I was browsing on Technorati today (mostly because Google Blog Search has gone down the toilet in the past 3 weeks) and came across one of the first banner ads to have caught my attention in years:
Now, I'll admit, I'm a complete sissy. I've been in precisely three fights in my life, all of them before the age of 18 and I only won one (and that was because two other nearby kids happened to hate the guy I was fighting just as much as I did). Plus, I've got an affinity for deliciously sordid British phrases like "I'll do you like a kipper," which I assume is some kind of fish that Britons enjoy kicking to refresh their briny scent. Imagine my utter dismay when I reached this page:
_
What the hell, Toyota? Not only are you a car company (having nothing to do with the glorious pasttime that is pub-fighting), you're also not even trying to relate your content to the ad I clicked. At least show some olde tyme ass-whoopin' moves that I can pull on Sir Rubbish-the-Barstool-Tosser and Lord Knicker-Bottom before they turn my groin to pudding.
What's the lesson here? The right ads can attract even the savviest and most jaded of web surfers. And the wrong content can actually make them less likely to buy your products through negative branding. Think carefully ad designers - those clicks are hard enough to come by.
p.s. Yes, I actually did write this post myself; it's not secretly by Rebecca.
As a brit.."I'll do you like a kipper" is derivative of "Stitched up like a kipper" as the kipper is a smoked herring that's been cut in half and smoked (I think). Thing is, I believe they used to sew up the poor cut in half, smoked fish, hence the "i'm gonna stitch you up like a kipper.". There you go. And all that without consulting the Goog-hemoth.
Thing is, before google, that might have been interesting knowledge that you chaps on the other side of the pond wouldn't have known and would be oo'ing and ah'ing about. But now? No chance?
Still...if it were then, this comment would be being delivered by telegram. Or by a very hardy pigeon.
So it's "swings and roundabouts." I guess. You can google that one yourself. ;-)
As an American...(with all due respect to the wonderful Brit crowd here), while a kipper is a smoked herring - rather than being cut in half, it's split down the middle from tail to head - gutted, salted and cold smoked. How do I know this? I have a Jewish girlfriend. ;)
The irony...
Here is one of the leading personalities in the relatively hip search marketing community, with a subscription base of over 50,000, writing an article on a higly listed blog, about this Toyota banner - the first one that has caught his attention in three years.
I wonder if the people at the Toyota ad agency know a thing or two about marketing afterall...
;)
oooh sean!
what a thought! Caught well.
More discussion of it still won't make me buy Toyota.. but I suppose it's not going to hurt them!
@swerveball,
Point taken. However, I think it would be fair to say that Toyota got a pretty powerful ROI out of Rand's...click.
Good call Sean. Most agencies would look to social marketing for the same effect and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars. Here, a small CPM ad got similar response for pennies on the dollar.
@ Sean- Nice one!
Accidents will happen . . . at least that is what my parents have told me all my life. They were married in March 1976, I was born in September 1976 . . . do the math. ;-)
Pure accidental marketing win . . . ready, fire, aim! Oh, damn . . . we hit something.
What's really sad is that some poor schmuck of a advertising manager or, even worse, ad firm will now be able to show a killer return on the investment and we will have even more crappy Toyota ads on the site.
Damn you Rand . . . Damn you!! ;-)
Signed,
Payne after six beers in downtown Chicago, LOL
The ad's admittedly bizarre, but is actually part of a much larger "Your Other You" campaign for the Toyota Matrix.
I've archived a bunch of ads from the campaign in my hobby archive of online ads, adverlicio.us:
Heavy Metal 300x250
Ham Radio 728x90
Racoon Daycare 300x250
Pub Fighting 728x90
Animal Lingerie 300x250
PS - Toyota's apparently seeking a non-traditional, youthful positioning for the brand so don't be dismayed if the ads don't work for you -- you're probably not the intended audience!
I don't know... If high-tech twenty-somethings who care about gas mileage aren't in their target demographic, I don't know who is. I think it's just a matter of having the landing page content somewhat match the ad content - don't make me feel like I'm crazy :)
@averlicious -
- been in precisely three fights in all his life
- has an affinity for deliciously sordid British phrases like "I'll do you like a kipper"
- doesn't currently drive a car (last time I read)
If that isn't the target demographic, I'd like to understamd what is. I've seen come "hard to connect" marketing, but for the life of me, I can't figure this one out.
An Aston Martin I could connect, a Toyota? No.
I got it, after reading their tagline: "Your other you". Obviously the "other you" in that case is the pub-fighter insider all of us (that go into pubs anyway...)
It makes sense, as a traditional ad campaign (teaser + actual ad) and I don't think it is bait and switch, or at least not more than actual teaser campaingns...
Edgy ad ideas are often hard to grasp at first. I once was an ad copy and I should know...
