Video: 2nd Prius Commercial "MPG" Shows Up, Still Embarrassing

I like the idea of Jack Black in the commercial, but saying the prius could compete against the civic is silly. The civic is either a econobox, or seen as a tuners dream. And tuners don't care about a prius.

 

OK, here's my opinion on this: I think the ad is a good ad, has a lot of work and countless effort from the production team and actors, and does look unique, we never saw this on TV or anywhere else for that matter.

The add also captures the "green" side of the Prius, which undoubtedly we want to preserve as ours. In that regard the ad is effective, it transmits the eco-side of the car quite well.

What I don't like that much is that this is the 2nd ad already, from a campaingn of several (I wonder how many), and the message is still the same as before.

What I mean is that I don't have anything against labeling the car as an "eco friendly solution", but surely if Toyota wants to expand its target customer universe then it has to go out of that little eco world, doesn't it?

Appeal to the eco conscious, but also appeal to the techno guy, also appeal to the good looking car guy, why not appeal to the guy that has family and needs to drive them around without having to drive inside a huge inneficient SUV, appeal to every single target you want.

Just tell me you won't spend millions of dolars in several ads which focus always on the same eco customer, please.

Just changing the voice-off text is not enough, you can't have commercials looking the same and just change the text. You have to present different commercials for different customer targets.

The ad is great, as was the 1st one, that is the problem, they seem too much alike.

Just my own and very personal opinion.

 

Some random thoughts...

-Better music in the first one. From my own brief (and statistically ridiculous) market survey, the song in "Harmony" sticks in your head. This new one is just background humming. Music sells cars (and car commercials sell music, says the guy who used to benefit from car commercials).

-While I think Danny's assessment is a bit harsh, I do think the time is coming to roll out a less crunchy phase of mainstream ads. The car needs to look cool. It needs to look big. It needs to looks like a car first, a hybrid second. I have a feeling Toyota will do that in the near future.

-I like this second commercial actually. I think for where Toyota is in the release cycle of this vehicle, you want pound home the stuff no one is arguing about. The Prius is the market leader and 50 MPG is a big stick to brandish. Especially when the press is all over the Insight being two grand cheaper. 50 MPG works. BTW, I noticed gas jumped up here about ten cents a gallon since the last time I filled up.

 

I think both ads are fine. They're both upbeat and convey a simple message a key # of marketing points.

I like the first one a little better though and FWIW, I like the music on the first one better. To each his own...

 

My 25 year old daughter loves the commercials. I think they're just a bit too "Goode Family" ish. Or Californasian....

 

The song gets stuck in your head. You hum it. You think of Prius. Smart.

 

My decision to purchase the Prius had nothing to do with the environment. I'm not exactly a card carrying member of the climate change movement. My decision was based on hard numbers. I bought my Prius for $21,000 and I get 50+ mpg. Show me a new mid-size car, with similar options and a Toyota-like reputation for quality, that has a much lower cost of ownership than that. THAT is the message that Toyota needs to get out there.

Toyota, if you are reading this, please listen to me...

This is why people choose not to buy the Prius: They believe it is an overpriced (to the tune of $7k-$10k) base-model Yaris. They believe it is extremely small, and therefore unsafe, and lacking any normal amenities. The other car companies (e.g. Ford) have done a good job ingraining this in people. The average non-Prius driver thinks that buying one is an economically poor decision - that you are paying a massive premium simply to make a social statement about being "green." The new commercial reinforces this.

This is what Toyota should highlight:

1) The Prius is a MID-SIZE car, not a sub-compact. It's bigger than a Corolla. It's bigger than a VW Jetta. It's bigger than a Ford Focus. Show how much leg-room the passengers have. Show how much it can carry with the rear seats folded down. Talk about how it is just as safe as any other mid-size car. Do a price comparison with other comparable mid-size cars.

2) Talk about the battery. For the love of God, how has Toyota not tackled the battery myths? Talk about how the battery has gone through 180,000 miles in the lab without any deterioration. Talk about how Prius batteries are lasting over 300,000 miles under real world conditions for some people. Talk about the warranty on hybrid components, including the battery.

