Subaru Case Study - The Arthur Page Society

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2007 Honda sold more CR-Vs alone (219,160 units) than all Subaru’s models combined (190,276). 97 MARKET RESEARCH REVEALS LESBIAN NICHE MARKET By the early-1990s, Subaru had established four core consumer bases – healthcare professionals, educators, IT professionals, and outdoor enthusiasts. Through market research findings in 1994, Subaru discovered a fifth core base: lesbians. 98 As Tim Bennett, Subaru’s Director of Marketing at the time stated, “Anecdotally, we found that there were women heads of households that purchased our cars, and … in most cases they identified as lesbian.” 99 Market research indicated that lesbian Subaru owners had a high socioeconomic status and an active lifestyle, complimenting Subaru’s four existing consumer bases, 100 and were four times as likely as their heterosexual counterparts to own a Subaru. 101 Subaru did not disclose how much it spent on the proprietary research. 102 As Rick Crosson, Subaru’s VP of Marketing at the time asserted, “The gay and lesbian community had already found us – particularly the lesbian community. They had already selected us as a car that they used, that fit their lifestyle.” 103 But instead of sweeping the findings under the rug, Subaru decided to target both lesbians and gay men, a move that was rare in 1995 regardless of the industry. An unnamed Subaru spokesperson revealed in 1996 that “three years ago we were trying to be a competitor in the mainstream and that...wasn’t working.” 104 At the time, Subaru’s sales comprised less than 2% of all U.S. automobile sales, in an industry dominated by the Big Three (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) who were responsible for 75% of all U.S. sales. 105 John Nash, Creative Director of Moon City Productions, commented on the lesbian discovery: “Lesbians were fiercely loyal customers of Subaru, and their word of mouth was like gold.” 106 EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION EFFORTS Carmichael Lynch is currently handling Subaru’s advertising, media planning, and media buying. 107 Subaru had previously partnered with DDB Worldwide but decided to change shops on October 17, 2007, based on CMO Mahoney’s previous success in working with Carmichael Lynch while serving as Porsche’s VP of Marketing. For gay and lesbian-specific marketing efforts, Subaru had used Mulryan-Nash until the shop closed in 1999; 108 as of 2000, Subaru has employed Moon City Productions, a New York-based agency specializing in gay and lesbian creative. 109 Although Subaru has typically used Moon City Productions to market its products to the gay and lesbian communities, in 2007 the company used the agency for a 2008 Impreza WRX general market campaign. 110 Most public relations efforts are handled in house, led by CMO Tim Mahoney and Michael McHale, Director of Corporate Communications. In referencing Subaru’s relationship with the automotive media, McHale stated in 2007 that Subaru was “well-known and liked.” 111 Subaru’s total ad spending has risen consistently over the past 17 years. Since Subaru is a private company that does not publicly release its ad spending figures, a snapshot of ad spending gathered from industry articles is shown in Table V:   14 
PROFILE OF A SUBARU OWNER: BRAND LOYALTY   15  Source: AdAge 112 Mickey Kaus, automotive expert and author of automotive columns on Slate.com, compared Subaru owners to Volvo owners in 2005, stating that Subaru represents what Volvo used to be – a trusted, yet financially-obtainable vehicle for consumers who value performance and longevity. 113 In 2008, John Colasanti, CEO of Carmichael Lynch, confirmed Kaus’ claims and discussed the brand loyalty of Subaru owners in the New York Times. Through extensive market research, Subaru’s agency or record discovered that Subaru owners tend to drive their vehicles for longer periods of time, as compared to other car brands. Colasanti added, “They see their car as an enabler, an accomplice on their journey of life, and the more experiences you have, the deeper the relationship you have with the vehicle.” 114 Wes Brown, a marketing analyst who has worked with Subaru for over a decade, explains that current sales increases are not a fluke. Based on findings from earlier research in Portland, OR, Subaru customers are more likely to pay for their vehicles in cash and complete their paperwork ahead of time. 115 In fact, 40% of Subaru owners pay cash for their vehicles, doubling the industry average of 20%. 116 As Mahoney stated, “We know who we are, and we do it consistently…the landscape’s littered with companies that don’t know who they are or don’t execute against that brand promise.” 117 Mahoney continued, “We spent a lot of time defining who our customers are and having a relationship with them.” 118 Brandweek reporter Becky Ebenkamp remarked that Subaru’s brand loyal and financially savvy customers are part of the “New Economic Order (NEO),” consumers who value quality over low prices alone and continue to spend during recessions. 119 BRIEF HISTORY OF SUBARU’S GAY AND LESBIAN IMC EFFORTS
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Page 3 and 4:   Gay Organizations Recognize For
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Page 13: Yoshio Hasunuma is the Chairman, Pr
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Page 19 and 20: FOUNDING SPONSOR OF SIRIUS OUTQ AND
Page 21 and 22: By 2000, Subaru was receiving feedb
Page 23 and 24:   23  Source: HRC 186 In 2003,
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Page 33 and 34: Chicago Tribune 12/07/2005 Rick Pop
Page 35 and 36: American Family Association Contact
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