Wilderness Therapy

Background

The challenge was to speak to a broad audience of existing Toyota 4Runner owners, handraisers who had expressed interest in the vehicle, and the adventurous at heart who hold a deep affinity and respect for the wild, as well as an itch to explore it.

THE MARKET PROBLEM/OPPORTUNITY

RAPP was tasked with developing an experiential campaign to support Toyota 4Runner during the second half of 2016. But with no changes to 4Runner and a competitive SUV market full of significant model refreshes across competitor brands, the challenge was to reinforce the 4Runner's unrivaled position as the last true off-roading mid-sized SUV.

THE OBJECTIVE

Toyota needed to reach an annual sales goal of 110K and increase market share to 5.3%.

Idea

THE SOLUTION A crucial insight was discovered: for these intrepid Toyota 4Runner owners and handraisers, the wild is more than a place; it's an untamable spirit that runs through them. So 4Runner was positioned as the one true off-roading vehicle that enables them to explore and connect with nature. This was a distinctly different strategy to competitor SUV brands that leveraged an aggressive tone with messaging about conquering nature. Emails and direct mail were sent out inviting handraisers and owners to slow down and shut out the cacophony and chaos of the world with the help of Wilderness Therapy from 4Runner. Adventurers were invited to participate in a series of online encounters of the natural kind—far away from their hectic lives. To adjust the mindset, they even went camping for two weeks to commune with nature. The idea was to take the time documenting the process using super hi-res photography to capture a series of 360-degree wilderness encounters. Each one let users explore at their own pace. Clickable hot spots gave serenity seekers the ability to explore the terrain and uncover a series of Toyota 4Runner nuggets. And the mailer included collectible Wilderness Therapy patches. A social media campaign was also implemented to drive to the experience. In addition, product from BassPro Shops (BPS) was featured in the creative and co-branded emails were sent out to the BPS customer base inviting them to the online experience. In this way, reach was expanded by 3.5 million at little to no incremental cost and additional traffic was driven to the site.

Results

Toyota 4Runner exceeded sales and share objectives in 2016 with 111,952 total sales and a 5.4% segment share. Sales were up 15.7% year-over-year, outpacing the overall Midsize SUV segment's growth of 3.6%. Furthermore, Wilderness Therapy delivered pure engagement with users spending an average of 2 minutes and 18 seconds per session. That's 13% higher than industry benchmarks. And it drove purchases with nearly one third of all sessions clicking the build and price button. At 30 days out from launch, users who interacted with Wilderness Therapy were 260% more likely to purchase, proving that when you give people a break from the anarchy of modern life, they'll take the wheel, bliss out and slow down. Visit microsite here: http://www.experience4runner.com.