automotive

Scion Flexes FR-S Muscle With New Campaign

Scion-BToyota's Scion brand is launching a campaign this week in New York and 25 other major markets to talk about its new FR-S sports car. Because this is the first true performance vehicle under the Scion lineup, the campaign,via AOR San Francisco-based Attik takes digital, TV, print and out of home elements beyond the usual pure-Millennial channels. 

The campaign for the rear-wheel, 200-hp two-door roadster carries a "Bringing the Sport Back to the Car" theme. The campaign carries the tag "Driving is Back" and focuses the performance and handling message. Running footage was shot with racer Ken Gushi at the wheel.

The TV buy is directed at Millennials per the brand's strategic raison d'être, but it is reaching more broadly than that as well. The automaker, which has also shifted away from boxy cars like xB and xD, is beginning with out-of-home elements in 40 locations in over two dozen cities, and first of three 30-second TV spots. The ads are airing both on youth-centric TV with NBCU syndication, and on NBC, Fox and every major sports network, per the company. 

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"Bringing the Sport Back to the Car," the first ad, is bookending the three-month TV buy, with other campaign elements running between June 25 and Aug. 5. More video ads will run on the brand's social media channels and Web site well into the fall.

Print starts mid-month in a long roster of male-oriented magazines like Sports Illustrated, Maxim, Motor Trend, and Men's Journal. The media mix also brings in banner placements both on Scion's standard range and new targets, per a release on the campaign.

"Since the FR-S is Scion's biggest push into the sport coupe market yet, we wanted to extend our reach beyond our typical media channels," said Ron Lim, Attik's creative director in the statement. "This car already has a lot of buzz around it, and we are aiming to build on that excitement. Of course, television is still a powerful mass medium." He said this is also the first time the automaker has launched in mainstream automotive pubs. "Our campaign is much heavier in details than usual as well...it was important to reach enthusiasts this time out. "

Lim said that in July the company will also use smartphone apps that show the FR-S in action through Digimarc codes embedded in the print. "This is a great way to feature the very emotional driving experience within a static print ad," he said. There will also be an iAd in targeted apps for the iPhone and iPad that allows viewers to view videos and explore more features of the FR-S.

Attik chose Digimarc to do the smartphone app based on its success with the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue earlier this year, which proved out security features, and Digimarc's ability to put video in the mix with print ads, per Lim. Such an ad for the FR-S, called "Video Test Drive," will run in the July 9 issue of SI.

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