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“It’s a Mitsi!”

Mitsubishi Motors Australia is an integral part of the global Mitsubishi Motors organisation, all of which is a key part of Mitsubishi Group companies. From humble beginnings in 1870 when they were first founded by Yataro Iwasaki to 1914 when they registered the famous three diamonds as their now iconic trademark. With over 11 million people all around the world deciding to drive a Mitsubishi it is no wonder that they are doing well (Mitsubishi Motors, 2016).

Now that you know a little bit about the company lets have a look at one of their most recent advertising campaigns the somewhat loved yet overly hated “It’s a Mitsi” campaign.

Whether you love the “It’s a Mitsi” tagline used or absolutely hate it, it still happens to stick with you after you’ve watched it. This advertisement was one of the first for the “It’s a Mitsi” campaign which started in June 2015. The campaign continued to develop throughout the year.

As you can see this advertisement is quite simple, gets to the point and is informational however it continued to develop as can be seen in the next example.

Now the above example when compared to the previous two has some differences. The first two advertisements appealed to a wider target of people however this more recent advertisement appealed to males. It sent the message that a Mitsi could get you out of those boring situations with your partner, wife or girlfriend and instead have you spending time having adventures with the boys.

Finally the most recent advertisement using the “It’s a Mitsi” slogan. It takes a different approach than the three previous advertisements as we see the new owner’s excitement and how they have spread it throughout their entire reach of people around them even if they didn’t really want to know.

Mitsubishi Motors, 2015. "Yes! It's a Mitsi" TVC Featuring Riley Tobin. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdr9rkFQooU [Accessed 14 March 2016].

Mitsubishi Motors, 2015. Deals you can't keep to yourself! Outlander. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS_NkS3LrPU [Accessed 16 March 2016].

Mitsubishi Motors, 2015. It's a Mitsi - Pajero - EOFY. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFVHsrxjyBA [Accessed 15 March 2016].

Mitsubishi Motors, 2015. Mitsubishi Triton Yoga. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuRu3rMCgDY [Accessed 15 March 2016].

Mitsubishi Motors, 2016. Company Profile. [Online] Available at: http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com.au/about-us/company-profile [Accessed 17 March 2016].

#itsamitsi #mitsubishi #marketing #campaign

Did you say Media?

Now that you all know about the basics of the “It’s a Mitsi” campaign we can now take a look at the various media used, if it was relevant and most importantly was it effective.

For the “It’s a Mitsi” campaign the predominant media source used was television. The advertisements were also put on Mitsubishi’s social media pages i.e. Facebook. As television was the main source for this advertisement it is no surprise that many Australian’s have seen the ad. The advertisement was placed during peak times and combined with the tagline of “It’s a Mitsi” it made it hard to forget (Bella Katz brand & marketing , 2015).

Many car companies do use television as one of their main sources of advertising which is why it is such a competitive market and crucial that the advertisement catches people’s attention and is memorable. So the “it’s a Mitsi” campaign was a contact point for communication between the consumer and brand primarily caused by competition.

Television does present various strengths when used for advertising. It allows coverage of a wide audience, in this case nation-wide throughout Australia. It also proves highly valuable to us to captivate and capture the attention of the audience which is not an easy task however having the combination of visuals and sounds allows for easier greater impact.

There are also negatives of using television primarily for advertising. It is costly no matter the scale of advertisement being undertaken. You are unable to be selective of who you are targeting. Yes the company can still target the advertisement and message to certain people however it will still be viewed by everyone else watching television and may be misconstrued, misunderstood or even cause offense. This did occur for Mitsubishi in various occasions in regards to the “It’s a Mitsi” campaign.

The below complaint was just one of many against the advertisement however it was dismissed. It does show though that if the company is not careful with their choice of media used for a specific advertisement it can cause more trouble than positives.

“These adverts are blatantly sexist and present women as superficial. The men are overtly blokey and it also presents the idea that destruction of property is both cool and funny. I believe that it is showing that having no respect for the woman/women in your life is acceptable and normal. When both men ignore the women's instructions in order to go off with 'the boys' it presents the kind of ingrained mentality that we need to get rid of in Australia. There is no balance in their advertising as no men are ever seen fussing over anything while a lady stands idly by until her friends drop in. I personally own a 4WD and love getting out and having an adventure with friends (both male and female) and find it offensive that in this day and age women are still made out to only have interests in their appearance and tiny dogs. We are not one dimensional flouncy fools. Men cannot be shown that running away instead of communicating is an acceptable way to be in a relationship either. I am raising a boy, who I do not want exposed to this kind of archaic attitude towards women. I hope you can appreciate my point of view and ban these adverts.”

(Case Report - Discrimination or Vilification Gender, 2015)

Bella Katz brand & marketing , 2015. You bought a Jeep? But definitely not a Mitsi. [Online] Available at: http://www.bellakatz.com.au/you-bought-a-jeep-but-definitely-not-a-mitsi/ [Accessed 12 March 2016].Case Report - Discrimination or Vilification Gender (2015) Advertising Standards Board. Mitsubishi Motors, 2015. "Yes! It's a Mitsi" TVC Featuring Riley Tobin. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdr9rkFQooU [Accessed 14 March 2016].

#itsamitsi #mitsubishi #marketing #advertising #commercial

Media Fail or Not?

So now we’ve discussed what form of media Mitsubishi predominantly used and now we can look at how they really used it – was it effective? Did they use other methods? Did they make it interactive?, etc.

