The Campaign

Branded content, whether TV or online, is widely accepted among Japanese advertisers. However, that does not necessarily mean that all products become widely acknowledged to the public. What people talk about tend to be well known services or products that has been introduced countless times on TV. The biggest challenge we had this time was to make the most out of Father’s day, and to change the ways of conventional branded content which centered on TV adverts.

Results

The goal for this film was to showcase Toyota’s collision avoidance support package “Toyota Safety Sense” which helps to avoid various accidents, and using its digital channel to raise awareness and acknowledgment. It also aimed to show that Toyota Safety Sense is not only a car’s protective function but also celebrates the “Loving protectiveness of your loved ones”. the strategy The moment when your loved one is on your car, is when you think most about safety. We depicted these various moments through the life story of the father and his daughter. Making the most out of the occasion that is father’s day, we created a single branded content that changes the way Toyota Safety Sense is perceived. the execution “Love works invisible” This is the nature of Toyota Safety Sense, and a message that reflects the love between parents and their child. In order to communicate this symbolically, we made sure that the entire story is told through “perspective”. The father, who quietly showers his daughter with selfless love. The daughter, who gradually begins to take notice. The father’s perspective. The daughter’s perspective. In showing the two perspectives in two different structures within a given time frame, we were able to highlight the single emotion that is shared among the two individuals.

We deployed a strategic PR plan that targeted fathers prior to father’s day. This created buzz mainly on digital media, and on the actual father’s day we launched a TVC. This enabled us to maximize the amount of viewers being led to view the web film online.

“This made me cry as the story overlapped with mine, as a 33 year old father with a 7th grade daughter.” “As a parent, it made me think deeply about safety.” “It made me want to meet my father. Thank you Dad.” This story of a father and daughter struck chords with parents and children not only in Japan but all over the world, and contributed to a rise in recognition of Toyota Safety Sense which is deployed globally. The total number of plays on YouTube topped 5 million, with more than 15,000 likes.

The reason why we see fit to submit in this category is below. This is not only a short film, but a content born from the relationship between the brand and its users, based on the life story of a Toyota user and his child. The film also led to making father’s day an occasion to be thankful of a father’s daily driving. The double sided story from the perspective of a father and daughter gave parents and children something to talk about on father’s day throughout Japan.