As part of its 70th anniversary commemorations, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. hosted a special international media tour, welcoming 15 journalists from eight countries to Japan to experience the theme “Yamaha Motor’s History and Future.”
Starting from the company’s headquarters in Iwata, the five-day program was jointly organised by the Corporate Communication Division in collaboration with PR representatives from overseas subsidiaries, reflecting a global communications approach aligned with Yamaha Motor’s international footprint and 90%+ overseas sales.
The agenda gave visiting media opportunities to see and report on a range of Yamaha Motor initiatives, spanning cutting-edge concept development, manufacturing, and motorsports heritage.
Highlights included:
- Developer-led presentations on several concept models, including the ELOVE self-balancing electric scooter concept, which drew strong interest from digital-first media, particularly in Asia.
- A tour of Yamaha Motor’s new carbon-neutral paint line, which began operations in February.
- The Historic Vehicle Demonstration Run, held for the first time at Sportsland SUGO in Sendai, allowing journalists to experience Yamaha Motor’s product heritage in action.
- A PR strategy built with local market insight
The tour was planned to emphasise the importance of building strong relationships with global media to support Yamaha Motor’s presence across 180+ countries and territories, and noted the value of collaborating closely with subsidiary PR teams when selecting high-influence outlets.
Trevor Hedge from MCNews.com.au was one of the journalists representing the Australian and New Zealand region, and generated the following content
Three days in Japan that bridged Yamaha’s past and future
Eddie Lawson’s Daytona 200 Winning Yamaha FZ750
70 Years of Yamaha design – The art behind the machines
Yamaha MOTOROiD:Λ. Breaks cover
Message from the Editor
The media tour gave journalists opportunities to shoot our concept models in actual operation and directly ask questions of the employees pouring their passion into their development. I also assisted with putting on the tour and felt that doing this allowed them to gain a deeper understanding of our Monozukuri and other less visible aspects of our company.
Today, information can be easily broadcast worldwide via the internet, so allowing people to actually see things in person goes beyond simply “sharing knowledge.” Doing this provides additional sensory and emotional stimulation that makes it an experience that stays with you, and I believe that is an important part of an effective public relations strategy.
MATSUO, Kaoru