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THIS is how you advertise the Prius

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by Danny, Jun 1, 2012.

  1. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    A final thought for the week as I go pass out in a corner somewhere after somehow making it through migration hell...

    For years Toyota hasn't figured out how to advertise the Prius. They tried to appeal to the mainstream buyer with the horrible Harmony campaign when the 2010 Prius came out, and while it received accolades from weird advertising publications that like weird ad campaigns, it didn't do anything to further the Prius as an "everyman's car". In fact, in my opinion it further alienated the mainstream consumer. Thank God the 3rd Gen Prius is a good enough car to overcome Toyota's advertising.



    Then Toyota celebrated the start of the Prius Family with the extremely creepy "nice person Face" commercial. We get it, Toyota, you love making things out of blobs of acrobats. This ad still creeps me out.



    And don't get me started on the atrocious Prius c commercials. I refuse to even embed the video and will simply give you an image of this guy and his giant sushi. Cause that makes you want to buy a Prius c. Get it? No? Me neither.

    Prius c Sushi guy.jpg

    You know where these ads play really poorly? In the Southeast, where people don't want to be associated with fairies, butts that make-up other people's noses, or other fantasy lands that Toyota's ad agency comes up with. So the independent distributorship that makes up the 5 Southern states decided to do something about the Prius' image.

    Southeast Toyota made their own ad campaign. And it's brilliant.

    Screen shot 2012-06-01 at 9.16.23 PM.png
    The tag line is "It doesn't just make a statement. It makes sense." Ecological sense, financial sense, fashion sense... whatever, it doesn't matter. Just buy the damn car because it makes sense on so many different levels.



    Bravo to SET for a great ad campaign. Toyota's campaigns have hurt Prius sales in the South for far too long.

    Have a great weekend, everyone.
     

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  2. ahmeow

    ahmeow Prius Lover

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    I always said,Toyota tried to save money by doing their ad. by 'not first class' advertiser. Their ads. were always bad. Lucky that people who bought Toyota were not due to the ad. People know Toyota made good cars, long lasting good cars.
     
  3. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    At least you found another copy of the "people person" ad. Toyota (for some reason) made their own copy "private" so anything that pointed to it before doesn't work now.
     
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  4. ProximalSuns

    ProximalSuns Senior Member

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    The people thing creeps me out.
     
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  5. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    I strongly agree that recently, Toyota's advertising not only of The Prius, but as a whole has fallen off....With the Prius c commercials, fallen off the edge. It truly is a case where the quality and reputation of Toyota's products are keeping them ahead.

    Not every commercial can be a homerun. And I believe every automaker goes through cycles with their advertising. Right now it's my opinion Toyota is in a down cycle.

    When I watched the "nice person Face" commercial, and the amazingly annoying "Game of Life" Prius c commercials my initial reaction was a gut wrenching Why? I let time pass and watched them again....once again my reaction was Why?

    When regional distributorships are finding your advertising so far off the mark as to be potentially damaging to sales? To the extent they are creating and funding their own independent campaigns? Then I think that is fair warning that your next campaign better not have athletic physical performers disguised as either flower, fauna, wildlife or a part of a larger human being. And abandon all hope if you continue with the mind bleeding annoyance that was the initial Prius c campaign.

    On one level I suppose it doesn't matter much. Most automotive advertising is boring and cliche. But for Toyota recently? Boringly Cliche would be a step up. I suppose I only care, because I once admired Toyota's advertising. It was consistently ahead of the curve....I can't say that now.
     
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  6. SlowTurd

    SlowTurd I LIKE PRIUS'S

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    i was hoping she would pull off all her clothes
     
  7. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    That message certainly appeals to me.

    Actually, I bought my first Prius in '04 when mainstream advertising was about nil. Early adopters loved the car, hacked it, and supported each other on sites like this. The migration to owners mostly interested in pimping the ride is pretty recent. 'Tis the flip side of mainstream acceptance.
     
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  8. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Very nice except I was expecting something more provocative but judging by the car seat and toys someone got to her before me. :(

    Seriously though, it is a huge improvement over ALL of the other Prius commercials.

