Toyota — Why Not Innovate?
Mar 8th, 2009 | By Gene A. Wright | Category: General, Information Technology, Innovation, Marketing, Technology, Technology StrategyGreen Ideas’s are our planet’s most precious resource
Innovation
Interactive Website
Community
I read an add that directed me to www.toyota.com/whynotinnovate I started exploring and really enjoyed reading the ideas for Green Innovation as well as other ideas to make the world a better place.
What do you think of this site? Can this type of interactivity do some good?
This is a good informational website. It does have some good ideas for people and has good ideas for the future. Frasier’s evaluation of the website has him wondering if this is part of Toyota’s corporate responsibility program. He realizes that they are an automotive company and that they make products that create pollution. This could possibly be a marketing campaign to show that Toyota is trying to be environmentally responsible and that they are demonstrating their trying to be innovative. Most, if not all, oil companies have sections of their website dedicated to the environment as well.
Frasier has left the building.
I enjoyed this website because it contains alot of useful information that people around the country have contributed to. I wouldn’t expect this from a car company but I think it’s Toyota’s way of standing out and making a difference because most car companies get criticized for not being “green” enough. I also liked looking at the different areas, and the sound effects made it seem how calming and better the world would be with these new innovations. This type of interactivity could do some good, because even the smallest things matter if people actually learn to do them, and be able to save energy, water, etc. I will definitely be checking this site more ofter to learn more new ideas and even share my own.
Overall the information is very consisely presented and not too complicated but what I find more interesting is the way it is presented. This type of interactivity is extreemly effective at grabbing peoples attention and getting them to think about what you are trying to say.I think the developers of the website did a great job at presenting a clean easy to use website that is both fun and interesting to explore as well as promoting what Toyota is trying to do.
I thought the website was interesting! It was showing how Toyota wants to help promote a healthier lifestyle and what actions they are taking to make things more green. This website grabbed my attention showing me exactly what I could do personally and real facts that I didn’t know. I think the contest is a great idea that will not only help them, but will help people realize what it will take to make this country or world a whole lot greener.
I liked this website. It seems that more and more companies are going green, as well as more and more consumers. Toyota not only has hybrid cars, but are now doing other things around the community to help the environment. I like how the site is interactive and allows people to explore and learn about what they are interested in. I like how they offer a place for our opinions on how they could make the world a better place or to comment on what others have said. It’s interesting what they are doing, and people could learn from this site on how to make the world a better place to live!
I have always been interested in alternative energy, and wind power, in specific, so I loved their idea for Freeway-Divider Generators feeding energy from the passing cars into the grid – that’s original and potentially very productive. The only concern I would have is about crashes that happen along the dividers – would the cars be conveyors of the electricity as soon as they hit the divider?
The batch water heaters I think already exist in some countries – basically the water is instantaneously heated before it comes out of the shower head, thus heating only the exact amount used for the shower and now having extra hot water sitting around waiting for other uses.
Most of their ideas are very attainable, but there has to be a big change in the consumerism mentality for the general American public to “buy” into that kind of lifestyle, however “green” or just smart it is. Everything from the Recyclable car to Energy conservation by pretending there is a power outage already exists in some form (people buy old cars and fixing them up; Earth Hour, etc), it will either take some time or a drastic change in the global resource price levels for Americans to adopt such economical conservations on a national scale.
(very relaxing website – great marketing ploy for whoever cam up with the birds in the background idea)
Great idea for Toyota! Of course because it is open to submit whatever the heck anyone wants, they’ll have to sift through the crap, but they’re also getting a massive amount of minds working towards bettering the company [almost for free]. I tried submitting an idea, but then thought better of it and withdrew [which may also be a slight problem for them]. Their site seems friendly and easy to navigate to wherever one might want to go, so this also helps smooth out the transition between the ideas they want and their own decision making process. All in all, Toyota is on the right track to getting ahead of their [already failing] U.S. competition.
This website is a great resource to see where major corporations are moving towards doing in the future. Especially car companies because cars are always changing and finding ways to go green and make cars safer, more reliable and economical. Toyota does a great job at grabbing your attention in the presentation of the site. I know it caught my attention right away because I have always been really interested in cars. This shows the Toyota is trying to be more conscious about the environment and finding better ways at innovation.
I think this website is great. I found it easy to use. It was interesting to be able to click around and feel interactive with it. Toyota was innovative with this. I like the fact that they care about the environment and are really trying to make a difference. The greener the better. They’re heading in the right direction with this.
