Marketing Strategy and SWOT Analysis of Yamaha Motors

Since the discovery of the internal combustion engine, the human understanding of transportation has changed drastically. With every new type of transportation means, people became closer and the world became smaller than ever. Motorbikes can be proud to be the type of transportation that changed the way people experience commuting. Yamaha Motors is among the top-of-the-mind brands in motorbike discussions. They have brought their fresh style to the market and has enjoyed the love of customers ever since. With great products comes intensive marketing. Today we will discuss the overall marketing strategy of Yamaha Motors and run a SWOT analysis to uncover their secrets.

Yamaha Motors makes sure to touch human emotions…

Mission statement.

Yamaha Motors wants to bring people the life that they dreamt of. They try to enrich the lives of their customers with experiences they never had before. With perfect realization of how to address daily customer needs and wants, they continue constant progression. Yamaha Motors knows how important it is to spark emotions in customers.

Those emotions create strong links between the brand and the customer and add spiritual value to material good. At Yamaha Motors, they know that people need to fill their lives with enjoyable moments. Eventually, they do not just offer unique experiences; they make every day memorable instead.

Vision statement.

Yamaha Motors has a vision that leisure has a critical role in today’s work-saturated world. People are so concentrated on work that they have so little time for getting away from it. Realizing the importance of a balanced life, Yamaha Motors makes sure they have their share in achieving the balance.

Their products are not merely a good that addresses a human need for transportation. Throughout their history, Yamaha Motors understood that their destiny is in something more. Surely, they offer their customers a superior product enriched with groundbreaking technology. However, the greatest achievement of Yamaha Motors is the fact they create perfect harmony between a human and a machine.

Yamaha Motors’ slogan “Revs Your Heart,” tells us that the brand moves people. Not only do they do it physically, but also they move people’s hearts. They gift experiences that spice the lives of customers with heart-racing moments.

The positioning strategy will reveal the “human side” of Yamaha Motors…

Positioning strategy reveals the characteristics of the brand in the eyes of customers. Similar to people, every brand has its unique qualities that help them stand out in the crowd. Yamaha Motors is not an exception. Analyzing this Instagram post will help us in revealing the “personality” of Yamaha Motors.

The Instagram posts are all about visualization. They need to deliver a message rich with emotions, which will touch the hearts of viewers. In our example, Yamaha Motors introduces a new motorbike. The post consists of three photos, and each of them has a clear saying and intention.

The first photo carries a promotional role among the other ones. It presents the shiny dark black bike in all its beauty. The tagline “Born with performance” represents how technology-rich the bike is. Yamaha fans know that they will get a lightning-fast bike. This will help them experience true Yamaha power and have a growling beast underneath that carries you through.

“Faster Sons” is both a tribute to Yamaha’s heritage and vision for the future. Current Yamaha bikes have a history-rich soul with a young body and enhanced performance. A typical Yamaha buyer realizes that they buy decades of history and style.

The other two photos represent the new Yamaha bike in motion. If the customer wants a classy and powerful bike, this Yamaha model is a go-to. It shows the vintage forms in completely new designs that will conquer the hearts of true bike-lovers.

The description tells us that the new Yamaha Bolt R-Spec is a perfect combo. With an old school soul and modern performance, the customers could dream of the combination. The new model is a demonstration of brute strength; an attractive quality for a two-wheel stallion.

Consequently, the style and the description of the post reveal Yamaha’s true character. By analyzing the post, we can conclude that the brand belongs to the Outlaw archetype.

Which characteristics are typical to the Outlaw archetype?

Core desire: Redemption or revolution, basically making a change happen

Strategy: Destroy, disrupt or surprise

Trap: To follow the wrong path to criminal life and violence

Values: Estranged from society, breaking status quo, and seeking the experience of power

Listed below are the messaging levels of the Outlaw archetype:

Level 1: Feeling the absence of power, angry and mistreated

Level 2: Identifying as an outsider, not admitting the rules and norms of the society

Level 3: Behaving in shocking ways and

Level 4: Becoming a rebel or revolutionary

The Outlaw archetype might be a suitable brand if:

• It offers products of low to moderate pricing
• The company represents products that are often dangerous and generally are not good. Quiet often, purchasing that kind of product is a rebellion against society’s general standards.
• The function of the product is to destroy something, or the nature of it is revolutionary and challenging.
• Customers and employees feel estranged from society or identify themselves with values that are.

SWOT analysis will leave us with all-around facts about Yamaha Motors.

Strengths

Brand image – Yamaha has built a strong brand throughout the years. The customers associate it with high quality and performance. This is a good foundation to build on and expand the customer base. The company enjoys the trust and loyalty of the customers and continues with the same spirit.

Rich product portfolio – Besides a big variety of motorcycles, Yamaha produces other products as well. Their rich product portfolio includes motorcycles, marine products, power products, robots, ATVs, snowmobiles, and off-road vehicles.

