The 2011 Toyota campaign was more than promoting the launch of the new Yaris model: it was about anticipating an upcoming topic that was going to get everybody talking and igniting its spark.We wanted to tackle a national issue, one that we were legitimate to bring up: production relocation and employment. Why? Because as French carmakers relocate, Toyota produces the Yaris in France, calling upon thousands of French employees.As a result, the Japanese brand is at the head of the most successful car plant in France and contributes to maintaining employment.To get the topic of 'Made in France' in the media landscape, we decided to use humour and the international exposure of French brands.

An 360 campaign was created, which Jean-Michel, a foresighted Toyota dealer was enrolled and was featured preparing for the touristic rush this new French specialty would create.Teasers created intrigue, the reveal was played out on the internet, TV and radio, and a Facebook app was created to test people’s knowledge of French icons by challenging their assumptions.As predicted, the 'Made in France' label became one of the hot topics of all politicians and journalists. Thousands of articles and news channels picked up the story in the months following the campaign. Toyota dealerships received an unprecedented number of visits and average monthly sales of the Yaris doubled. Thanks to our embodiment of the concept, even the President cited Toyota as an exemplary model!

We not only wanted to promote the brand, we wanted to create a movement, which is why we chose to seed information on the web thanks to teasers that featured Jean-Michel, learning different languages day after day.

After a week, we revealed he was actually a foresighted Toyota dealer preparing to welcome tourists, who came from all over the world, to discover the 'Made in France' Toyota.

Banners would direct people to a mini site where Jean-Michel described the features of the new Yaris in a fun way.A Facebook quiz was developed to test users’ knowledge of what is made in France and what is not among a variety of commonly assumed French icons.Even Toyota dealerships were dressed up as tourist attractions.

As predicted, the 'Made in France' label became one of the hot topics of all politicians and journalists. The number of articles mentioning the 'Made in France' label soon went through the roof with over 3,400 articles, 1,200 TV shows and 1,500 radio shows taking on the subject.Thanks to our embodiment of the concept, Toyota was cited as an exemplary model by important social and political figures, the most significant being the French president.With such tremendous PR, Toyota web traffic increased by 71% and dealership visits by 121%, and average monthly sales doubled.