• by Ken Liebeskind , September 4, 2001

The online portion of Toyota's Camry 2002 campaign, featuring a wealth of advertising at AOL Time Warner and MSN, is said to be the largest in the company's history.

"The strategy was to go to the largest portals for maximum reach," says Priya Verma, interactive media director at Saatchi & Saatchi/Los Angeles, Toyota's agency.

A variety of online strategies will actually be used, everything from blanketing the sites with a variety of banners and rich media units to something Verma calls "road blocking," which is dominating MSN's home page the day of the launch, Sept. 4.

Toyota will also be a premiere sponsor on the Music Goes Global website, sponsored by Time magazine and tied into a special issue. The site will feature a link to Toyota's back stage pass, which gives viewers a prelaunch look at the Camry. The pass, part of Toyota.com, will feature global music, tying the Toyota campaign into the music promotion, which is a major element of Toyota's offline campaign as well.

There is also a prelaunch teaser campaign, with banners and rich media on AOL's home page, its Automotive channel and MSN.

Steve Jett, Toyota's national car advertising manager, says 5% of Toyota's entire ad budget, well over $100 million, will be spent online. "We've used traditional online advertising in the past, but we want to take it to another level. With the enormous complexities of the launch, we want to make sure we have an online presence like never before."

MSN is making the most of the Toyota campaign, claiming Toyota will be the first to take advantage of its Advantage Marketing program, launched recently at the Jupiter Online Advertising Forum. Through the program, Toyota will run a variety of new, large units at MSN.com. Toyota will also play 15-second commercials in front of content viewed at MSN's WindowsMedia.com. The spots will also play on the Windows Media Player for the Windows XP operating system, which debuts in late October. Toyota will be the first advertiser to use both Windows Media programs.

MSN says Toyota ads will appear in three top placements on MSN.com, including the home page which will include a link to a vehicle page on MSN Carpoint, a leading car buying site.

Toyota is buying cross media packages from major media companies like AOL Time Warner and the online campaign will be cross media, too, with ads appearing not just on AOL and MSN, but all the companies' Web properties, including Compuserve, Netscape and all the TimeWarner magazines and MSNBC, Slate and Moneycentral, Verma says.

Jett notes that Toyota is also updating its own site, offering links to TV ads and ebrochures.