Mazda’s competition

Toyota SA set the bar pretty high with Buddy the Dog promoting Hilux bakkies.

 Although over-use over the years took a lot of the cute factor out of the campaigns.

Subaru in the US has also produced many iconic ads for its vehicles, depicting dogs, instead of humans, using and enjoying its products.

Mazda South Africa was, therefore, going to be up against some stiff competition.

Yet, in using gorgeous dogs (is there any dog which is not? A question dog lovers will have a ready answer for) and linking them to human drivers – not as replacements but as symbolic of human feelings, they’ve got it right in their latest ad, I think.

Wonderrrr Awaits

We see a Mazda parked in frustrating rush-hour traffic – and suddenly it swerves out and away.

Now, there’s a dog at the wheel, window down and wind blowing through its long hair. 

It looks out at what has suddenly become the countryside… the trees, the birds, the blue sky and the fresh air. 

It’s freedom. 

And it’s seen through the eyes of an innocent.

That innocent has a look of wonder on its face. 

It’s what we see when we put our two dogs into the back of our car (a Subaru, incidentally) for their regular trips to the local park for “walkies”. 

No matter how many times we do it, we see “smiling” faces and eagerness and yes, a sense of wonder.

That’s the Mazda promise - Wonderrrr Awaits.

The car eventually arrives at its office parking and the driver is back, his hair suitably ruffled, like that of the dog. 

He has a look of happiness – of Wonderrrr – on his face. 

Next to arrive is a car with a stunning, beautiful long-haired dog.

The driver gets out and she is the same – stunning, long-haired. 

And with the same excited smile on her face.

Having driven a few Mazdas over the years, I remember how some of them – the small Mazda 2, particularly – evoked a sense of excitement and wonder because they were so refreshing to drive. 

It wasn’t about the performance, but the fresh sense of excitement in a world of bland, same-old, same-old designs. 

That is exactly what the ad does too – walks a different part in the current bland world of car advertising.

Another thing which Mazda didn’t touch on in the ad is the reality that the cars are like faithful animals, they will never let you down.

So, Orchids to Mazda and its agency, Boundless. It’s a breath of fresh air in the sector.

A PR no-no from Nduli Media

I do realise PR people are much maligned by us journalists and they have to put up with a lot of prima donna behaviour and inaccurate reporting on their clients. 

But – and this is a big but – short of your client being actually defamed (as opposed to someone who doesn’t like your product), the best thing you can do is walk away.

The worst thing you can do is huff and puff and threaten to send in the lawyers or take actual legal action.

Mazda’s ‘Wonderrrr Awaits’ campaign, from Boundless breaks new ground in global automotive marketing

Boundless  3 days

DCS, a supplier of batteries in Australia, learned a hard lesson about this after suing a YouTuber for a negative review of one of its products. 

Content producers around the world piled on in support of the channel, digging up actual Australian government agency tests which showed that, surprise, surprise, their products were rubbish. 

Bye-bye brand reputation.

This week, I had the astounding experience of being threatened with legal action by an influencer-turned-PR person (with a massive five years’ experience in the business), who objected to the allegedly rude behaviour of one of our staffers at a function her company hosted.

Quite apart from the fact you would struggle to lay an action for rude and condescending behaviour – which our journalist denied, and I believe her, by the way – you would also struggle to see how brands at a function could possibly be damaged by the action of a journalist who clearly had no connection to them.

This, however, did not deter Nokuthula Khwela, who styled herself as the “founder” of Nduli Media. 

After complaining about the journo’s alleged behaviour, she claimed her business and that of the brands she was representing, had been damaged by said alleged bad behaviour. 

She demanded swift action, adding: “If this issue is not resolved promptly, I will have no choice but to involve my legal team.”

After pointing out to her that she would have extreme difficulty in bringing any of this to a court – even Dali Mpofu would walk away from this one – and that she herself was guilty of defaming our journalist by making allegations against her, she apparently had a reality check and apologised profusely.

Yet, she still insisted that “my message may have been misinterpreted.”

No, Nokuthula, I have been in the business a long time and I know a threat when I see one. 

Don’t try to lessen your incompetence by claiming that I am at fault.

There is a lesson there for PR people. 

Do you think that once you have threatened a media outlet – without a shred of evidence, or logic – that they will look kindly on anything you wish to do with it in future?

How Not To Do PR 101.

That will always get you an Onion.