Mazda breaks with traditions. The latest example: until now, no car manufacturer has succeeded in combining the benefits of a petrol engine and a diesel engine in a series-manufactured vehicle. However, in 2019, Mazda DI is introducing its self-igniting petrol engine. The new innovation underscores Mazda’s identity and ambition to always break the rules.
This attitude is more than a marketing position for Mazda. The courage to break with tradition is something that every Mazda dealer in Switzerland should be able to put into practice at their own locations. Mazda is implementing a change management programme by hosting a large event – the Mazda Brand Experience Day. For this event, the CEO of Mazda Switzerland will directly appeal to Swiss dealers via video messages. Everyone is split into two teams, each featuring samurai names. Each team receives a real, acute problem scenario and an internationally renowned management coach. The event can begin.
On the Brand Experience Day, each team watches a fictional news broadcast with the CEO, who answers questions about their problem scenario. But the broadcast is interrupted – now the dealers need to supply their own answers. Idea workshops build up to the grand finale, where both teams engage in a battle of ideas. The teams will passionately fight their corner, resulting in a range of new solutions for everyone. The CEO ends the interview with the dealers’ unconventional ideas.
J. Walter Thompson and Live Lab is developing the conceptual strategy and the experience story, from direct mailings through to the event itself. Live Lab and Konform will implement the experience – highlighting the inspiration to change the world in unconventional ways. The location is a converted factory. A flexible brand world made of cardboard boxes is built on 4,000 m2. The caterers also embody the Mazda spirit, breaking with tradition when it comes to their own business models in the food industry.
1,000 employees from the Mazda dealership network will take part in three events in the three national languages, boldly breaking with tradition in their locations throughout Switzerland. At Mazda, they will then implement the unconventional ideas that they have developed together as teams.
Agency: J. Walter Thompson Zurich and Live Lab Zurich