Positioning strategies of Hyundai and Honda

Hyundai and Honda are two strong and popular names in the automobile manufacturing industry. Both of these companies are quite experienced and successful in what they do. Hyundai and Honda have remarkably similar names and logos. Throughout many years many people were confusing these two and were even considering them the same company. Both stay true to their values and heritage, but still, do everything to go hand in hand with time and the changing world. Hyundai and Honda ow much of their success to the accurate and effective positioning strategies they’ve used. So, let’s discuss these two companies to understand the reasons for their positioning strategy choices.

Starting with Hyundai, let’s understand the target audience of the company.

Let’s, go through the following commercial by Hyundai and analyze it to get an insight into the target audience of the company.

This commercial is quite engaging and funny. It features Chris Evans, John Krasinski, Rachel Dratch, and David “Big Papi” Ortiz. In the video, John Krasinski drives a new Hyundai Sonata that has amazing new features. He uses the remote smart parking assistant to park the car in a space that seems too small. This feature impresses others.

All the characters and first the user of Hyundai in the commercial are outgoing and like communicating. They are successful, they look good and put together. After discussing all the details in the commercial it becomes clear that Hyundai focuses on the Carpe Diem target segment.

Target Market: Carpe Diem

Lifestyle and Values:

 Representatives of the Carpe Diem target segment are adventurous, spontaneous, and quite outgoing. They love spending time with friends, having fun, and enjoying the variety and dynamism of life. These people give big importance to the present and want to live every moment to its fullest. Carpe Diems always make sure that they look nice and put together as their appearance has a big importance for them.

These people try to stay on track with existing and emerging market trends. Carpe Diems love spending money and very often pay visits to quite up-scale places. They try to make sure of their independence both financially and in other possible ways. This is the reason, why people from this segment prioritize having a good career.

Attitude to Shopping: 

Carpe Diems always try to follow and be informed of trends in fashion, beauty, music, etc. Appearance has huge importance for people from this target segment. When buying and using products, they value and prioritize the quality of items above everything. These people would prefer to have few products with high-quality, rather than many that have poor quality. Carpe Diems are known for their loyalty to brands and they don’t have the habit of switching brands often. 

Marketing Strategy of Hyundai

Effective marketing is extremely important when it comes to the success of any company. Hyundai takes marketing profoundly serious and chooses its marketing strategies carefully. The company uses different ways to promote and market its products. For example, the name of Hyundai is very often connected with popular and influential events such as UEFA, FIFA world cup games, etc.

The company is closely cooperating and partnering with such organizations and builds better brand recognition and a stronger image. The name of the company can be seen during the football matches on the boards placed on the borders of the field. Besides, Hyundai does lots of celebrity endorsement, which attracts more attention towards the company and its automobiles.

At the same time, all the new model releases of the company are introduced to the public using commercials on various TV channels. The company also uses other ways like printed ads and digital marketing for this purpose. Hyundai very often promotes its products through media reviews.

Different experts talk about the company, review its products, and express their opinions. This helps the target audience of the company in the decision-making process. Also, the company uses campaigns to display its values and products as well as to attract new customers and strengthen brand awareness. 

Problem Removal 

Hyundai was always prioritizing their customers. The needs and changing preferences of the customers were the driving force that motivated the company. Hyundai always had one problem to solve. It worked hard to combine safety, efficiency, and high-quality regarding all the automobiles it has produced.

The mission of Hyundai is continuous self-improvement to stay on track and bring the best solutions and innovations through their cars. The company wants to bring security and stability with its products to present customers and future generations. Hyundai wants to create automobiles that will be considered an automotive value. It wants to realize this by combining a vast range of benefits and features in their products.

Social Approval

Nowadays every company needs to gain approval and acceptance from society. To obtain this, Hyundai uses sustainable management. It wants to be considered a responsible and sustainable company that cares not only about itself, but the surrounding world and society.

From the very beginning, Hyundai was striving to combine sustainable development with the creation of economic value. Their strategic goal was always the continuous adaptation of eco-friendly values in their whole value chain. Hyundai takes part in different initiatives to contribute to the development of the local communities as well as strives to ensure sustainability in its supply chain.

Message Strategy

Now, let’s discuss the following post from the Instagram account of Hyundai to find out the message strategy that the company uses.

The post is a short video of different scenes that come to end showing a Hyundai car. The voiceover of the video speaks about improvements, continuous changes to become better, more sustainable, and suitable for the changing world. The post description once more encourages change for the better and ensures that any improvement can have a positive impact on a bigger scale. As a result, the transformations will lead to a positive and bright future.

The discussion of the post and all its details point out the fact that Hyundai has adopted the Magician brand archetype. This archetype stands for self-improvement, change, personal transformation, and realization of dreams. The motto of Magicians is “It can happen!” and the main idea of this archetype are magical moments.

Brand Archetypes. Why do we need them in practice?

Our communication strategy may have multiple messaging approaches. But there is some logic that unifies all these and it is called communication based on the archetypal branding. A company may have many messages, but they do not have something in common. For example “Do everything easily”, “Go ahead and be powerful” or Dig deeper and be experienced”.

