Situation

Toyota launched their first EV (electric vehicle) bZ4X in 2023 in Finland. As market leader since many years and highly regarded for its quality, durability and reliability, expectations for the launch were high. Despite entering a segment that was already saturated with competing products, the mainstream audience in Finland had been slow to adopt EVs by any manufacturer, mainly due to their premium price point. So when the most popular car brand in Finland launched their first EV, Toyota wanted everyone to feel that they had equal access to it.

Brief

Propose a post-launch brand activation that would

-support the ideology that electric mobility is for all

-introduce the first Toyota EV to a wider audience in the market

-bring the new model closer to the local audience, as well as

make the model feel locally relevant.

Objectives

-Create awareness for the bZ4X, the first Toyota EV, in Finland

As we needed to overcome the premium image of EVs and to make them feel like they were equally accessible for everyone, we explored different aspects of Finnish society that would embody accessibility, democracy, progress and equal opportunity. In the end the solution was obvious: we would become the first ever to give everyone access to an electric car through the public library system. All you would need was your personal library card (and a driver’s license of course).

With a limited campaign budget, we realised that a single local activation itself would not reach a wider national audience. However, by pulling off an extraordinarily disruptive stunt successfully - lending out a car with a library card for the first time in the world – we would gain wide interest and untap the potential for earned media.

Consequently, we defined separate coms streams:

-Ensuring the success of the pilot event locally in Turku by arranging the 3-week car lending pilot, planning the regional print, digital and DOOH campaign as well as organising a public event at the library to create local awareness, ensuring all lending slots were booked and people found the event.

-To gain wider awareness for the activation we prepared press releases, own versions to be sent out by the Turku Library and Toyota to their own channels as well as hand-picked media approached by the agency.

Implementation:

o The main library in Turku was chosen for the pilot as it had proven interest in sustainability and EVs: they had the first ever mobile library vehicle in Finland and the first electric library bus in Finland.

o Turku library set-up: idea presentation, approval by library/City of Turku, library reservation system set-up including an online slot reservation site, training staff, preparing a public event on Future mobility at the library and streaming it

o Toyota: providing car for the pilot period of 3 weeks, hiring promotion staff for car hand-overs and returns, produce signage and material for the library, produce a regional campaign for the pilot

Timeline

o Briefing July 2022

o Planning August-October 2022

o Negotiations with Turku Library Nov-Dec 2022

o Production and preparations Jan-April 2023

o Activation live May 2023

Placement: Print, digital, DOOH, event

Scale: Planning and production 33k€, Paid media 16,5k€

-All Turku Library car lending slots for 3 weeks period was booked within 30min after opening the booking site online despite crash of the site under traffic avalanche

-Over 60 earned media hits in both national and international media – an all-time record for a campaign by Toyota Auto Finland

-Reach: 72,358M (verified by Meltwater Finland)

-Advertising value equivalent (AVE) of earned media 670.000€

-Significant ROI with earned media worth 13,5 times the given 49,5k€ production and paid media investment