Toyota takes aim at Ford Ranger’s Crown with new ad
Toyota is tapping into the creative fuel of Saatchi & Saatchi to take the new Hilux to the masses.
This is the biggest advertising campaign Toyota has launched for the Hilux brand in more than three years and it comes off the back of the Ford Ranger’s five-year stint on the throne as the nation’s favourite vehicle.
The stakes could also not be higher, given the Motor Industry Association ( MIA) projection that the impact of Covid19 will ultimately wipe 25 per cent off the new car sales market by the end of the year.
This campaign marks the continuation of a creative partnership between Toyota and Saatchi, dating back more than 20 years and spanning a number of golden advertising moments, including the iconic “Bugger” ad from 1999.
This is the first Saatchi campaign overseen by new Saatchi & Saatchi chief creative officer Steve Cochran, who joined the agency after leaving Colenso BBDO amid the chaos caused by Covid-19.
Taking the reins of the hallowed Toyota Hilux brand comes with a weight of expectation, but Cochran says it’s something he’s used to after decades in the industry.
“You . . . put that pressure on yourself on every brief and every job,” says Cochran.
“This is weighted with a bit more of that because of the legacy of the Hilux ads and a new agency for me, which I started at in the middle of a pandemic. That’s definitely not an easy time to . . . get to know people in the building.”
Covid-19 also pushed back production of the campaign by two weeks, but Cochran explains that this isn’t too bad considering the context of the pandemic breaking records around the world.
The latest campaign isn’t likely to spark 100 Advertising Standards Authority complaints in the vein of “Bugger”, but it continues the Hilux approach of bringing together a quirky assortment of Kiwi characters to comedic effect — something that Toyota general manager of marketing Andrew Davis views as integral to the brand.
“Hilux is . . . really a vehicle that celebrates a close connection with Kiwi culture,” Davis says.
The latest ad shows Kiwi drivers from all walks of life converging for 90 seconds of catchy one-liners.
The strong connection between Hilux and New Zealand has, however, faced strong competition in recent years.
MIA data shows that by the end of 2019 Ford had sold 9485 Rangers, while Toyota’s Hilux tally came in at 7126. Rounding out the top three is the Mitsubishi Triton on 5319 sales.
The MIA data for 2020 to the end of October shows a continuation of that trend, with 6309 Rangers sold to the 4720 Hilux vehicles over the same period.
However, there are some signs that the new Hilux could be the one to turn the tide and put the Toyota vehicle back in the prime spot.
When isolating the figures for October, the sale of 731 Hilux utes pipped Ford’s tally of 686 Rangers.
So is this the start of a trend that could see number one and two switch by the end of next year?
“There are few facets to it,” says Davis.
“Firstly, when you look at ute sales over the last few years, the shift of Kiwis into SUVs and utes has been significant. In that time, we’ve had record sales for Hilux year on year on year and we’ve seen Ranger number one, Hilux number two, fighting it out back and forth.
“While Ranger has pipped us, Hilux has always been a strong product. But you have life cycles with products. First they’re new . . . and you hope they’re ahead of your competitors. Over time, your competitors start to get better, so it’s just a matter of improving as much you can when you can.
“With the new Hilux, it’s a total improvement, from tip to toe. It’s all new. So, we’re back in the battle with a strong new ute and our competitors have also launched a new product, so it’s an exciting time.”
While the battle between the major car brands always adds a touch of intrigue, the industry faces a much larger challenge in the shape of the ongoing economic effect of Covid-19.
In his early November release, MIA chief executive David Crawford said the yearto-date market was down 23.5 per cent and will finish about 25 per cent down on 2019 volumes.
Davis admits that those numbers are reflective of the challenges across the industry, but says there have been dual trends emerging across the market.
Davis says the decline of the tourism industry has seen the rental sale market decline markedly, but there have also been strong sales on the private user side of the business.
“If you look at totality, our volume has come back quite a bit from what we expected, but that has largely been the rental impact,” says Davis
“Sales to everyday customers are going really well. I think that’s because rather than travelling, people are looking at other purchases, like motor vehicles.”
Davis stops short of making any predictions on how the campaign might perform or what might happen in the market next year, saying things are simply too unpredictable at the moment.
“We still have a pandemic at play globally and who knows what happens locally,” says Davis. “I’m really interested to see [ how] Kiwis respond and what type of cutthrough we get . . . It’s all new territory for everybody.”
Hilux is . . . really a vehicle that celebrates a close connection with Kiwi culture. Andrew Davis, general manager of marketing, Toyota