REVENUE STRATEGY – TOYOTA SCION

1. Toyota wants Scion to stand for low-priced exclusivity. Blowing millions on mass-market advertising would be expensive and it would drag in the hoi polloi, not the young trendsetters Scion wants.
2. Scion avoids rural markets.
3. Most of its marketing targets men under 35.
4. Scion is developing hard-core fans who spend $1,000 each on average to add accessories to their cars. That extra $1,000 in accessories is high-margin business.
5. The brand doesn't want to be huge. That's why Scion is cutting the budget for national advertising even with niche magazines and late-night cable TV every year. The company is targeting an absolute maximum of 200,000 sales a year in an industry that will sell about 16.5 million vehicles.If sales reached 300,000 Toyota may have to break Scion out as a completely separate brand on the dealer level.
6. The Scion customer's quest for individuality is another reason that Toyota wants to keep the brand small but spunky.
7. By keeping it small Scion is trying to achieve cult status. 8. Toyota wants the brand to connect with young trendsetters so that Toyota can stay in tune with the latest trends in fashion, culture, and music.
8. Like BMW's Mini brand, Toyota limits production of the cars so it can get better pricing, pushes bold designs, and uses buzz marketing like going to nightclubs to find buyers and promote the brand.
9. Scion has reached out to the hip creative crowd by sponsoring art shows for unknown artists and generate word-of-mouth buzz for the brand. Scion also holds DJ contests and film screenings.
10. Safety features such as antilock brakes and stability control are standard. So are creature comforts including a top-line stereo system, multicolored interior lighting for mood effect, and electronic tire-pressure monitor systems.
11. A Scion dealer in Elk Grove, Calif., has an event every November that starts with 50 to 60 Scion cars at the dealership. They drive en masse on Highway 50 to an apple festival. The event dominates the highway with Scion cars, and its costs about $250 for the apple festival afterward.
12. Scion of Santa Monica, Calif., hosts Summerfest, to which Scion owners bring their cars and compete for trophies for best exterior custom work, coolest interior design, and the like. The event costs just $22,000, and Scion pays for half of it.

Big market, small market, staid market, hip market – Toyota wants it all and gets it by a clear and eanest sense of purpose.

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