One of the best things that happened to the new Toyota CH-R is that the brand the car was supposed to represent—Scion—disappeared a couple of years ago. So Toyota Motor Corp. plugged the subcompact crossover vehicle into a hole in its own vehicle lineup, taking the CH-R upscale in the process.
It’s quite a story, which inspired a story-based launch campaign to bring the C-HR (which stands for “Coupe-High Rider”) to market. The new crossover stars in an online video series that updates fairy tales — classic and traditional stories of mischief-makers — for the modern age. So, for example, Cinderella escapes from conformity in a C-HR, while the C-HR is an object of desire in a Gingerbread Man spot.
“The all-new C-HR is truly unlike any vehicle Toyota has ever launched. One of our main objectives was to spark interest and enthusiasm in a creative campaign equally as captivating as the vehicle itself,” stated Ed Laukes, group vice president of marketing for Toyota Motor Sales USA. “The fairy tales we use in the creative element are timeless classics, but we’re telling them in a fesh and mischievous way.”
Adding to the mischief, the content is remixed with the help of YouTube sensation Bad Lip Reading, whose videos highlight CH-R’s features with a humorous touch.
Beyond traditional and digital media, Toyota launched the C-HR in May at the newly reimagined MTV Movie & TV Awards after-party, “MTV + Toyota C-HR Present: One Night of Mischief.”
The “Rapunzel” spot (in Spanish) made its film debut on the red carpet of People en Español‘s 20th anniversary celebration, Los Más Bellos, held in May in New York City.
The integrated campaign also introduces the first-ever C-HR through experiential activations and a multi-platform program that includes sponsorship of music, art, design, culinary and lifestyle events. The festivals include MADE Los Angeles, ID10T Music Festival + Comic Conival, FYF Fest, Panorama, III Points Music, Art & Technology and Day for Night. Ride-and-drives will allow festival attendees to experience the performance and sleek design of the new Toyota C-HR first-hand. A a cinema buy will give movie-goers the opportunity to experience the mischievous allure of the new C-HR, too.
For print, the campaign plays with readers’ sense of perspective and orientation, and there’s also an insert in Fader Magazine that has a small illustration in the corner of each page, creating a “flip book” for readers to engage with.
We spoke with John Myers, US manager for Toyota Motor Sales, about CH-R and the campaign:
bc: Why introduce CH-R to millennial buyers with non-traditional creative (at least for Toyota) like this?
John Meyers: It is a little Un-Toyota-like, and that starts with the target we’re going after. They’re younger and not typical Toyota buyers. With the audience we’re going after, the young millennial audience, and the vehicle and product we have to offer, it really kind of drove the decision to create this unique campaign. It was after mischief-makers from fairy tales. We have Cinderella, Ginger Bread Man, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and so on.
Right now these spots are strictly for YouTube; they won’t be repurposed for TV ads. It’ll be all digital placement. We also have print ads, social and digital—it’s a fully Toyota campaign. We have activations with music and a big partnership with MTV. And a lot of experiential activations at various (music) festivals spread across the country.
bc: Do most millennials know these traditional fairy tales?
Meyers: They did resonate with those younger folks, especially as what they’re seeing in the movie theaters over the last six months have also concentrated on those types of stories, most recently Beauty and the Beast.
bc: How did the Bad Lip Reading element come about?
Meyers: They’re pretty funny. They verge on being silly, but really resonate. That’s something that we created at the last minute. We need to put those out. Just a funny take on the CH-R and a humorous touch with Bad Lip Reading. We’re not taking ourselves too seriously. We actually created 20 unique videos.
bc: What is the appeal of the subcompact crossover segment to your target market?
Meyers: Prior to 2010, the segment didn’t exist. By 2016, the number of competitors exploded and the segment itself grew more than 1,200 percent, and the expectation is for another 61 percent in the next couple of years. It’s an entry point for new buyers—with starting prices in the low $20,000s—and offers an alternative to a sedan.
For our vehicle, the three key items are styling, fun-to-drive, and it offers our full suite of safety items as standard, which no one else in the segment does, such as dynamic radar cruise control and lane departure alert with steering assist.
bc: We keep hearing that millennials don’t want to own a vehicle or even learn how to drive, and prefer Uber (and eventually self-driving cars). Is that sentiment in line with what you’re seeing?
Meyers: So far 3,477 people have purchased C-HR. They are driving and need to get from A to B, and to work, and to do what they need to do. We don’t see slack.
While millennials come in later to get their driver’s licenses and drive cars, they are purchasing vehicles. They’re doing a lot of what you traditionally do in life, just a few years later.
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