Abstract

"The Role of Channel Management to Build a Strong Brand: Reforming Dealer Management of a Japanese Automotive Manufacturer Mazda"

Susumu Harada, Meiji University (harada@meiji.ac.jp), Yoshihiro Oishi, Meiji University (ag00017@meiji.ac.jp)

This paper investigates the reforming dealer management in terms of building a strong brand with a historical case study of Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer. The vast literature on brand management has emphasized product development and communication strategy rather than channel management to make a strong brand. This is presented in the work of Aaker (1996), in the concept of ‘brand identity system’, which is based on appealing product attributes and benefits to consumers.
Koehn (2001) and Webster (1998), however, emphasized the importance of channel management to build a strong brand. Koehn (2001) indicated that the experiences of selling contributed to creating a strong brand through the historical study of six entrepreneurs who was the founder of big brands such as Howard Shultz, Starbucks Coffee Company.
This paper builds on these insights in the context of brand management in Mazda. Mazda’s brand values have increased recently due to focus on building a strong brand since 2006. It began to develop the new product and to improve the production system, which is called “Monozukuri Kaikaku” (production revolution). Shortly after, Mazda started a channel-management revolution which is called “Tsunagari Kaikaku” (connection revolution) aimed to sell the product with the maker suggested retail price (MSRP). To achieve this purpose, Mazda has improved dealer services and has increased its brand value.
We focus on the reforming dealers’ management of Mazda in Japan, and we show why and how Mazda achieved its new dealer management. Our findings show that entrepreneurship of manager contributes to driving dealer management change. In addition, the involvement of distributors to make a new dealer management policy also contribute to increasing the understanding of its brand management way.