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Tag: safe

Toyota: Finding Its Compass

Nearly two months ago to the day (July 9), I posted about Toyota’s incredible run on “safety” as a campaign message.

That post, “Toyota: Lost in the Wilderness?,” is right here.

Its thrust: given all the recalls and problems, are they already done with this “safety” push?  It seems so, given some new social media-oriented, reliability-themed spots I’ve seen.  Just as I was noticing how blatant the safety sell was, both in print and on-air, some fun, story-based spots started showing up in the ad mix.  I found it problematic – a premature watering-down of the critical “safety” theme.

This is a company whose entire brand was built on reliability.  Since November, though, it’s recalled more than 10,000,000 cars in the United States.  The brand name repeatedly made headlines about sticky gas pedals and sudden acceleration.  They made a brief, hard run at “safety,” but seemed to be flitting off in other directions after just a couple months.

Toyota Safety Reliability Durability Message Ad Advertising Message Campaign Perception Reality

Toyota Commits to the Safety Message

This morning, I was flipping through a recent issue of Advertising Age and read this headline:  “Toyota to Push Safety in Ad Blitz.”  I thought I was reading a back issue, but no … it’s dated September 6, 2010.  The story’s a bit longer online than in print and can be read here.

Basically, Saatchi Los Angeles is building more creative elements to support the safety message – with an emphasis on the STAR Safety System.  The campaign will run “well into 2011.”  The renewed push is likely spurred by horrific August sales figures.

Sounds like they’ve found their compass.

Toyota: Lost in the Wilderness?

What a great ad. What a great message. What a great brand.

I loved where Toyota was with this:

The automotive branding textbook example is “Volvo = Safety.”

A runner up: “Toyota = Reliability.”

Once the darling of the automotive world for its efficient production, fantastic sales and extreme reliability, however, Toyota‘s taken quite a hit over the past year.

3.8 million cars. 8,000 trucks. 600,000 minivans270,000 luxury vehicles just last week.  That’s a lot of recalls (and that little recall rundown’s far from complete!).

Reliability ratings have fallen, too.

Result: a hard tack away from reliability toward

Wow!  That’s a ton of “safety.”  A quick count has them at seven mentions per :30 spot – nearly one time every four seconds!

On the upside: message is loud and clear, yet casual and clean.  Also, safety is not wholly separate from reliability; I consider the two concepts quite compatible.  It’s also timely and topical, if not a little bold given the state of all things Toyota.

On the downside: if you’re a Toyota owner (which I’ve never been), you may not buy the message – especially if the recalls have been particularly inconvenient.  This “safety” onslaught (I’ve seen several full-page print ads to match these spots) is not even fresh on the heels of the safety and reliability problems – it’s amid them.  I feel strongly, though, that something often enough repeated comes to be believed (for better and for worse).

I feel like this direction could really work … but they’re already giving up on it.

“They’re Already Giving Up” Exhibit A:

In short: “smart, young go-getter gets a helping hand from a good corporate citizen.”  Two notes: “Erica” does say the word “reliable” and it’s the same voice as the safety campaign.

The “safety” sell, though, seems to have expired.  They must have research that suggests their problems with perceived safety and reliability are over – or that those perception/imaging problems were never too deep.

If not, I’m considering Toyota lost in the wilderness.

Disclaimer: Toyota is obviously a highly sophisticated marketer.  My observations are based strictly in mainstream television and magazine messages.  I expect fully that they’ve got many targeted, niche campaigns striking exactly where needed that are beyond my view.

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