As we established previously the “It’s a Mitsi” campaign used television as its main source in the communication process. They then used a variety of encoding forms such as graphics and verbal which combined sent the message to the market. The message/advertisement was received by a diverse market as it was aired at popular viewing times (Bella Katz brand & marketing , 2015). The advertisement whilst yes received by a mass market seemed to be targeted towards males as they were the main people in the advertisement and appeared to be receiving benefits and enjoyment within the advertisement as well.

If we take a closer look at the campaign and target audience who really is being targeted? Many believed it was aimed at men. This was a demographic market segmentation and further it was men who were with a women e.g. married, partners, some relationship. This was the one main segment that was focused on to be targeted. Focusing on one allows the advertisements to be more directed towards that group however that is where Mitsubishi went wrong. They targeted men but used a platform (television) that targets the mass market. This is what caused many of the complaints. They could have been minimised if the medium used to show the ad was chosen to be more specific to men such as a car magazine or shows more commonly watched by men, etc.

Because of the confusion in targeting the audience the message was also lost slightly. Ideally the message was meant to be helping enhance the name and profile of Mitsubishi and that they are just as sort after as other brands. The message was one sided and some felt that the tagline of “It’s a Mitsi” may have not been such a good choice and instead damaged the brand (Bella Katz brand & marketing , 2015). Mitsubishi knew that it would be taking a risk as with any other new campaign so now it is just a matter of whether it has paid off or not.

#itsamitsi #mitsubishi #media #social media

Huge Success or Massive Failure?

The biggest question on everyone’s mind is was the “it’s a Mitsi” campaign a success or just The biggest question on everyone’s mind is was the “it’s a Mitsi” campaign a success or just another annoying ad to add to the list of companies that just couldn’t get it right.

Mitsubishi came out strong with its tagline/slogan of “It’s a Mitsi”. The campaign has continued to grow and develop over the months. It was seen nation-wide throughout Australia during peak viewing times but did it do the job?

Some of said that it is a copycat of Jeep’s ‘I bought a Jeep’ campaign. Others find it offensive due to slang meanings of the word Mitsi. Some find it sexist. Jim Ingram even went as far to say that…

“I think it might do some damage because it somewhat cheapens what I think is a very strong brand, it feels a little desperate. It feels they’re chasing a certain market,” he said in response to a question from the audience.” (Ward, 2015)

Mitsubishi were also questioned about who they were even targeting and was it unrealistic to think that any guy would call his Mitsubishi a Mitsi (Bella Katz brand & marketing, 2015). We’ll look at the target audience and methods a bit further in the next blog.

The below Facebook post was made on April the 25th 2015, when the advertisement and concept of “It’s a Mitsi” was still quite young. This is only one of many similar posts and comments.So as we can see many people found the advertisement, especially that annoying slogan however it still had everyone talking.

Even though it was discussion about the advertisement being annoying it was still a conversation that was being had around Australia about Mitsubishi. This discussion still caused many to interact with the ad and the company especially via social media platforms such as Facebook.

Ward, M., 2015. Jeep creative says Mitsubishi’s new ‘It’s a Mitsi’ campaign is ‘a little desperate’. [Online] Available at: http://mumbrella.com.au/jeep-creative-says-mitsubishis-new-its-a-mitsi-campaign-is-a-little-desperate-297960 [Accessed 17 March 2016].

#itsamitsi #mitsubishi #facebook #comments #annoying #genius

Were you listening?

Many people have seen the “It’s a Mitsi” campaign throughout Australia however one thing seems to be in common – they are not to sure who Mitsubishi is really trying to target.

Jim Ingram at a conference went as far as to say:

“Mitsi on the other hand is kind of confusing. Who are they targeting? The ads feature men escaping from boring situations, like looking after a girlfriend’s poodle or shopping with your wife and mother-in-law. When the “Mitsi” drops out the sky with some blokey mates behind the wheel, our protagonist is rescued. I get the premise, but I don’t know that any bloke is going to refer to his Mitsubishi as a Mitsi. Feels a bit naff to me.

But who knows, perhaps Mitsubishi Australia’s research team have uncovered a whole new segment that likes its grunty Japanese cars to be like that friendly mate who saves the day.

Or they’ve just lost their way. After all, I’m not sure what I’d mean if I said brand X was “just like a Mitsubishi”.”

(Bella Katz brand & marketing , 2015)

Firstly they used a broad medium i.e. television for this campaign. This started causing issues when the advertisement seemed to be aimed at men but women were seeing it also as it was being shown at peek viewing times however some women took offense. Mitsubishi clearly didn’t have a well-defined target audience and if they did they needed to develop a more specific plan for them to ensure it was effective.

#itsamitsi #mitsubishi #target market

Did it even work?

Overall how was the campaign you may ask? We’ve seen the annoyed reactions of consumers and the criticism of marketers. As someone who owns a Mitsubishi I too find the advertisements and “It’s a Mitsi” campaign totally and utterly annoying however whenever they come on I know the ad and am familiar with it. Everyone knows what a Mitsi is referring to even though no one may use it to refer to their own car.

So yes the advertisement and campaign of “It’s a Mitsi” may have been excruciatingly painful for most you can still not deny the fact that it made an impact on Australia. Everyone knows the advertisement and the car brand associated with it. This in itself is an achievement.

Some improvements such as better defining and targeting a target audience could have made the advertisement more effective and efficient but if learnt from can still be used to greater strengthen future campaigns.

#itsamitsi #mitsubishi

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