Toyota Drives Baja Campaign onto Handsets

Toyota has launched an integrated campaign with mobile efforts to promote its FJ Cruiser. The mobile campaign follows the auto as it competes in an off-road race.

Mobile services firm The Hyperfactory worked in partnership with Saatchi & Saatchi to create the mobile promotion, which centers on the FJ Cruiser as it embarks on the Baja 1000 race through the rough terrain of Mexico’s Baja peninsula.

The Hyperfactory created a campaign with video and banner ads that direct users to a WAP-based microsite.

“What we’ve done as a mobile partner is pulled out and extended the content. It tells a story on a mobile level,” said Derek Handley, CEO of The Hyperfactory. “It’s about branded entertainment and engaging users in content they want to consume.”

The mobile agency provided media planning, execution, enablement and strategy on the mobile channel. The buy includes inventory on MobiTV, both on deck with services like Sprint and off deck where it’s available. Other off deck buys include ESPN and other winter sports sites. It also includes a takeover of a mobile video-on-demand channel.

On MobiTV, the Toyota ads are the first interactive mobile TV advertising on the service. Insertions include :15 and :20 spots.

Success will be measured by the Hyperfactory’s campaign analytics tools. “In order to really culminate the effectiveness of the different touch points, we have a fully-integrated campaign analytics system that can provide data back to agencies,” said Gil Martinez, VP of mobile media worldwide at the Hyperfactory.

The analytics service won’t provide data on user interactions with ads, something competing mobile services provider Bango began offering last week.

For now, the Hyperfactory’s analytics will “monitor how consumers are engaging with the end messaging, and allow us to tweak messages on the fly, better achieving objectives of the brand’s goals,” said Martinez.

Throughout the campaign, different creative units will run, swapping banner and video executions “so we can assess different calls-to-action and images to see what impact they have on conversion rates,” Handley said.

The Hyperfactory worked as a partner with Saatchi & Saatchi, Toyota’s agency of record. Saatchi & Saatchi developed an hour-long special called “Two Roads to Baja,” which aired on the Speed Network.

Note:The story has been updated to reflect that the mobile campaign draws from the Baja 1000 race and not from the documentary created by Saatchi & Saatchi entitled “Two Roads to Baja.”