LOS ANGELES -- Toyota's Scion brand will announce today, July 15, that it has chosen Attik to be its advertising creative agency.
The independent agency has offices in London; New York; and Sydney, Australia; and one in San Francisco that is working with Scion.
Attik was chosen for its "sharp understanding of the youth market. They understand the differences between Gen X and Gen Y, and between trendsetters and Gen Y," said Jim Lentz, Scion vice president.
Past Attik clients include Adidas, Nike, Guinness and Microsoft. Attik also was involved in the development of the Ford 24-7 concept vehicle. On the youth branding front, Attik has worked with Ministry of Sound, MTV, Diet Coke and several record labels.
Scion also selected Oasis, a New York agency that handled Toyota Prius Web marketing, to do its Internet creative work.
Scion has chosen separate contractors to handle the separate areas of marketing, which it calls an "unbundled" process. Technical development for the Web site will be provided by DHAP Digital Inc., in San Francisco; print and graphics work will be done by Enterprise Communications in Torrance, Calif.; and music and street scene work will be done by Urb in Los Angeles. The media buyer has not been chosen.
One reason for choosing different firms to handle individual marketing chores is that with just 150 employees worldwide, Attik is too small to be considered a full-service agency.
"Having unbundled marketing also allows us to collaborate between experts in narrow fields and have a cohesive brand message," Lentz said. "But we had to make sure they all had the ability to share with others."
Attik will connect with the youth market "by creating campaigns that focus on their lifestyle rather than purely on product," Attik's U.S. president Will Travis said in a release.
For its pitch to Scion, Attik showed a concept TV commercial that followed supposed Scion buyers while overhearing their conversations, using the vehicle as the backdrop. A test print ad showed a Scion vehicle only visible in the reflection of a woman's sunglasses.