    Danny, you should remove the Prius c image. The middle of the sushi looks like a giant pink sex toy! LOL
     
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  9. WE0H

    WE0H Senior Member

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    It didn't matter to me what so ever what advertising was done on the Prius. I did my research, asked questions here and on other forums, and then bought what is pictured on the left. Goofy advertising or not, it's the car that matters to me, not that silly stuff :)

    Mike [​IMG]
     
  10. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Justin, only you would see it that way (and perhaps me).

    The Hollywood video is effective and to the point. Bravo!
     
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  11. WE0H

    WE0H Senior Member

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    Video's won't show in Chrome :( All I see is a black rectangle where the video should be.

    Mike
     
  12. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Must be your Chrome - mine's fine. They do require Flash.
     
  13. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Work for me in Chrome. Flash is built into Chrome anyway.
     
  14. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    i like the adds
    well. its 1 1 2 3 placing
    the first one is the best and the last is not so good


    uhh prius family? i am missing the concept c.. get it on the market in a plugin version
    will be a HIT!!
    affordable plugin from toyota .. and with the todays pricing of plugins affordable is a great thing to say ;-)
     
  15. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    The "people person" ad that mentions the Prius c concept was before the Prius c was formally announced in its current form. At the time of the ad, all Toyota had shown was the concept.

    was the making of that ad.

    Since Danny refuses to embed the goofy Prius c ad, you can see it at Disappointing Prius c commercial | PriusChat. :)

    I posted a whole bunch of car ads that I liked at good car commercials thread | PriusChat. They weren't necessarily effective for selling the car in question, but I liked them. Some other folks added some good/funny ones. funny ad: Kia Soul hamsters return to kick it old school | PriusChat is hilarious too, but I'm not sure people outside North America would get it...
     
  16. FrankD

    FrankD Member

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    Danny, I totally agree! And I thought I was the only one who hated all of the Prius commercials! If I had a dime for every time I had to defend my Prius ownership we could all go out for dinner. I now live in the Southeast, and see more Prius cars down here then when I lived outside of Buffalo NY.
    I'd tell folks, "Hey, it is an awesome car! Very techy, great gas mileage, TONS of room, looks good, etc, etc. I'm not a tree hugger, not a "Green-freak", not a left wing liberal, not gay, etc....but I love my Prius.....and I'm now getting between 50-52 mpg, eat your heart out." (Disclaimer- nothing against anyone who is any of the above.....;-x )
     
  17. ProximalSuns

    ProximalSuns Senior Member

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    C is aimed at low cost entry level. A plug in C would not have a market. Garaged with a $3K charger and $30K car with mileage about the same as much nicer Prius III, people would get a III
     
  18. WE0H

    WE0H Senior Member

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    The videos magically appeared today. Me thinks site improvements have been made :)

    Mike [​IMG]
     
  19. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i kike the droid ads, why not use them here?
     
  20. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    For the past 10 years the core market of Prius has been
    • Environmentalists
    • Pseudo Environmentalists
    • Yuppies
    • Engineers
    • Progressive Political types, Intellectuals, Academics
    Who is surprised that Toyota has ignored the SE US ? High fuel prices and a demonstrated amazing reliability record are now drawing in other buyers, including some that live in the SE. The messaging appropriately is changing. When fuel prices fall, the marketing will once again target the core markets.
    In any case, if 'you' are not one of the core markets, the older advertising was not meant for you, and it is hardly surprising that it does not resonate. More interesting would be if the core markets disliked it too.
    I match the core consumer on multiple levels, so I'll add my opinion: The 'harmony' adds struck me as something Barney the pink dinosaur might like (I did not,) while I thought the 'face' was creative.

    The only advert I completely embraced was a ribbing of the Prius fanatic: A new Prius owner proudly took his wife for a demo drive, and slammed on his brakes every 30 feet to look at his poor wife and proudly say 'regen' with a look of bliss on his face. Holy shit, that was funny. I wish I could find it again. The ad was directed as people who already owned the car, so it was actually a thank you from Toyota to its very loyal following.
     
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