| Title | BIOLOGY OF FJ |
| Brand | TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION |
| Product / Service | FJ CRUSER |
| Category | C01. Best Integrated Campaign Led by PR |
| Entrant | TOYOTA MARKETING JAPAN Nagoya, JAPAN |
| Entrant Company: | TOYOTA MARKETING JAPAN Nagoya, JAPAN |
| PR/Advertising Agency: | TOYOTA MARKETING JAPAN Nagoya, JAPAN |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| fuminori_kataoka | Japan | Marketing Directer |
| shintaro_kawasaki | Japan | creative diredter |
| noriko_tsunoda | Japan | art director |
| hisako_nagashima | Japan | media planner |
| iwao_yokojima | Japan | promortion planner |
| kyouichi_ookawa | Japan | Researcher |
| sae_yarimizu | Japan | art director |
| kiwamu_matsubara | Japan | marketing planner |
| yoshimitsu_miyanaga | Japan | promortion planner |
| masahiro_ishizuka | Japan | promortion planner |
| manabu_ito | Japan | marketing planner |
The automobile company, decided to stop appealing as a "car," therefore we constructed a campaign by making FJ Cruiser a pet, which has a unique character, with a pretty front mask, and pop, colourful variations. We created the "Biology of FJ" film, which turned FJ into an animal, then diffused the topic among young people by using bookstores, cafes, and mobile applications.
In recent years, young people in Japan are separating themselves more and more from cars, which is furthermore driven by the fact of increasing herbivore men. Especially in those difficult circumstances Toyota decided to release a real man’s SUV named “FJ Cruiser”.
As a result, FJ Cruiser has acquired "Unique" and "Fashionable" images as a result of the campaign. Succeeded in bringing young people in at 20～30s, who haven’t turned to Toyota. Moreover, we were able to net free publicity worth more than 100 million yen (= 1 mil. Dollars). The sales were 5 times higher then our expected figure.
We made an original movie called "Biology of FJ", which simulated the FJ Cruiser as an animal. Performance and function were explained in a biological way. And derivations of the FJ Cruiser were presented as different breeds. We handed out press-kits as part of PR, including a teaser DVD of the movie at the new-car-release exhibition.We added AR marks onto print advertisement redirecting to smart phone applications, with the function of streaming the movie.We followed it up and produced visual dictionaries and actually sold them in bookstores with additional in store promotions.We also changed a famous café in the middle of the fashion district into "FJ café." We gave out limited FJ Cruiser samples made out of bricks. We even went a step further and let auto dealers nation wide make their own breed, and organised a popularity contest on the internet and even held a festival for the finals.
In recent years, young people in Japan are separating themselves more and more from cars, which is furthermore driven by the fact of increasing herbivore men. Especially in those difficult circumstances Toyota decided to release a real man’s SUV named “FJ Cruiser”.
To accomplish that mission, we totally stopped referring to the product as a car, because of his adorable front grid, poppy color and unique style. We structured the campaign as "FJ Cruiser=A small animal (like a pet)", to make our main target feel more accessible to it. This is very unlikely for a car manufacturer.