leigh Road, Eastleigh which is underneath Junction 13 of the M3 motorway (so to speak).

Come and be pampered (nails, makeup, skincare that sort of thing) and to stand a chance of winning a fabulous Spa Day at Careys Manor Hotel at Brockenhust in the New Forest. The way I am feeling (and looking) today I could do with winning it!!

Don’t forget the clocks go back this weekend – an extra hour in bed (hoorah) but darker evenings (always look on the bright side – getting closer to Spring 09) …

FOXY Steph