These 3 quotes have different goals and bring different subconscious effects. One is about Being a Hero, another is about gaining more experience. These are 2 different directions of messaging and the logics of Brand archetypes bring more uniqueness and clearness here. Just read the book “8 steps to a complete archetypal branding” and you will have more experience in communication based on archetypes.

Moving on, let’s get some insight into the positioning tactics of Honda.

Now, let’s identify the target audience of Honda by analyzing and discussing the following commercial by the company.

The commercial is indeed touching and engaging. There is a mix of emotions, feelings that are depicted through different scenes and characters. All the characters describe one person throughout the commercial. At the end of the commercial that one person seems to get hit by a Honda car.

He was saved thanks to a feature of Honda cars which automatically breaks the car before the driver does. The man that stayed alive had been described as a great father, son, brother, and friend. He is honest, hard-working, dedicated, and caring. All these details in the video show that Honda focuses on the target segment of Traditionalists.   

Target Market: Traditionalist

Lifestyle and Values: 

Those belonging to the Traditionalists’ target segment are middle-aged and married people. Traditionalists prioritize the protection of their families and put much effort to ensure a strong position and stability for it. They are quite attentive and care much when it comes to raising their children. These people work hard to educate their children and teach them morals, values, and disciplines. Traditionalists tend to lead a well-arranged, stable, and peaceful life.

They associate such a position in life directly with their career. That is the reason why they show outstanding excellence, dedication, and honesty in their working environment. People from this segment are known as good team players. Being adventurous and artistic has nothing to do with them. Traditionalists are always there for a quiet evening with family at home.

Attitude to Shopping: 

Representatives of the Traditionalists’ target segment are known for their practical taste for clothes. They always choose comfort rather than style while shopping for clothes. Traditionalists in general love the process of shopping and enjoy spending money. People from this target segment can sometimes splurge on premium brands but are still bargain hunters. These people usually prioritize the quality over the number of products. They like switching brands and are not loyal to certain brands. Traditionalists are driven to new brands and products. 

Marketing Strategy of Honda

Carefully chosen marketing strategies can be a game-changer for any company. Honda considers marketing an important and effective way to formulate a better brand image and trust in the minds of customers. The company uses both conventional and unconventional methods to promote the brand and its products.

Honda makes big investments in promoting its products through newspapers, magazines, and different websites related to the automobile industry. At the same time, the company puts lots of work on television ads to present and promote its products. Besides, Honda gives vital importance to digital marketing. The company finds digital platforms an ideal strategy to extend the customer base of Honda.

Also, Honda uses sponsorships with social initiatives and sports events as another marketing strategy. The company sponsors a variety of sports events worldwide, as well as takes part in diverse initiatives and charity programs for community welfare. All these sponsorships help to bust the trust and loyalty of the customers.

Apart from this, Honda partners with famous and influential people from the spheres of sport, fashion, film, etc. This is done with the purpose to promote the brand and its products to wider groups of people. Also, Honda puts a strong focus on CSR to be perceived as a responsible and trustworthy brand. 

Problem Removal 

Throughout its history, Honda was putting a strong focus on customer satisfaction. Everything it did was to give the customer what he/she asked for. The company has one problem to solve. It wants to manufacture automobiles that will be able to provide high-quality for the best value.

Through continuous R&D, Honda wants to make sure that its automobiles have innovative features, power equipment, and quality. The company successfully manufactures cars that not only have emphasized aesthetic design but are also remarkably safe. With all these advantages and benefits Honda cars have a quite appealing price point. The company makes cars that are affordable for many people and carry great value. 

Social Approval

Honda is a good example of a company that uses sustainable management. The company wants to ensure that it is accepted and approved by society by using this strategy. Sustainability has a strong impact on their corporate activities, decision-making processes, etc. Besides the benefits of the company and the stakeholders, Honda gives huge importance to the society, environment, and the future. The company implements different strategies and takes part in various initiatives to help solve social issues as well as have a good impact on the environment and society. Honda wants to pass on better life quality and values to the upcoming generations.

Message Strategy

It’s time to understand the message strategy of Honda by going through the following post from the Instagram page of the company.

This post is what you would expect to see on a social media page for any automobile manufacturing company. The car in the photo is unique, expressive, and not made for everyone. It can be a way of self-expression. The overall photo gives a sense of adventure and travel. The post description attaches spirit, individuality, and experience to the car. 

All these details of the post that have been discussed show that Honda represents the Explorer brand archetype. This archetype stands for diversity, freedom, adventure, and continuous search for finding your true self. The motto of the Explorer archetype is “Don’t fence me in” and it represents individualism.

Summing up, Hyundai and Honda are innovative, strong, and experienced companies representing the automobile manufacturing industry. They have passion and dedication for what they do which is also a big factor for their prosperity. By analyzing the positioning tactics used by these two giants, we can say with confidence that they will continue to maintain their success and unique place in the market. Check out the main page of our website for more posts like this.