Anyone disagree?

Tim

 

I completely agree. They should also show the gadgets this car comes with that mostly are found only on luxury cars or aftermarket toys.

 

We're listening. And we basically agree with the argument (except for perhaps the last sentence.) However, I would note that you are talking about the "average" person. Targeting the average person for a campaign is a disaster. You have to segment the population into various categories, and target the one that meets your business objectives.

I don't want to sell Prius to the "average" person, because even today, even though the "average" person is indeed becoming more concscious of environmental and energy issues, they simply are not yet willing to by a hybrid, especially a Prius.

Say the whole population is lined up on a 100-pt scale, with those rating "1" being dyed-in-the-wool Prius haters, and those rating "100" being people who have just bought their 3rd Prius. Our Gen2 target was, say, people in the 95-100 range. Our Gen3 target is people in the 90-100 range. Small difference at the macro scale, but that is twice the audience!

We are NOT going after the person who rates a 50. They're not ready to buy a hybrid now or in the near future. Maybe ten years from now.

1) We are! Spaciousness was part of the voice-over in the Harmony spot. It is in the first page of the brochure. It was repeated several times in the speech at the NY Auto Show. The problem? Few people can relate to "spaciousness" when its advertised to them. It must be learned experientially. So how do we accomplish the task of teaching people? Test Drives. That's why Prius will be a big part of our coming event marketing initiatives this year. Get people in the car and they are believers!

2) There has been so much hype and fascination with this issue that it's a hot potato. How many times have you heard a commercial and though, "Riiiiiiight. They're just saying that because everyone knows the opposite is true."? So we have to tread lightly. Also, it's very, very simple to find the correct information about the battery. Just do a search and be intelligent about it (like, duh, go to PriusChat!) Again, the 50-rated average person isn't interested enough to do the search, so they walk around with this myth in their head. Someone in the 90-100 range who may be ill-informed, however, IS motivated enough to find the truth. And voila!

Sorry that was so long. At the end of day, I'd love everyone to like our marketing, but that's impossible. I would just like everyone to know we think long and hard about these issues, and we're not just doing things on-the-fly.

Doug Coleman
Prius Product Manager
Toyot Motor Sales, USA

 

It's too bad the "average" person makes fun of the Prius, and since the advertising is not aimed at them, it leaves it up to us Prius owners to convince them (coworkers, friends) it's a real car, not any less capable than a non-hybrid. Everyone thinks the Prius is slow, but it has at least the acceleration of a typical 4-cylinder car.

It would be interesting to take the main reasons people don't want to buy a hybrid, and tackle those in the ads.

I think the new Honda Insight ads are doing a better job at showing how spacious and practical the car is. They also target a younger audience. Most of the Prius owners in my town are past retirement age. Based on TV ads alone, I would likely buy the Insight.

 

"Spaciousness" idea...

How about having the Prius drive by cardboard cutout silhouettes of other cars, and they fall down as the (noticeably larger) Prius passes them. Voice over could mention that "the Prius has more leg room than _____, more cargo room than ______, and more headroom than ______", or something like that. Even if you just said "More leg room than most luxury cars, more cargo room than most midsized hatchbacks, and more headroom than..." you get it, I'm sure

Just an idea. If you run with it, you have my address to send the royalty checks

 

Doug,

Thank you for the insightful response. You make good points. I can understand how the payoff for Toyota is greater when you target people who are already interested in the car (your 90-100 range) vs. the general population.

But I do think there is a whole other segment of the population (maybe in your 50-90 range) that just wants something that makes economic sense, and the Prius could be perfect for them. Unfortunately, the Prius myths have become such conventional wisdom by now that many probably don't even do the research. Ask around and you find that nearly everyone already has a strong opinion on the Prius (or hybrids in general) one way or the other.

I guess my real issue, like maseace talked about, is that we Prius owners have to deal with this stuff constantly. Usually after I give the whole spiel (i.e. why buying my car was a rational economic decision) people are impressed, but it gets tiring.

Tim

 

Jack Black would be appropriate. He's the brother-in-law of Petra Haden, who performed "Harmony" a capella...