'Prison Break' Helps Sell Toyota in TV Guide†

Artist That Created Show's Jailhouse Tattoos Draws a Yaris

Advertising Age, October 2, 2007 — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — When the new issue of TV Guide reaches newsstands Oct. 4, readers will find a 16-page booklet devoted to Fox's "Prison Break" series inside, including a pair of ad spreads capitalizing on a plot point to sell the Toyota Yaris.

The ads are the latest examples of advertising designed to break out by leveraging one brand to promote another — and the creative contributions from magazine publishers that once came exclusively from ad agencies.

Think Big

Prophet, September 14, 2007 — In this article that appeared originally in the Wall Street Journal, Dave Aaker argues that to win market share, don’t try to influence what brand of product people buy. Change how they use the product in the first place.

Q+A: Toyota CGM Exec Monitors The Good, The Blog, and The Ugly†

Brandweek, September 3, 2007 — When bloggers write smack about Toyota, Bruce Ertmann is there to read every word and, in some cases, respond. As corporate manager of consumer-generated media at the Torrance, Calif.-based automaker, Ertmann constantly trolls the Web to see what people are saying. This includes both the gray anonymity or the way-too-public blogger world, and not just the good and the bad, but also the ugly. Although other car companies also have people who track and write blogs, Ertmann's title is believed to be the first in the U.S. auto trade.

Toyota's Scion Brand Bests E-Tailers With Recognition Among Young Consumers

MediaPost Publications, April 24, 2007 — SCION, TOYOTA MOTOR SALES U.S.A.'S brand founded in 2003 to appeal to Generation Y consumers, has 80% name recognition among young buyers, according to Cisco's Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG)'s second annual e-commerce survey, putting it ahead of other, well-established branded online retailers Sears, Target, Macys, Best Buy and Amazon.com.

Marketers create their own shows

USA Today, April 10, 2007 — Problem: TV watchers don't want their shows interrupted by ads. Solution: Make the show the ad. That's one approach being used by marketers as they try to keep consumers' attention. Gillette is producing an ABC prime-time reality series starring the group of NASCAR drivers — dubbed the "Young Guns" — who are featured in its TV ads and online.

Why Toyota Is Afraid Of Being Number One

It's overtaking Detroit—with trepidation. Now, the carmaker is relying on ever-savvier PR to avoid the U.S. backlash it dreads

BusinessWeek, March 5, 2007 — Ask consumers why Toyota may soon be the largest automaker in the world, and they will point to the Camry. Or the Prius. Or the rav4. (It's the cars, stupid.) Ask manufacturing geeks, and they'll tell you it's about just-in-time production and a maniacal focus on constant improvement. (It's the engineering, dummy.)

Dial "M" for Marketing†

Cellphones and other mobile devices are the latest frontier for eager brand marketers. But will users really listen, or just hang up?

Brandweek, January 8, 2007 — It's a grey winter day for train commuters on the Northeast Corridor. Crammed into his seat on his way into Manhattan, a businessman uses his cell phone to log onto Weather.com just to see if there's some sunshine on the way.

Ad Age Marketer of the Year†

Marketing 50 Report

Advertising Age, November 14, 2006 — That's Toyota in Detroit's rear-view mirror, and it's closing fast with a lineup of vehicle designs, advertising campaigns and promotional strategies that have made it a hit with American consumers as well as Advertising Age's 2006 Marketer of the Year

A Way Cool Strategy: Toyota Scion Plans to Sell Fewer Cars†

Wall Street Journal, November 10, 2006 — Scion, Toyota Motor Corp.'s youth-focused small-car brand, has decided it is too hot for its own good.

Outside the box, scion scores with younger customers

USA Today, May 1, 2005 — Bell is exactly the kind of young auto buyer that has turned Scion into one of the most closely watched experiments in the auto industry