Even though the Prius makes up less than 5% of Toyota’s worldwide sales, it is the flagship car in their national advertising campaign, creating a halo effect for a larger brand message about technology with an eye toward the future. A cleaner, brighter future at that.
What’s more, they’ve maintained a consistent look and feel for this campaign across multiple touchpoints, from television to print to online, creating an unmistakable signature that consumers will notice.
Furthermore, it’s a “3rd generation” Prius. A car with a lineage, with heritage, with superior breeding. Like King Louis XIV. It’s not the X class or the C-Series. None of those cold, scientific-sounding names. It’s third generation. It’s like a person. It has a family tree.
It also recycles sunshine. Or at least that’s what the magazine ad tells us. In the ad on the right, it says. “An optional Solar Roof helps ventilate the Prius interior when you’re not there. The 50 mpg-rated 3rd generation Prius. Download the Prius Experience App to learn more.” Even though the solar roof doesn’t come standard, the ad talks about it, giving another nod to consumers about Toyota’s technological superiority.
Finally, the tagline speaks to the larger aspirations of their consumers. Toyota isn’t talking about making cars – unfeeling machines that are separate from nature. According to the tagline, Toyota is all about “Harmony between man, nature and machine.”
This past week, Toyota had to recall millions of cars because of an issue with their floormats getting stuck on accelerators. Here’s the story from the New York Times. Toyota Issues a Second Recall
Even so, the halo effect from this Toyota Prius campaign and the image that they’ve carefully created will probably make those “other” messages fall on deaf ears.
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