Internet Communication of Automobile Brands in the Czech Republic

The automobile market is characterised by an escalating competitive struggle. To be successful in this sphere of business means knowing how to carefully evaluate and resolve the risks and changes which are involved in the modern marketing of the car industry. Also the communication of car brands has to reflect the range of changing facts. The Impact of changed competitive conditions and the appearance of new customer segments is at present bringing to the foreground the necessity of conceiving of the positioning of car brands by a new method, and focussing more intensely on customer perception and the satisfaction of their needs and ideas. A basic criterion of the success of a car brand is the high level of awareness of it, a positive image, a long history, a level of trust in the brand on the part of consumers, and effective communication. One of the communication channels used by all automotive manufacturers and dealers is the Internet. This article presents the results from content analysis of web sites of 10 of the most significant car brands in the Czech Republic. It also refers to the fact that the technique of desk research allows us to get a sufficient amount of valid information, with a low expenditure for the objective examination of the presentation of brands in a competitive field of the other best selling car brands in the Czech market. The research showed that websites of car brands are characterised by a high level of professionalism and unambiguously comprise one of the basic sources of information on the companies and their products. In this respect the initial hypothesis of the contents analysis was confirmed, i.e. that brand-based internet presentations are in accordance with the perceived high quality of their products. However, the research also showed how little the internet is understood on the part of auto manufacturers as regards its multi-layeredness and multi-functionality. With the odd exception it was shown that the perceived potential of the internet on the part of car brands corresponds rather to an idea of a static advertising medium.