• by Karl Greenberg , December 9, 2015

For Toyota in the U.S., all sports are local — even global sports like the Olympics, of which Toyota is global sponsor beginning in 2017 and running through the course of the succeeding eight years. Late last month, the automaker inked a partner sponsorship with the International Paralympic Committee as well. For Jack Hollis, group VP of marketing at Toyota Motor Sales, it’s all good. He speaks with Marketing Daily about how Toyota makes sure sports takes the road from national — even global — down to the dealership. 

Q: What does this Olympic opportunity mean for you and the U.S. market?

A: First of all, it is huge — it's not tier one, it's tier zero. And I'm very happy to be part of that, because being in the U.S. — the biggest market for Toyota — I will be helping the lead team around strategy for the next eight years. What that does for us is allow us to really look at how to talk about this idea of Kaizen, about “always better.”  

Q: What is Toyota's U.S. sports strategy?

A: So we have never been, say, the auto sponsor of the NFL or NBA, per se. We have always believed that we need to be closer to our customer — and I call our customers our “guests.” So, for example, we are official sponsors of stadiums: Toyota Center in Houston for example with the Rockets; we are in New York, with the Jets and the Giants; last year we signed on with the 49ers [the Northern California Toyota Dealers Association signed a multi-year, multimillion-dollar contract with the San Francisco 49ers, making it official auto partner of the team and Levi’s Stadium]. We are also at Staples Center in L.A., where we have been partner with the Lakers, Clippers and Kings for something like 37 years. 

Q: So, even though you have national advertising, the key is local?

A: I want tier one and tier two and three to align closely. So, instead of being the national sponsor of big things, of the PGA or whatever, it is to be locally tied in — that's our strategy. The tactic is then to differ by region of the country we might be in. For some we might be sponsor of the stadium name, or of one team, or of all college sports. 

Q: How are you coordinating this?

A: We work directly with our regional offices and dealer body, and dealer advertising associations. They are outstandingly good, so they will help evaluate their local market, so they can take our commitment to sports, and our presence on Sunday Night Football down to the team and market level. Take the Lakers, for example. We work with Southern California dealers to make sure everything is aligned, from a team standing, with whatever we might do with national communications. 

Q: Who handles the strategy?

A: The strategy side is really run by TMS (Toyota Motor Sales.) The tactical side is a combination of Saatchi & Saatchi, our local ad agency, TMS, and our regional office. Also with our T2 strategy, our African American agency, Burrell; our Hispanic agency Conill, and InterTrend, our Asian agency, work together as my national team. But Saatchi also has local agencies for multiple metros around the country, and we also have a total of 22 different Toyota dealer ad associations, some with Saatchi and others with multiple agencies.