It is possible that the now-famous ad campaigns helped to launch the brand from niche status.
Subaru of America never had a better year since its 1958 arrival in the U.S.A. In the early 2000s, it was a niche player with a 1 percent market share. Subaru’s annual sales increased by three times to 615,132 in the last year. The company celebrated its 64th consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains.
It’s possible to attribute it all to one ad campaign and the tagline “Love.” It’s what makes Subaru, Subaru.
After years of unsuccessful advertising campaigns with different agencies, it was finally time to make a big change. Subaru made Carmichael Lynch their agency of record in 2007 and began to question customers about why they weren’t buying Subarus.
“If you asked a Subaru owner their opinion on the car, they would almost always respond the same way. They loved the car. “
Bethke states that 66% of Americans didn’t purchase a Subaru because they were not aware of our brand. “And even if they were, they weren’t aware enough to form a positive opinion and make this huge purchase seem sensible.”
Next Subaru decided to discover why the existing owners bought Subarus. The answers were usually centered around what the company had already stated in its advertisements: safety, build quality and all-wheel-drive stability. Subaru was struck by a single thing that kept popping up, and it was the spark that lit the fuse.
“If you asked a Subaru owner their opinion on the car, they would almost always respond the same way. Bethke says that their answer was “they loved it.” It didn’t matter who or what they had. That answer was the one thing that made all owners feel like they were the same.
Subaru changed its advertising campaigns from being rationally oriented to being emotional. “Love” was the new tagline. It is what makes Subaru, a Subaru. Whereas Subaru ads of yore focused only on safety, build quality, and the benefits of all-wheel drive – logical arguments for buying the car – the “Love” campaign focuses more on the emotional, tug-at-your-heartstrings reasons for trying a car. Commercials showed friends camping, families passing down cars to their kids, and so forth. What did it result in? Subaru was a more popular choice for car shoppers.
Bethke states that the idea has a dramatic effect on people. People who saw the “Love” advertisement report that their “Awareness [of Subaru] increases by 27 points, familiarity triples and excellent opinions go up by 400 percent.
Sales are on the rise. Every year, sales rises. Subaru likes to point out that these are mostly retail sales and few rentals.
People who saw the “Love” advertisement report that their “Awareness [of Subaru] increases by 27 points, familiarity triples and excellent opinions go up 400 percent. ”
Correlation does not necessarily mean causation. Michael McHale is the director of corporate communications at Subaru of America. He admits that there were other factors behind the brand’s massive sales surge.
He says that “Everything has improved over the past ten years.” “The dealers got better, there are better showrooms, advertising is better, and the products have become more American-friendly.”
The new advertising campaigns have made Subaru’s rise from a niche brand to a mainstream contender obvious. Subaru is the eighth-best-selling brand in America so far this year. Subaru’s rise to fame was not without love.
Bethke says, “This isn’t everything that did it.” “But maybe this helped you a bit.”