Automotive brands are typically lacking in assets specifically made for social media. This campaign breaks the mold by being rapidly produced on a limited budget and specifically designed for social media engagement. It effectively leverages Instagram Reels to stop viewers in their tracks, maximizing both the hook rate and the duration of viewership. The creative approach not only captivates but also significantly boosts the brand's purchase intent by 700%. How does this strategy compare to other industry efforts?

Nowadays, every brand is trying to sell their own SUV, creating major difficulties to stand out from the crowd. Moreover, every SUV ad uses the same mechanisms: family-oriented ads, or ads shot in nature, showing SUVs driving in the forests, and so on.

However, the Toyota C-HR is not like any SUV. It is THE iconic Toyota model and has become a standard in the C-SUV segment since its launch in 2016. The model immediately stood out for its highly original, avant-garde design. Its new over-equipped version is aimed to seduce sophisticated technovators, who use technology to simplify their lives but who are also design and fashion enthusiasts. To target this specific audience, the brand needed to stand out from its competitors, but also from the usual narratives used in the sector.

Toyota C-HR is recognized as a leader in the SUV category for their original and avant-garde design. They are launching a new model in 2024, so they need to create excitement to run out” the existing model. We need to capture the attention of an audience of “technovators” (urban, successful, fashion and design conscious, premium) in a saturated market where many SUVs put forward the same features.

We chose to present the car in radical and unorthodox environments inspired by gaming, combining agile iPhone production with post-production technologies that push the limits of the Reels language - camera moves and transitions - and reflect the spirit of the audience and the car.

SUV advertising tends to all look the same: vehicles moving through beautiful landscapes; happy families in filled-up cars; hybrid and electrical features. Toyota C-HR has an opportunity to stand out with its reputation for truly avant-garde design.

With 3 billion gamers, the universe of gaming is steadily gaining in cultural significance. The aesthetics, synonymous with creativity and innovation, have been embraced by the world of luxury, fashion and beauty.

The Toyota C-HR with its futuristic design, high quality finishes and proprietary color, is the perfect fit for this immersive world.

To optimize our budget and ensure agile production, we streamlined our approach by filming in a garage, all within a single day, and limiting our crew to just one person. Leveraging an iPhone, 360 cameras, and a drone, while creatively substituting traditional equipment with a skateboard for smooth tracking shots and another car to effectively illuminate our SUV, avoiding costly lighting setups.

The real magic happened in post-production, still managed by the same individual. We constructed a 3D model of the car and employed AI to craft diverse universes that accentuated the vehicle's main selling points—comfort, design, and technology—giving it a dynamic, gaming-inspired aesthetic. Additionally, we composed a custom soundtrack to

enhance the visual transitions, enriching the overall impact and appeal of the content. This methodical yet innovative process not only saved costs but also produced a distinctive and engaging presentation of the SUV.

The video far exceeded the brand's initial expectations and got:

+700% purchase intent lift

+59% ad recall

-47% cost per lead.

35M views on the video

3,5M engagement interactions

With a tight budget of 15k€, Toyota successfully managed to capture the attention of its audience and stand out from every other SUV ads, but also from each of its competitors.