Draftfcb Johannesburg takes Auris X online

Supporting a television commercial, radio and print executions that broke April 23, the online campaign is intended to create awareness for the marque, as well as encourage test drives. The task was briefed in by Toyota South Africa's manager for web communications systems, James Smith.

“Given the hatchback's key target market, Toyota felt it was important the Auris communicated with them in a space they enjoy, visit often, and respect - the digital world,” he said.

“The agency responded on several levels, which is vital, I think, to coax the target market to engage with the brand. Not only does their campaign build awareness and drive acquisition through the relevant digital channels, online advertising and e-marketing, it facilitates information gathering for use in future campaigns and marketing initiatives.

“The keystone around which the campaign is built is a microsite which gives visitors access to a game, similar to Turf Wars. The objective is twofold - claim your turf and find a virtual Auris X showroom hidden on the site. The game prompts visitors to gather hidden Xs from various locations online, and then use these to ‘make their mark'. The more Xs the visitor uses to mark his or her turf, the better the chance at winning a prize and staying in the running for the grand prize of R15 000.

“I believe the mechanics of the game have added tremendous value to the online campaign. Firstly, the game spans all Toyota's online properties from the corporate site to the motorsport site to news articles to the social media properties such as Facebook and the Toyota blog. Secondly, it cleverly uses social media sites to engage with the visitor by rewarding him or her with Xs. Thirdly, taking the visitor through the Auris journey and heritage adds great depth and richness.

“The team at Draftfcb Johannesburg has built us a handful of very successful sites and games in the past, Hilux Country among them. I am certain this will not disappoint in terms of engagement and results,” said Smith.

The game features Toyota SA's spokesdog, Buddy, and his new cohort, ChiChi the Chihauhau, who made his first television appearance in the TV ad for the Auris X range. Their role is to give out trivia questions and answers each week that assist the users in hunting down more Xs. Traffic is driven using email marketing and online advertising.

“Our online tasks for the Auris X range included building awareness and encouraging test drives through relevant digital channels, by making relevant product and brand content available, and by providing the appropriate tools and functionalities,” said group business director on the account, Romaine Mackenzie.

“To build awareness we used the Toyota website, the tactical microsite and game, online advertising, e-marketing and social media. To aid conversion and maximise sales opportunities we proved relevant product and brand content. To facilitate information gathering for future campaigns, we captured registration details. And finally, to drive purchase advancement we provided the appropriate tools and functionalities, such as a test drive booking function.

“It's a very complex but stunningly simple campaign and I can only applaud our partner on this job, social and mobile media company Cerebra, for their professionalism and input, as well as the Draftfcb Johannesburg team that executed it: creative director, Kabelo Moshapalo; Flash programmer, Stefan Kiener; designers Hosana Mthembi, Adriaan Van Vuuren, Sibusiso Mbatha, Sibusiso Mkwhanazi, Nkosana Dube and Lerole Phakoa; copywriter Adi Jude; developers Johan Pieterse and Jason Moholo; and project manager Julia Bassett-Powell,” she said.