Daniel Prager » Blog Archive » Go Ahead and Judge Me, But I Love the Sienna Campaign

Go Ahead and Judge Me, But I Love the Sienna Campaign

I realize that on this blog sometimes I talk a lot about what is wrong in the communications industry, and what needs to change.

Today, I’m going to take a break from thinking about how communications professionals can do better, and instead, celebrate a campaign that I like:

I think this campaign is pretty intelligent for a few reasons.

1) It’s Effective Branded Entertainment

The commercials on TV feel more like a sitcom than an advertisement. You begin to know, feel for, and relate to the characters in the commercials. Even the Title, “Sienna Family” moves the focus of the advertisement away from the car, and instead to the characters involved.

2) Invested in a story rather than a lame attempt at “viral”

Toyota could have paid to make a 30 second video of a Sienna driving off a 30 foot parking garage, flying through flames, and saving a baby panda. 100 million people may have even watched that video. Guess what? I’d venture to guess that none of those people would have bought a Sienna because of that video.

Engaging storytelling, relatable characters, and smart direction on multiple channels where your target audience already spends their time (TV/Youtube)? That sounds like a better bet to me.

3) Integration Into Overall Digital Strategy:

It is easy to check out the car once you have watched the video with one click access to Sienna Photos, and 360 views. You can even join the Sienna page on Facebook, to read what other people have to say about the car.

This being said, I can’t help but critique one or two things.

1) Have a Better Engagement Strategy:

There are plenty of negative comments on Youtube and on the Facebook channels. While Toyota is not deleting the comments (a good first step), they should consider being more proactive in providing links and information in response to specific comments. To be fair, they are doing better on Facebook.

So how should Toyota respond to these comments? Should they at all? I’m not sure. I feel like it may be beneficial, at the very least, to show that they are listening?

2) Take This Even Farther, To More Media Entry Points

You might think this is overkill, but I would love to see these characters built out even more, across even more media entry points. Yes, I would like to follow SiennaDad on Twitter. I would love to see blog posts about their day to day life, and the antics with their kids get into. Imagine Sienna Dad starting an online feud with Phil Dunphy from Modern Family? I applaud Toyota’s foray into digital storytelling, and I hope they take it further.

3) Not Quite Enough Utility

The storytelling may be on point, but it needs a little something extra. Some kind of reward for engaging with the Sienna content, a way to incorporate your own family’s story with the Sienna family. I would love to see some kind of parenting advice stream, slightly humorous, and slightly informative from the Sienna family.

What are your favorite campaigns right now? Online, TV, Print, or otherwise?

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http://twitter.com/DerrylWC Derryl Carter

Honda underwent a snafu related to this last year, when they created a Facebook page in promotion of the (then) new Accord Crosstour. Although I think the car is pretty sexy, the images on the page weren't very flattering, and in any case, the end result was that plenty of people posted negative comments about the car.

When you're a major company, it's tough to respond to these situations. Of course you can't delete the comments, as that would engender deep distrust in your customer relationship. But it's also hard to effectively respond to them without it becoming some sort of negative argument back-and-forth (let alone the fact that the pure volume of feedback is typically beyond your scope of control).

However, even though the Crosstour page was a minor disaster, other forays into social media have worked surprisingly well. When they were pushing the Element back in 2008, a whole slew of pages (FB, Myspace, etc.) appeared for “Gil the Crab”, a character from the Element commercials. There were also scavenger-hunt-type games, etc. all related to Gil. That turned out to be quite successful, probably because of the whimsical entertainment involved – not just these lifeless product shots, or flashy “viral” videos.

I think that the main difference between successful social media advertising campaigns and the not-so-successful rests in the amount of thought given to it. Clearly, some folks jump in headfirst because they heard a Facebook page would generate lots of exposure – without really considering how it will speak to their demographic, and whether or not it will truly engage people.
http://www.theoceanagency.com Danny Prager

Could not agree more. Well said sir. Never saw those “Gil the Crab” pages, but they sound pretty cool. I will definitely check those out.

When it comes to the Crosstour “backlash”, some may have called it a disaster, but I'm not so sure.
Cars get called ugly all the time. Did a car getting called ugly significantly hurt Honda's brand or image in an impactful way? The aesthetics of a car will always be up for debate, but when core issues like safety, performance, and reliability are questioned for the world to see, that seems like a more pressing issue.

Thanks for stopping by bud. Genuinely appreciate the insight and feedback.