Toyota Motor Sales USA is reaching consumers through events and video games as part of a new marketing effort to boost its latest subcompact vehicle, the 2007 Yaris.
The automaker is launching a 12-city tour focusing on indie music, crafts, art and other activities to promote the vehicle through a series of events called YarisWorks. The roadshow includes a four-day series of how-to clinics (think silk screening, jewelry making, podcasting, bike maintenance, cooking and music lessons) and informational or action-oriented programs—from interactive film festivals and kickball games—for consumers. The how-to clinics, which will run Wednesday through Friday in each market, will end on Saturday with a daytime performance featuring local talent.
In the second week at each tour top, Toyota will put consumers behind the wheel of a 2007 Yaris Sedan or Liftback with Yaris Drive it Yourself events. In the third week, Toyota will give registered consumers YarisWorks giveaways, discounts and events. Consumers can register on-site and online at YarisWorks.com.
“The Yaris is all about celebrating innovation and making design more accessible,” said Jim Farley, Toyota VP-marketing, in a statement. “To create YarisWorks, we’ve taken that innovative spirit and given it a real, tangible means for bolstering creativity in people’s lives.”
The nine-week tour kicks off today in Seattle and Boston. Other tour stops include San Francisco and New York; Los Angeles and Philadelphia; Tucson, Atlanta, Dallas, Knoxville, Lawrence, KS, and Chicago. The tour concludes Oct. 28 in Lawrence, KS, and Chicago.
Print ads and online materials support. Lifestyle marketing firm Drillteam, New York City, manages the campaign and YarisWorks roadshow; Automotive Marketing Consultants, Inc., Marina del Rey, CA, handles Drive It Yourself events Drive It Yourself events; Drillteam and AMCI jointly handle YarisWorks Perks; U.S. Concepts, New York City, a division of CoActive, handles on ground activation.
Toyota plans to create further buzz around the Yaris via in-game advertising. The brand is the first sponsor to sign on to a new interactive in-game advertising unit by Massive, Inc., a New York City-based company that creates dynamic video game advertising.
Under the deal, Toyota will advertise its new 2007 Yaris Sedan in Anarchy Online, an online multiplayer game. The new interactive ads will let gamers interact with the advertising to give players a more engaging brand experience, Massive said.
“This new ad unit allows gamers to interact with the game environment in new ways and provides our advertisers with a powerful means of delivering a compelling brand experience to the gaming audience,” said Nicholas Longano, Massive’s president of new media, in a statement.
For the Toyota campaign, gamers will be encouraged to interact with ads that unveil an image of the new Yaris. The campaign will run in multiple games on the Massive Network.
“Leveraging this new interactive ad element from Massive allows gamers to interact with our brand in an environment they’re passionate about,” Toyota corporate marketing manager Kim McCullough said in a statement.
Toyota’s advertising agency of record, Saatchi & Saatchi, Los Angeles, CA, developed the in-video game ads.
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