Mazda needed a change and Doner was hired. A slogan for “Get In. Be Moved.” was soon developed.
Simple but Powerful. Protegé, Their first challenge was to reposition the Protegé, Mazda’s subcompact model for the 1999 model year.
Besides the commercials, a major push on the Internet where ads led visitors to the Protegé section of Mazda’s web site, which was created by CKS Group, Mazda’s interactive agency. This IMC program developed by Doner was highly successful in repositioning the Protegé and attracting younger buyers.
Protegé sales increased 33 percent in the fourth quarter of 1998 and nearly 12 percent in 1999.
The Protegé campaign prompted Mazda to use the “Get In. Be Moved” as it overall branding theme and tagline for various other models’ In 1999 when a new group manager for brand strategy and communications was hired she felt that Mazda’s “Get In. Be Moved” tagline was still a weak in brand position.
With the introduction of “Zoom-Zoom” as a new direction for marketing, Mazda was on a new track.