"Toyotathon" began redefining the end of the automotive sales and marketing year nearly four decades ago, when the Japanese brand, then still an upstart, tried to goose sales during a Christmas season that traditionally had been one of the sleepiest times of the year in the U.S. auto market.
This year, back for its 39th in a row, Toyotathon showcased a holiday spot, “Home for the Holidays,” that presented the heartwarming homecoming of a U.S. military-service member. It premiered during NBC’s primetime Christmas at Rockefeller Center special last month and appeared throughout December.
“The holidays are a time to reflect on the true meaning of the season and the importance of friends and family,” Ed Laukes, group vice president of Toyota marketing for the company in North America, told me.
The brand also recently announced that it will participate in Big Game advertising for Super Bowl LIII on February 3, highlighting its bread-and-butter RAV4 utility vehicle, a new version of which Toyota will launch in 2019.
"I’ve been with the company for 30 years," Laukes said. The winter holidays present "a great time to finish our sell-down and in many cases we have new models in the showrooms. And we allow consumers to spoil themselves with a fantastic deal at the end of the year."
As successful as Toyotathon was over such a long period, however, Laukes said that the brand modified its approach three years ago.
"Now we have three phases," he explained. "The first phase runs around Thanksgiving, typical of more of a month-end approach. Then we take a break between the end of November and Christmas. The [middle] campaign is our way of giving everybody a bit of a break from what you’d consider traditional end-of-the-year advertising and offers a chance to reflect on other things that are important during the holiday season.
"We’re getting better every year with the work we’re doing and reactions from dealers. We get a huge social media response from existing customers as well as people who are interested. And it has hit home: 'Thanks for giving us something important to think of during the holiday season.'"
Two years ago, Toyota debuted this approach with “Bright Lights, ” an ad that told the story of a woman in the military coming home. Her family used Toyota vehicles to make a "Welcome Home" message so she could see it on approach from the window of her airplane.
And last year, with “R&S,” Toyota "got a strong emotional bond with regard to families, about a tree that a young couple had carved their initials into," Laukes recalled. "When their kids cut the tree down they made it into a table and you could see the letters 'R&S,' they invited Mom and Dad over. It was very powerful."
Back to a military theme this year. "As a company, we provide a massive amount of support and do a lot with military members who are coming home via Hiring a Hero," Laukes said. "This is really about a dad or a mom who’s away from their child for whatever reason, and they’re coming home. This year’s spot is about the spirit of military family members coming home."
