The Ontario Toyota Dealers Association (OTDA) has launched its first TV ad in three years with a new campaign created by Rain43, which won the account in October 2012.
The idea behind the campaign is to show how Ontario Toyota dealers engage with customers to build trust and encourage open dialogue.
“People are really excited going into car dealerships, but they’re a little intimidated by it as well… so there’s a bit of apprehension attached to the excitement,” said John Farquhar, chief creative officer at the Toronto agency. “Toyota dealers aren’t aggressive or over-bearing. They really are people just trying to facilitate what you need in a car.”
“Puffer Fish,” the first of three spots in the campaign, shows a friendly salesman chatting with an apprehensive customer at a Toyota dealership. As the salesman explains the features of the new Venza, the customer’s head suddenly turns into a giant puffer fish.
“There’s an expectation in terms of coming into any car dealership that it’s going to be high-pressured, so people tend to put up a defense mechanism,” said Farquhar. “So we went to the animal kingdom to find something that was going [demonstrate] that sense of hyperbole.”
Another insight was that the way people buy cars has profoundly changed, as many customers do extensive research online before walking into a dealership. “What hasn’t changed is the importance of relationships,” said Tim Pearson, general manager of OTDA. “We like to buy from people we like and who treat us with respect.”
Farquhar said the OTDA returned to television after a number of years based on the agency’s recommendation. “We felt that it was the right time for them to be back on television,” said Farquhar. “They’ve done a good job over the years creating a strong sense of the deals that are available from Toyota, but we wanted to create an emotional connection again between the dealers and the customers.”
The campaign also includes print and online advertising that will run throughout the summer. Wills & Co. Media Strategies handled the media buy.
