The Gold Cup—the biggest soccer tournament in the US—returned with Toyota as its official automotive partner for its third consecutive year in 2021. Stadiums were open to the public for the first time since the pandemic started, and millions of loud, roaring fans were waiting to let all their passion out once again. Due to COVID-19, Latinos were forced to shut down many aspects of their lives and the people they loved to share them with. Feeling limited only intensified this desire to feel alive again and let all their emotions out at the stadium. And with tons of brands competing for attention, Toyota needed to stand out and connect with its audience to generate excitement for its truck lineup and exceed registrations, hand-raisers, and leads.

We tapped into the fans' stored passion through "Gooool to the Gold Cup," a mobile-first game where Toyota trucks are fueled by goal screams. The louder and longer you screamed, the farther your Toyota Truck would go, driving through different terrains. A leaderboard kept track of the best goal screams, and some lucky fans won big—from tickets to the final to a brand-new Toyota truck. The activation put Toyota as the most noticed brand during the tournament. After all, better than having fans talking about the brand is getting them to scream loud about it.

Hispanic soccer fans define themselves by their actions rather than words alone. “Vamos” / “Let’s go” is their motto. They are hands-on, highly physical people who prefer to experience the world with all five senses rather than seeing it from behind a phone screen. However, 2020 (and a season without soccer) left them feeling like they had no real outlet to feed their passion for the sport. In a deep social listening analysis, we saw Hispanic soccer fans posting old photos and memories of their favorite match moments during a time when soccer was at a standstill. When the 2021 Gold Cup rolled around, they were more than ready to let all their soccer-driven emotions out, so we gave them a tool already in their hands to express all their contained passion.

We created a mobile-first game that empowered fans to show their passion for their favorite Gold Cup team.

Players chose their favorite truck: Tacoma TRD Pro or Tundra TRD Pro

Players chose their favorite team participating in the Gold Cup

The countdown began: three, two, one—the louder and longer the players shouted “Goooal,” the farther their vehicle would go. All contestants who played and registered were automatically entered for a chance to win a lease on a 2021 Tacoma or a trip to the Gold Cup final in Las Vegas, Nevada

A robust linear in-game investment, on-site sponsorship, and branded content opportunities generated excitement and tremendous scale for trucks and the game. The media investment was leveraged to negotiate additional promotional placements for the mobile game—in-game lower third banners, in-show game demos, in-game banners—delivering an additional 26MM linear impressions, plus 4MM social impressions across key social platforms.

Toyota’s “Gooool to the Gold Cup” game leveraged technology to augment this meaningful cultural moment, driving undeniable results (55M total impressions) & shattering benchmarks by generating 5K leads (the most of any Toyota engagement program to date). This fun and highly engaging game had strong on-site plus virtual activation that delivered an impressive increase of 81% more registrants vs. a year prior. Paid media was instrumental in driving consumers to the game, generating 26K clicks (an impressive CTR of .56%). It leaned on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter with a pre- and in-game/tournament campaign to capitalize on increased viewership and social conversations around the games. Social efforts delivered 4MM impressions, 1MM video views, and 200K engagements—targeted to soccer and truck enthusiasts.

Linear broadcast strongly complemented the digital/social efforts with high visibility messaging and in-game and live studio demonstrations (26MM impressions).

Fans inserted the brand organically into the heart of Gold Cup conversations.