• by Karl Greenberg , February 2, 2016

The fourth-generation 2016 Toyota Prius will be featured in a 90-second ad during the 50th anniversary Super Bowl on Feb. 7. It is the first Toyota Super Bowl ad in 11 years that has featured Prius.

The effort, from Saatchi LA, launches with a teaser on Thursday,  including a 90-second ad, a first-ever for Toyota.

Jack Hollis, group VP of marketing at Torrance, Calif.-based Toyota Motor Sales tells Marketing Daily that the car’s redesign allows the focus to be on interior and exterior styling and performance — more aligned with what you’d expect to see from a traditional car. He says the new campaign mixes drama and humor, where viewers go on an adventure “With some lovable people in a very exciting Prius. This will signal not only that Prius is all new, but that we are resetting the bar.” He says the launch spot is the first of four episodic ads that continue post-game and then over the next six months. 

And while many Super Bowl advertisers — autos or otherwise — make the Super Bowl ad buy the maypole for pre and post-game digital marketing, Toyota has a very short pre-game timeline. The company will release the ad teaser just three days before the game. “We have learned that you need good balance of both pre- and post-game.” he says, adding that "right before and after are most effective.”

Hollis says the campaign also features its most robust digital support yet for Prius. “We have a very large Twitter component, and very strong multifaceted application from Facebook, and Instagram.” 

The high digital-media weighting for the campaign is justified by the target buyer, says Hollis. “The Prius represents one of our most digitally engaged audiences. There is a significant amount of presence in the hybrid discussion online. It makes sense to have that large digital presence.” The new Prius is also the first vehicle off of its TNGA, or Toyota New Global Architecture — where among other things, every car is built essentially to order, with huge efficiencies in production.  

Sales have been strong for the car. Toyota sold 9,211 Prius cars last month, with the foot off the pedal because of the model changeover, and low gas prices keeping people in gasoline. That number is far above the total number of hybrids sold by every other brand combined. Hollis says the automaker’s owner retention/loss ratio has been net neutral. He says the issue has been Prius’ quirky design. “With this new Prius, we think our loyalists will stay loyal, but what is most encouraging is that early research shows the new Prius is more mainstream and high performance, so we will have inflow from other segments to us.”