I find this article very interesting. It is a great source for those to gather information and tips to be more eco-friendly. I think it is appropriate that Toyota is doing this, due to the fact that people are harping about how automobiles are destroying the environment more than anything. I think the interactive piece is good for all, both old and young. No one wants to read a bunch of literature and content, they rather touch and see. If you visit http://www.chevy.com, they too are also showing the public that they are looking into alternative energy and that they want to be a leader in alternative energy.
This is just overall a wonderful way to get people involved. A lot of people have great ideas about how to improve the environment, but no big channel with which to communicate them. Toyota’s new site is allowing people to actually get their big ideas to a big company that can do something substantial. I think simply having a tool where people can share their ideas helps the progress of a greener earth. By feeling that something can actually be done to make a positive impact on the environment, they feel more inclined to participate. The site even creates a sense of community among users.
Besides the fact that a greener earth is something definitely worth working for, this site puts Toyota in consumers’ minds as a “good car company” as opposed to one only concerned with profit (or for that matter simply not dying out). I feel that most people who visit this site will gain the impression that Toyota is a company that cares about the environment and is really stepping up its involvement, even if that person never reads any substantial evidence that the company has done so. Besides providing a great service to consumers, the site design is great. It gives off a very clean, modern vibe. Overall the site was a great move on Toyota’s part, and the only real problem I see is increasing consumer awareness of the site. I would have never stumbled across this had it not been shown in class.
Kodos to Toyota for having such a savvy PR department. They are as skilled at shaping consumer perceptions as they are building cars people want to drive. Despite falling reliability and safety results in recent years relative to the BIG 3 (JD Power and Consumer Reports), Toyota continues to innovate their marketing message. I’m confident Toyota truly is concerned about the environment and is making progress to minimize the negative impact their operations can cause. I think it’s genious to include consumer participation. I also think its fair to say that if Toyota was truly concerned about the environment they would be more serious about producing fuel efficient cars and trucks. Even GM cars get better mileage on average….They are doing exactly what any smart car company should do: producing cars people want to drive while maximizing PR, sales, and profit.
Kudos not kodos.
This Website is excellent. It gives you information on how Toyota is turning green. Alternative energy is the next big thing. This website is a good way to get there customers involved with the company. Help the company advance in alternative technology. The customers ideas could actually play a role on how the company does things with alternative energy and get the people opinion on things. However, in my opinion, for many people living in the United States they love there big SUVs and having a lot of power under the hood of there cars. I believe that a car that could sell a lot in the US is an SUV that uses alternative energy. Toyota makes one. is that Toyota Highlander Hybrid. It is an SUV with somewhat power in it. Plus it uses alternative energy. These are the cars that I believe will succeed in the US.
I think that this site is a great way to bring awareness to going “Green.” It is a way to get local and global communities involved in help preserving and cleaning up our environment. One of the sections talks about all the ways that we reserve energy, also they emphasize a lot about water consumption and improving the air we breathe each day. This type of activity I do believe can do some good. In a way, this is helping Toyota’s image as well as providing numerous activities to communities so they can get involved and participate in being “Green”. This positive recognition about going “Green” should help to increase sales for Toyota from consumers who are very environmental conscious. If they see that Toyota cares and wants to take action on this type of topic, they will want to do business with them.
This sort of website layout encourages individuals to get involved, as well as make them think about the importance of being green and decrease their carbon footprint. Those individuals who are more involved with the website are more likely to actually go about being green throughout their everyday lives and make an impact. Also, the website puts Toyota in a great position to be viewed as a company that is aware of social conflicts and world happenings. Great job on behalf of the marketing and pr people.
That is just a fun website in general. Interesting and fun appeal the most to people and that website does exactly that. The whole team did a great job.
Seems to be a fine PR broadcast for Toyota. Their demonstration of their green initiatives coupled with a ‘grassroots’ call for innovation suggestions helps them connect with customer in an intimate, ‘we are on the same team’ manner. Development of succesful hybrid vehicles, coupled with effective PR will help Toyota build its reputation as an enviromentally concerned company.
I’m not big on the whole eco-movement, but I did want to comment on the concept of what Toyota did with this site. I think this model is a great model for getting feedback from consumers that can make their products better and more marketable. Instead of focusing on a community as a whole, use this model to solicit feedback on what innovations they would like to see in their vehicles, what features are important to them, what ideas do they have that a group of engineers may not have considered. I do believe that one trend in product design/development that does have staying power is the trend toward 2-way dialogue with your consumers.
I really liked this website. It was easy to use and navigate. I liked all the little notes that pop up when you click on a specific picture. It is very interactive. The website shares information on common ways in which we can be more green and be more eco-friendly.
Its also interesting because it shows how Toyota is making efforts to be more green and coming up with innovations that help with energy consumption.
Also, I like the “create my own innovation” links
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