I frankly don't understand marketers who don't qualify their target market based on values. Toyota, trying to "target" a certain age group is absurd. Out of that age group, as this little thread already shows, there are plenty who would not be enticed by the campaign.
But here's a pragmatic truth - does Toyota care? They are big enough to burn advertising money like that. Their goal may be to test out a few methods - a "loss leader".
I've been out of college for a few years - and as good as my school was, it was not exactly forefront on business theory, but do the latest marketing classes talk about a methodical live testing of ads? With the stuff that I've seen companies try - "behavioral marketing" - mobile ads, the whole...story thing, I wonder if these companies are chaulking these campaigns as advertising loss leaders to see how many people they can reach?
The campaign for the Scion was pretty clandestine, for example. I have not read all of it but for a while, Toyota slowly seeded the Scion ads across different media, etc. This could be a similar case.
I also recall the Honda Elemet ads - with the animals like the crab and platypus.
Part of me thinks these guys have so much to burn, they can afford to "test" or foul up their ads...
Briny Scent?
Blimey Gov'ner, your getting yourself into a barnie here. Being a bit David myself, I'm a little Rocca'd by your Dicky Birds. Is that what the Mary Queens think about the Brits? That our Aunt Nell is a bit Lillian Gish?
What a Barry Crocker.
T
@ Wyliet,
I haven't the slightest clue WTF you just said, but I've given you a thumbs up because I'm assuming it's quite hysterical.
I suspect I would love British humour a great deal more if I could understand it. I better get back to watching reruns of Benny Hill, Absolutely Fabulous and Monty Python.
Brits really are a funny bunch.
You nutty little bastard . . . I, too, can not remotely relate to british humor.
I completely understand the negative visceral reaction to an ad... I had the same experience myself with an Arby's ad from the 80s and I have NEVER eaten there after viewing it. In retrospect, it seems silly. However, I was so disgusted it stuck with me and I figured my dollars were better spent at any number of other greasy joints.
The ad you may ask? An animated piggy bank, frightened to death, comes running through the frame. It is feverishly trying to escape a looming shadow of a man with an axe. It runs, hides, scurries, looks panicked….there is silence and an empty screen….and then.... BAM! You hear a shatter, pieces of the piggy bank fly into the screen and change comes rolling out.
The message? You don't have to break your piggy bank to eat at Arby's..... However, as a girl who cries every time an animal dies on tv I was disgusted. A terrified defenseless image being brutally hacked to death so some pathetic sod can spend his last few remaining pennies on an artery clogging burger?!
Ok- obviously I have an active imagination…but nonetheless, even though I remember the ad and the company, I have NEVER and will NEVER eat there.
awwww so cute! lol.
thats a perfect example of negative association.
@ rishil- thanks for not making me feel so lame :)
Oh my god! dont put anything bad about animals out there for me tho else I protesting and boycotting with a passion lol
Umm . . . Arby's doesn't sell burgers. ;-)
I'm rubbing off on you, Rand. You're getting snarkier by the day!
Pretty soon he'll be training for a triathlon, harassing me for not answering my Q&A and have an unhealthy obsession with Tiff ;)
By the way, go answer your Q&A. ;)
Don't feel bad Rand. Fighting's overrated.
With that, I'm going to head over to Toyota and beat the crap out of their ad folks.
It is I believe aimed at the 'British' market, we have a thing about being 'hard' n having 3 fights week, never mind in a lifetime and if we see people wrestling (as seems the American thang) then its just gay.
lol
It will get views from Uk. publicity, traffic etc I assure you.
If the 'brand' is thought associated in any way with this niche i.e "im hard and my car says so" (i am suggesting 30% of English males between 16 and 45) then it will get sales that it may not have had previously. That is the only reason for this (or any?) campaign, to make more sales. The people buying toyotas and who wouldnt want to be associated with this 'grouping' wouldnt be clicking the ads in the first place to be offended.
Kinda shows in ways that you could target many different 'target markets' giving a different angle for each 'grouping' and if the other target markets are unaware of the others you are onto a winner... (open to debate)
what was the 'hardest' car? did it say?
I know I'm in danger of attracting a whole heap of negative thumbs but I think it's cool.
Totally agree with Rand re the disconnect once you click through - further relevant content appears on the drive in movie screen (in the visual Rand's inserted it currently says 'Your Other You'), but the connection's not as obvious as it might be, and therefore could be improved.
In terms of targeting - it appeals to me (and I'm under 30... for a few precious weeks at least), and I can also see it appealing to other guys and girls my age and younger too.
I'd suggest that they're trying to make the brand a little more young and edgy, and this coupled with key TV sponsorships (i.e. T4 in the UK as Rishil suggests) may well be altering the perception of the brand in the eyes of the market which they're looking to attract.
Hannah,
Enjoy one more year of fine living. On my 31st birthday I woke up to a sore left knee and it's still sore 7 months later. When I complained to my cousin about it, he said he woke up to a sore ankle on his 31st and it has hurt him for the past two years.
