Toyota Takes Corolla Campaign to YouTube

Toyota Corolla and YouTube

3/25/08

Online Effort Aims to Give Small Car Personality

I’ve never given the Toyota Corolla much thought, but if forced to characterize it I would probably go with “nondescript economy car.” Well, apparently Toyota knows this is how many people think about the Corolla, because it’s out to prove us wrong.

For starters, a new and improved 2009 Corolla was unveiled last month, and it has a decidedly upscale vibe (think available touch-screen navigation, leather seats and Bluetooth, as well as estimated fuel economy of 35 mpg) for a car that starts at $15,250. Toyota is looking to get the word out about those changes to the right audience, so it just dropped $4 million on an online marketing campaign on YouTube. The Corolla has typically been a first-time car-buyer’s kind of car, which means a lot of the folks likely to be in the market for it are younger, hipper and alternative-media savvy. In other words, they dig YouTube.

According to Toyota spokeswoman Cindy Knight, the company is “trying to develop a relationship with the next generation of Corolla buyers.” She said its target customer is educated, hardworking, upwardly mobile, optimistic and rabidly uses media like YouTube.

Part of the campaign is Toyota’s sponsorship of a YouTube sketch comedy contest called “Sketchies.” You can check out the finalists (picked from more than 800 entries) at www.youtube.com/sketchies2, where you’re also sure to see some not-too-subtle promotion of the Corolla. The second aspect of the campaign is a YouTube channel called Best in Jest that was custom-designed for Toyota, a first for a YouTube commercial sponsor. It highlights the 10 funniest videos posted to YouTube each week.

If you’re a hipster who consistently searches online for the funniest stuff, this is for you. Hey, wait a minute, that sounds like just the type of person Toyota is trying to capture. Now I get it! If the campaign is successful, maybe the next generation of car-buyers won’t board that nondescript-Corolla bandwagon with me.