SAN DIEGO -- When an automaker boasts a car with nearly 50 years of sales history, it would be foolish to ignore that heritage in its marketing.
For the launch of the redesigned 2014 Corolla, Toyota is rolling through the years with its television campaign, placing vintage Corollas alongside period-perfect musical touchstones.
Toyota declined to disclose the budget for the campaign, but Corolla is part of Toyota's one-two sedan punch alongside Camry. When the Camry was redesigned two years ago the launch budget was more than $175 million.
| The Corolla playlist |
| Songs used in Toyota's new spot |
| Edwin Starr, "Twenty-five Miles" |
| Chic, "Le Freak" |
| Herbie Hancock, "Rock it" |
| Soundgarden, "Rusty Cage" |
| ShyKidX, "Orion" |
| Source: Toyota |
Starting in early September, the lead commercial sequences between generic equivalents to "The Ed Sullivan Show," "Soul Train," a curbside breakdance contest, a grunge nightclub, and finally a modern dub step flash-mob street scene.
With the spot, each era's Corolla is mute witness to musical culture that should tick every demographic box. Depending on the time stamp, the scene is shot in contrasting black-and-white, supersaturated color or darkened blur.
But while the settings are generic, the music is not. Toyota acquired the rights to songs such as Chic's "Le Freak" and Soundgarden's "Rusty Cage" for the commercial.
The tagline for the campaign is "Elevate Your Style."
More than TV
The media campaign is more than just television. Toyota will use Vine and Instagram as sharable-content channels in social media. Online, Yahoo!, MSN, YouTube and Hulu will be channels for dispensing sponsored content.
Toyota also has created an iPad app that gives 360-degree tours of the car's interior and exterior and which allows shoppers to place personal notes for future reference. A similar version will be surfable via a Google Collaborator.
"It will be about connecting with a wide range of buyers, but in ways that are tailored to their media-consumption habits," Jim Colon, vice president of marketing product communications, said in a speech here at the media introduction of the car. "We're taking advantage of every digital, social and traditional opportunity out there."
