Primary Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 300–500 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

For this Discussion Board, please complete the following:

Today’s competitive world is about understanding how a company fits into the bigger picture of environmental issues and the concerns of the public. Societal marketing is sometimes referred to as corporate social responsibility (CSR) or social marketing. It is a huge part of today’s organizational responsibilities.

Pick any major automotive brand, and look at the company’s Web site to determine whether it participates in any societal marketing activities.

Respond to the following questions:

• How does the company participate in societal marketing? What type of activities does it use?
• How do you think the social marketing platform supports the company’s overall brand image?

Responses to Other Students: Respond to at least 2 of your fellow classmates with at least a 100-200 word reply about his or her Primary Task Response regarding items you found to be compelling and enlightening. To help you with your discussion, please consider the following questions:

• What did you learn from your classmate’s posting? What additional questions do you have after reading the posting?
• What clarification do you need regarding the posting?
• What differences or similarities do you see between your posting and other classmates’ postings?

First student: Clark

Corporate Social Responsibility

Social environmental concerns play a vital role in how major corporations do business around the world. One industry that has made leaps in this regard has been the automotive industry. One of the automotive industry’s biggest brands is Toyota so I found it only fitting to use them for this week’s discussion board.

Toyota’s corporate social responsibility policy is the goal of contributing to society by manufacturing vehicles that help push society forward. That being said, Toyota’s environmental philosophy strives to preserve the environment across all of its business activities. Toyota works to develop and promote technologies that are environmentally friendly and economically active, (Corporation, 2022). Toyota’s aim is to create a rich natural environment for future generations to enjoy. Toyota continues to set challenging goals for itself to reduce the environmental impact of its business operations, (Corporation, 2022). There are four items that Toyota is has seen as points of concern:

• Establishing a carbon-neutral society- The prevention of global warming is the highest priority for Toyota, (Corporation, 2022).
• Establishing a recycling-based society- The aim is to promote the effective usage of resources at the developing stage of production, (Corporation, 2022).
• Reducing environmental risk and establishing a society in harmony with nature, (Corporation, 2022).
• Promoting environmental management, (Corporation, 2022).

How has social marketing supported Toyota’s overall brand image? Toyota has become one of the most well-known image brands in the world. It offers many different product lines that keep its portfolio diversified. This strategy gives Toyota a broad consumer base and allows for a greater brand image. One of the best things that Toyota has done throughout the years is that it listens to its customers and is proactive to follow what is needed.

Moving forward I think that Toyota has the right mindset with regard to how it has branded itself. I also liked learning about its social responsibilities to the environment as well as society.

References: Corporation, T. (2022). Basic Stance | Toyota Industries Corporation. Retrieved 19 April 2022, from https://www.toyota-industries.com/csr/environment/policy/index.html

Second student : James

How does the company participate in societal marketing? What type of activities does it use?

The last campaign was kicked off in 2019 when Ram was on a tear of the first quarter sales taking over the second-place spot from Chevrolet. Ram later took over the ratings by an increase of 28% from previous year sales. They used commercials as their main marketing scheme to advertise the latest Ram trucks. They did this with a unique way of poking fun at their rival Ford F-150s and Chevrolet. These commercials poked fun at the two other company’s and provided a plat form for people to share these funny commercials through social media. These became a trending and the consumers started sharing these videos on social media platforms which proved a genius marketing plan for the free shares and advertisements.

How do you think the social marketing platform supports the company’s overall brand image?

The overall brand of Ram is very much supported by social media. The Ram truck is very popular with the new technology it has to offer. Being that most of the consumers have grown up with the vast improvements of technology are more interested in the features and the look of having an offroad truck right off the lot. The image of Ram is that the truck can pull or haul any job or complete any task and is a working man truck. The traveling man or outdoor enthusiast. I personally shopped for this truck for roughly four months prior to my purchase. I utilized Instagram and Facebook to see what they had to offer. I used social media to find exactly what I wanted in my truck. I reached out to other ram owners through these tools and was not disappointed in the responses. I basically shopped for their product using real customers and social media groups like 5^th gen Instagram.

Reference: Ram Truck Launches Aggressive New Marketing Campaign: (moparinsiders.com)