• by Karl Greenberg , July 18, 2013

Toyota is launching a summer road trip, “Let’s Go Places,” to promote the 2014 Toyota Corolla, and some other nameplates, and also the new tagline for the brand. The experiential tour will combine music, art and food. 

The company says the tour, which extends the new campaign platform launched last fall, will go to cause and creativity festivals to trumpet the virtues of -- in addition to the Corolla -- the Camry, RAV4, and Prius v, and also the one-off SpongeBob 2014 Toyota Highlander. 

The tour starts at America’s largest free arts festival, Artscape, in Baltimore on July 19 and finishes at Las Vegas’ "Life Is Beautiful" festival at the end of October. Among the things visitors can do are engage in tech tutorials of hybrid systems, infotainment and interior space. 

“We launched Let’s Go Places to connect with customers in new ways that are personally relevant to them, which is exactly why we are taking the concept on the road,” said Steve Appelbaum, national manager of engagement marketing at Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., in a statement.

The tour includes events and festivals on healthy lifestyles, creativity and philanthropy: Gourmet on Gore, Life Is Good Festival, and Eat Real SF are other stops.

Sibling brand Lexus is doing a program with deviantART.com in a program to encourage artists in the network to do their take on the 2014 Lexus IS F performance sedan, which the automaker is pitching to a performance-oriented buyer. The winner gets showcased at SEMA in November and a one-year lease on the IS. There are also second- and third-place winners, plus 22 semifinalists, who will also receive prize packages.