Mazda is a company that’s very keen on the phrase “first ever”.
As it has launched a whole new range of models over the past few years, we’ve had the “first ever CX-5”, the “first ever CX-3” and its latest compact SUV, the “first ever CX-30”.
But the timing for the launch of CX-30 for Mazda New Zealand has been particularly troublesome in the Covid-19 climate.
The company originally had a Kiwi press launch scheduled for April 2; it had just started the delivery process for cars into dealerships when Level 4 lockdown came into effect on March 25.
The situation has promoted Mazda NZ to create a first of another kind: its first-ever virtual press conference.
Like most product launches for specialist media, automotive events like this typically bring journalists together at a single location for company presentations and question/answer sessions, usually (but not always) followed by a chance to briefly try the product in question to get some initial impressions.
But on Wednesday April 22, Mazda NZ will hold a virtual press conference for up to 35 media via conferencing platform Zoom. That’s a first for Mazda NZ and arguably a first for any car brand in this country.
No driving of course. That will come later. And you don’t always get to drive at these things, so in many respects this is business as usual.
You might think a car brand that communicates internationally with head office (in Japan) and other distributorships would be all over this video-conferencing thing. But no. Like many Kiwi businesses, Covid-19 has forced Mazda to embrace a more virtual world.
“We have looked into it before, but we didn’t have technology compatible with our parent company,” says Mazda NZ managing director David Hodge.
“But now we have Zoom, a lot of our dealers and Mazda Corporation in Japan have had exposure to it, and it’s going to be a really useful tool in the future.”
Starting with Wednesday’s CX-30 event. Planning for the original CX-30 launch in Auckland started about six months ago: venue bookd, cars allocated, lunch (there’s always lunch).
But by January, when the finer details were being nailed down, it was obvious Covid-19 was going to be a big issue.
“We had already factored in that we were going to have one person per car,” says Mazda NZ marketing services manager Maria Tsao. “So we were already practising social distancing; but then it came through that it was a requirement.
“And actually that sounded quite good for the conference, because we had fewer than 100 people and on the test drive everybody was going to be in their own [CX-30-shaped] bubble.
“But then lockdown happened. We thought we would still like to launch the CX-30 to media; it had to be a virtual launch, we just didn’t want to have it too far in advance of NZ coming out of lockdown.”
What’s being presented on screen this week isn’t too different from what was prepared for the original programme.
“It’s just a different delivery method,” says Mazda NZ product planning manager Tim Nalden.
“It does pose some challenges with so many people [online] and letting people be heard.
“For example: generally in a conference we’re pretty relaxed about people asking questions as we go. But with 35 people in a video conference, it makes sense to have everybody except the presenter on mute.”
Mazda dealers have already had their own digital presentation – albeit in a different format again. The Mazda NZ team shot a video at a studio in Auckland, so that the training assets can be used alongside the cars by dealers at a later date.
Even once we’re past Covid-19 Alert Levels, the business world will be a very different place for 12-18 months. Perhaps for good.
Whether this kind of virtual interaction with dealers and media will become a permanent part of Mazda NZ remains to be seen.
“It does open up other opportunities,” says Nalden.
“We have to consider everything. Our dealers have given us some clues: the sales process now includes a lot of content walkaround or questions and answers via the web. They’ve been doing this for a long time.”
But Nalden says the ultimate goal is still to get back to face-to-face – when appropriate.
“Our company ethos is built on people and I’m sure our parent company is keen to have that association with its distributors at a face-to-face level. It’s also keen for distributors [like Mazda NZ] to have a face-to-face relationship with dealers. But only when it’s 100 per cent safe.”