Focus on innovation – Yamahainvests huge money into their research and development. In the competitive market of motorcycles, they constantly innovate to stay in the conversation. Moreover, their customers have high expectations due to the bar the company set.

Weaknesses

Low concentration on key markets – Big and attractive markets such as China and India are not well targeted by Yamaha. They face local and international competition in these markets, which does not let them settle there properly. The reason is that they are out of the affordable price range of these markets.

Weaker product categories – Despite the rich product portfolio, categories other than motorcycles do not get proper recognition. Surely, they enjoy the reputation of the logo, but these categories are not as famous as their motorcycles. These categories need to get more attention from the company.

Opportunities

Technological advancement – Thedevelopment of technology is certainly an opportunity for Yamaha. They can integrate these technologies into their vehicles and enhance their performance capabilities. Usage of AI is common these days, and it can potentially find its place in motorcycle electronics.

Portfolio expansion – Yamaha can expand to new product categories. They can use their strength and capabilities to start developing new products. Moreover, new products would enjoy the brand image of Yamaha and develop the company even more.

Threats

Competition – Yamaha has serious competitors in the market. Apart from the local competition of the markets, they have strong international competitors that present a significant threat to the business. Therefore, Yamaha must always stay alarmed and be prepared to face the competition.

Fuel costs – The increase in fuel costs affects the vehicle market a lot. When the prices of fuel go up, they affect the sales of Yamaha motorcycles. Some electric alternatives have become more popular, and have a negative effect on sales of motorcycles with combustion engines.

Segmentation strategy is the story about Yamaha’s ideal customer.

Product development has one huge step in its process, without which the products would not succeed. That step is the development of a segmentation strategy. Companies must have a clear understanding of who is their ideal customer. Thus, they can shape their product in a way it suits their ideal buyer. Analyzing the commercial below will help us in determining the target segment of Yamaha Motors.

The commercial starts with a scene of our main hero near a dark-colored and abandoned gate. It looks like the area is far from crowded places, and locks something unusual. The gate has some “keep out” signs and various graffiti sayings in Japanese. From the look of our hero, we can say that his intentions are not necessarily friendly.

Next, the scene is in a big hangar, which has a weird-looking big black object floating on the ground. Our hero approaches the object and touches it lightly. This sparks some events going through his head, which look like flashbacks from his past. The next touch disturbs the integrity of the project, and the hero gets the black slime on his hand.

The black goo starts getting over the whole body of the hero. It seems like the goo and the human are getting into a symbiosis. The eyes of our hero become black, like the bike that we see in the commercial. Later on, we witness astonishing maneuvers and speeding on the new Yamaha MT-09. The tagline of the commercial says “The Dark Side of Japan”. This proves once again that the Outlaw archetype is best suited with Yamaha Motors.

The analysis of this commercial shows that Yamaha Motors wants to gain a reputation as a badass. With such high-performance and scary-looking motorbikes, they have certainly achieved that. Eventually, we can conclude that the segment which Yamaha targets is the Breakouts.

Who are the Breakouts?

Lifestyle and values: The Breakouts is the segment of status-oriented people. Their career and money are the indicators of reaching success in life. They work hard to climb up the career ladder and seek recognition for that. Money is the best measure of success and the primary source of motivation. They work for money, and getting the fulfilment of building a career is secondary.

Breakouts focus on personal enjoyment. They like trying new things, risky life situations and adventures. These affect their whole lifestyle. They like going out with friends and enjoy time outside the home in bars restaurants, and clubs. Their health and shape do not concern them either.

Attitude to shopping: Breakouts’ attitude to shopping is the reflection of their general lifestyle. Like in other situations in life, they like trying new things. They are mostly in the early majority of brand adoption. They are among the buyers who wait for the product to lose its hype and become more affordable.

In terms of money, they love it but do not know how to spend it. Breakouts are bad at saving money and sometimes make unnecessary purchases. They are spontaneous shoppers and might make purchases just for the sake of having the product.

As they are status-oriented, they buy brands and products that declare status. However, they are not brand loyal and enjoy exploring. They like high-quality brands but cannot afford the premium ones.

Other interesting facts about Breakouts:

• Healthy nutrition is not common for Breakouts, and they like eating what and when they want.
• Breakouts are above average radio listeners and enjoy entertainment stations with upbeat dancing music.
• TV is the primary source of information. It is often on in the background, while they are busy with something else.
• Breakouts prefer passive holidays and do not travel abroad frequently. Just sunbathing and drinking will do the work.
• They are average press readers, and often read only the titles and issues, and the most interesting parts.

In conclusion, Yamaha Motors is a brand with a complex combination of technology and smart marketing. They owe their success to not only products or research and development, but though-out marketing strategy as well. The combo of positioning and segmentation strategies took them as far as today. Yamaha stays loyal to their business principles, and still bring us their magnificent bikes. That is it for today; make sure to check out more posts like this on our website.