Kicking off during the Detroit Auto Show where Toyota will hand out T-shirts featuring the five Prius “plural” options with prizes attached and a Facebook component, the campaign also includes a range of integrated programs and creative elements. “Prius Goes Plural” challenges the public to help the automaker answer a unique question in the wake of the world premiere of the Toyota Prius family of vehicles—what do you call more than one Prius?
In the social space, the Toyota Prius Facebook page and Toyota Twitter account (@Toyota) provide Prius Goes Plural content, including links to the Toyota.com voting widget and photos of new and upcoming Prius vehicles. Toyota Prius Projects also launched as a website for owners and enthusiasts to interact with the Prius brand, hosts an animated music video highlighting several pluralized words that exist in our everyday lives in order to kindle the plural of Prius debate.
“Prius Expecting” print ads in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post feature sonogram imagery to announce the new family of vehicles.
An integrated program with Cie Games’ online “CarTown” game provides the first-ever live, in-game experience which mirrors the Prius activities taking place at the Detroit Auto Show.
Also, a series of Web videos featuring a notable expert exploring the etymology of words and discussing the plural of Prius in a fresh, unexpected way will launch mid-January, on YouTube, Facebook, the Toyota Prius Projects site and Toyota.com.
The Prius Goes Plural campaign will wrap up in late February with an official announcement of the Prius plural on the last day of the Chicago Auto Show. The answer for the plural question, as determined by popular vote, will be used in Toyota marketing initiatives going forward.
RBR-TVBR observation: Jaymie Robinson, Prius spokesperson, tells RBR-TVBR this effort does not include radio or television of any kind. However, print is included. This is an unusual combination. We can see the effort being limited to auto show attendees, to gauge how the viral effort spreads, but without major national media, it will be interesting to see how big the response is for them.
