• by Karl Greenberg , April 14, 2009

Suzuki Motor launched a mid-sized pickup truck this year, Equator, based on Nissan's Frontier. In normal times, a new pickup of any size would warrant an ad campaign. Not this time. This year, Suzuki will focus on its two top sellers, SX4 and Grand Vitara, and continue a tactic of promoting the brand beyond just cars. Suzuki is, after all, better known for its motorcycles, although it has been selling cars in the U.S. since the mid-1980s.

As for the pickup, the company launched the Equator at last year's Chicago Auto Show and began selling it late last year. Gene Brown, Suzuki VP of marketing and public relations, says that while Suzuki is not going to throw big bucks behind a media campaign for the truck, it is thinking of the vehicle as a potential matchmaker between Suzuki cars and trucks and Suzuki's loyal motorcycle, ATV and marine owners.

When the company launched the truck in Chicago it did so by showing how it can be modified to carry Suzuki motorcycles and recreational vehicles. "In the last couple of months, we have had to manage budgets more tightly," says Brown. Suzuki is co-branding with surf lifestyle apparel brand Quicksilver to promote Equator, other vehicles and Suzuki recreational products.

The two companies are also behind the IMAX film project, "Ultimate Wave Tahiti," a 50-minute documentary that will start running worldwide in 3D and 2D next February. Produced by K2, the company behind the IMAX "Everest" film, the film has Suzuki branding, is presented by Suzuki, and features several Suzuki products. The film follows champion Kelly Slater to Tahiti, where he attempts to conquer the biggest waves on Earth.

Brown says the point of Suzuki's involvement in the film, and of its multi-year sponsorship of events like the Surfer Bowl, is to position Suzuki as a lifestyle brand. "It manifests itself in activities we have aligned with ... and this film gives us a chance to charge in with both feet," he says. "IMAX films are so much more than feature films; they have an educational component and entertainment -- you'll see a 60-foot-tall wall of water [on IMAX screens]. He says that in Quicksilver stores, hangtags on clothing and merchandise will have Suzuki branding; and Quicksilver surf stores will run trailers of the film.

The film will run in some 200 theatres, with DVD and wider theatrical release planned after the IMAX run. Brown says the film was in a concept state when it was brought to the automaker. "We were on the ground floor with this. The film uses 33 Suzuki vehicles, Suzuki motors, motorcycles, and they are organically placed -- if you think of the terrain and water you have to cross just to get to the waves, it's a perfect fit. The film brings Suzuki products together very naturally."

The company's mantra this year vis à vis media strategy is "flexibility." "Where in recent years the holy grail has been efficiency, given market volatility in the past year the true holy grail is flexibility, and we are viewing lot of media planning quarterly, not yearly. I expect the upfront to be soft, and other auto manufacturers are thinking in those terms."

Suzuki has developed a customer database that consolidates marine, ATV, and motorcycle owners who, per Brown, are potential Suzuki car and truck owners. "I'd like to take advantage of Suzuki's network of dealers beyond automotive, having motorcycle dealers use Equator as a service truck, putting an auto point of purchase in motorcycle dealerships. There is more of an effort to bring divisions together not just for efficiencies in marketing but toward a larger view of who Suzuki is."