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.
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