Challenge: showcase the Toyota TRD Pro Tundra’s incredible off-roading capabilities.

Research suggests that our target doesn’t respond well to traditional advertising.

So rather than create a commercial, we sought out to prove the truck’s capabilities in a very real way. We entered a mostly stock TRD Pro Tundra in one of the most dangerous off-roading races in the world; The Baja1000. This is a 35+ hour, 1200-mile trek down the treacherous Baja peninsula.

The objective was to keep the truck as close to what a consumer could buy at a Toyota dealership, and still be competitive amongst million dollar customized trucks. To pass safety inspections, we upgraded the tires, added an extra lighting rig, and installed a mandatory roll-cage. From the construction, to the driver training, to the race itself, all of this was captured in a short documentary series called “Challenge: Baja” and released piecemeal for consumers to follow along and see as we succeeded or failed. In a race where it’s unusual for even half of the hundreds of competitors to finish, the TRD Pro Tundra not only crossed the finish line, but it won the race which was reported on by the countless automotive publications our target relies on. How’s that for a product demonstration?

The campaign rollout relied on seeding video content across social and native distribution channels. This included long form videos posted to YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook that were preceded by short-form video and stills shared on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. The short form content helped create momentum for each of the featured long form videos, giving viewers a deeper look into the program. Our media targeting tactics honed in on the core enthusiast target to avoid waste and maximize investment. With the help of our drivers and team we leveraged influencers within the auto enthusiast communities. To further permeate the content throughout the enthusiast community we leveraged partnerships with Autoguide forums and enthusiast Podcasts to help distribute the content. And finally, to up the ante and risk (especially if we failed to finish the race) we shared live content during the race to keep viewers up to date on our progress.

With over 300 million total impressions, TRD Baja demonstrated the value of targeted media placement that honed in on our core audience of auto enthusiasts. Overall we were able to sustain viewership over the various story chapters which defies the convention/trend that most episodic content tends to lose viewership. but we were able to hold numbers from beginning to end. For the Toyota social footprint, our average engagement rate is 0.52% (Facebook), but TRD Pro Baja content earned 2.10% a demonstrating a lift more than 4x the average. Natively target ads, especially those within the sports and automotive categories delivered 20% more impressions than projected. Organic social posts, intended to generate momentum for the longer form pieces of content saw an exceptionally high rate of completion with viewers roughly 4-10 times more likely to finish 95% of the videos.