LOS ANGELES -- Toyota Division is expanding its "Let's Go Places" advertising theme with experiential marketing events at family-friendly music, art and food festivals across America this summer.
The nationwide tour includes events and festivals -- such as Artscape, Gourmet on Gore, Eat Real SF and the Life is Good and Life is Beautiful festivals -- that involve creativity, healthy living and philanthropic causes.
Although mostly tied to the launch of the redesigned 2014 Corolla, the promotion includes other Toyota models, such as the customized SpongeBob Square-Pants Toyota Highlander. The SpongeBob Highlander also will be used in Toyota's separate "Happy Driving" tour, which is cross-promoted with children's TV network Nickelodeon.
The early part of the Corolla promotion may be more about drumming up interest -- the car doesn't begin arriving at dealerships until September. The Corolla, including the Matrix, is a close second to the Camry in volume for Toyota car sales. Last year, Toyota sold 290,947 Corolla/Matrix cars -- No. 5 among the top-selling U.S. cars and up 21 percent from 2011. Through June, Corolla/Matrix sales were up 5 percent. Toyota is cutting the Matrix from its lineup after the 2014 Corolla arrives.
At the festivals, people who visit the Toyota booth will receive a product tutorial that also highlights Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive and Entune telematics system.
For fun, the booths will include interactive events such as the Corolla Custom Letterpress activity, a SpongeBob SquarePants airbrush tattoo station and a challenge to see how much stuff people can cram into a Toyota vehicle for a chance to win prizes.
The "Let's Go Places" tour is produced by Filter Creative Group in Los Angeles.
