| The growth of automotive industry in Indonesia triggered the car maker to compete. A huge number of new car products were launched in 2013 to prove the strong existence of their brands. This thesis was made with the purpose of knowing how marketing public relations strategy (as a part of integrated marketing communications / IMC) and implementation played a significant role in the cognitive decision-making process. This thesis used qualitative and case study method to find the answers of the research problem. The primary theory used in this thesis was marketing public relations. The data was collected through interview, documents (news), and participatory observation. The findings of this thesis revealed that marketing public relations played a significant role in the cognitive decision-making process through the enhancement of brand awareness. The brand awareness that produced by marketing public relations was highly related with credibility which was able to stimulate the process of buying decision. Customers nowadays put their trust significantly in the information that was published by the media, that we called as ‘the third party’ – the most important part of the marketing public relations. The conclusion was that marketing public relations indeed played a significant role in the cognitive decision-making process, but ‘plays a role’ means that it still needs another strategy and tactic in order to make a holistic, effective, and efficient communications strategy. |