I guess being 30 is one thing . . . being 'in your 30s is another'.
Payne
@ Brent - thanks for the heads up - I'll not sleep on the eve of my 31st for fear of injury :)
Seems like you got "rick-rolled" by Toyota?
It's an interesting marketing strategy - drag people in with an intriguing banner, and then imprint your brand in their mind.
It doesn't matter if you turn it off in disgust at being dupped; what's more important is that it evoked an emotional reaction in you and therefore placed Toyota's brand deeper in your brain than just the short-term memory.
Short-term, or working memory, was once believed to commit everything to your long-term memory but this is now thought to be incorrect; the current theory is memory only gets 'promoted' if it evokes emotional response. Otherwise it's usually only temporary like RAM.
So you've just been played I'm afraid. So have we. In fact Toyota got some pretty brand imprinting from this post :)
It kind of reminds me the Aygo by Toyota advert on T4 in the UK - its kind of sticks to your head - funny thing is its a kids session (hence why I watch it ;) and not their target market.
Curiouser and Curiouser.
If this were anywhere near true all adverts would just have shock factor and be offensive to get this response.
You're right. It's an academic theory, which doesn't mean it's true.
We'll just have to wait and see if Rand ever buys a Toyota :)
It placed Toyota in my brain, all right, with a very NEGATIVE emotional reaction. Now when I'll hear "Toyota", I'll be cringing. I doubt that'll help my car buying decision.
Oh great. So it's like I have my own Digg.com in my head?! That's just fantastic. Who do I ban for gaming the system?
Rand...
It may not have been bait and switch deliberately... There's always that chance that the UK ad was meant for UK consumers, and the default was a mass branded campaign for Toyota to replace any of the geo-ip users that came there that were automatically denied access.
From a publisher's point of view, at least they can still score some default revenue from the bottomless pit that Toyota calls its ad budget, instead of losing out on a mistargeting error.
Jon
TBH, I probably would've clicked this ad if I'd seen it - and been just as disappointed at the outcome (esp. being a 'Black Country Bloke' - there could quite legitimately be a pub fighting school not far from where I hail!).
As for the dragging people in then embedding their brand in your deeper memory, unfortunately I would recall that as something along the lines of 'Toyota - Disgust' - our brains are very good at linking things together (in fact that's one of the main ways that our recall works).
As clicks can be hard to come by maybe they don't care (all publicity is good publicity), or maybe they could've used something that is more likely to garner a favourable reaction regardless of the disgust at being duped.
[An ahr wo go inta mar dire-lect... ]
Here is the fighting guide you were looking for: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H__R5751Mdo
Rand . . . I REALLY like this side of you. Three fights . . . damn, I wouldn't have guessed that. Personally, I have been in two . . . once in kindergarten and another in sixth grade. Both of them over a girl (women are my downfall . . . anyone that knows me can attest to that).
Payne
The ad seemed to have partially worked as it got you to click to the landing page. PR: wait... I: wait... L: wait... LD: wait... I: wait...wait...
Im after a new car and to be honest they have missed out on a potential sale by advertsing pub fighting instead of a car. Ah well, im sure plenty of pub fighters will be interested in a new toyota to get them from fight to fight anyway.
The rules of marketing are dynamic. What works for one fails for others but what works for you is Magic...
Realy funny! This add is great but of course pr destroying.
Hmm interesting -- no mistake or confusion with the ad? Seems a little unusual for Toyota.
two questions - was it a toyota run campaign or an affiliate? I have seen afiliates use this tactic....
and - whats the URL of thay toyota landing page? ( I want to see what that play a trick on your friend thing is about...)
Right here - Toyota.
And impressions skyrocket . . . advertising reps make fat ass commissions and more toyota ads that Rand hates are going to be created . . .
You should've pointed the link to Honda, Rand . . .
Payne
Quite true Rishil . . .
The glory of an affiliate base (especially if you are Amazon.com) is that your affiliates will work 10x harder and have only a fraction of the cost. I can't tell you how many times I have upped an AdWords campaign as an Amazon Affiliate just to see how much the other sucker was paying. I had conversion rates of over 8% and click through rates over 5% and the math was impossible to work out (by 10x) if I were to have outbidded the top placed Amazon affiliate advertisement.
I've since been banned from Amazon . . . manipulating their UGC without a VP at Amazon that stood up for you (he left), can get you banned pretty damn quick. I'm still trying to get back in . . . no dice though.
Brent
Rebecca writes your blog posts?!
I was going to say the same thing. Rand?!?!?!
Well that just proves that Rebecca really is the brains behind the operation ;) Love you too Rand!
Shh, keep it a secret!
Stitched up like a kipper would refer to the police fitting you up Rand ;)
Another Brit
David Saunders
You asked for it... You don't got it... Toyooota!