Masali for Mazda

Automotive & Design

The Brand

Everything starts with an idea. At Mazda, this idea was very far removed from what the brand is today. On 30 January 1920, in the middle of Hiroshima, where the company is still headquartered, everything started with a cork substitute business. There Jujiro Matsuda, a Japanese businessman, founded the Tōkō Cork Kōgyō K.K. and refined native plants into the cork as a sealing material. Soon, however, demand failed to materialize, and the company switched to building machinery. From 1930, motorbikes were produced. In 1931 the company called itself Mazda-Go, and in 1936, with the first passenger car prototype, it became an integral part of the automobile industry. Today, Mazda stands for reduced Japanese aesthetics, award-winning design, traditional craftsmanship and innovative electric mobility.

The Task

The brand draws heavily on its Japanese heritage and associated craftsmanship while integrating innovative technologies to support its Human-Centric Design ap-proach. Our brief: (1) To provide lifestyle PR consultancy and media relations support for the European markets, establish a brand image based on design and craftsmanship, and generate greater awareness through storytelling. (2) The implementation of Lifestyle PR in the German market.

The Approach

Masali works as a consulting partner for Mazda Europe, bringing the storytelling aspect to events, collaborations, and content for EU-wide public relations. We create concepts focusing on consumer needs and trends that serve as a compass for journalistically relevant storytelling.
We create content: We conduct interviews, look for opportunities for people & atelier & home stories, research quotes and work on lifestyle stories, e.g. colour and material trends, which can be used for interior and design media and support product PR.
For Mazda Germany, we turn our ideas into successful public & media relations, working on offline and online publications. More than 90% of our work is “earned”: