New Yaris TVC Makes Great Deal Of Sense

Despite an animated talking rocking horse and giant bull frogs, the new Toyota Yaris television commercial makes a great deal of sense to those in the market for a hatchback.

Created by Draftfcb Johannesburg and shot by Good Cop in one day at the Johannesburg Park Station, the ad turns the spotlight on the Yaris 1.3’s superior performance, made possible by it delivering similar power outputs to larger 1.4 engines while consuming less fuel.

It then applauds the Toyota Yaris’ standard 4 year service plan and fuel efficiency.

Said Toyota SA Senior Manager for Marketing Communications and Planning, Pieter Klerck: “Time after time, the qualitative research shows that engine size and price, followed by perceived comparative maintenance costs, are the primary indicators of comparative value when it comes to the 25 – 34 year old buyer.

“Although our Yaris 1.3 is more powerful than a number of cars with bigger engines, it is generally not perceived to be so. This presented Draftfcb Johannesburg with an opportunity to correct the perception by showcasing that the Yaris engines punch well above their weight courtesy Toyota’s superior Optimal Drive technology.”

The creative execution simply states the facts– The new Yaris 1.3 has an impressive power output of 73KW, considerably better than most 1.4s on the market, and with better fuel consumption too; then asks a pertinent question – Paying for a bigger engine that has much less power? and delivers the punch line – That just doesn’t make any sense at all. Nope. No sense at all.

The joke – which is obviously on those buyers who have fallen for the ‘bigger is better’ fallacy, or in car-speak, ‘bigger means better performance’ – is heightened by the fact that it is delivered by an animated talking rocking horse.

“This execution serves to emphasise the idea of ‘no sense’ –everything about it makes no sense at all, except of course the facts about the Toyota Yaris. In this way, we feel the facts will stand out clearly, and be quickly grasped by viewers,” said executive creative director, James Cloete.

Client credits:
Client: Toyota South Africa
General Manager; Marketing Communications – Kerry Roodt
Senior Manager: Marketing Communications and Planning – Pieter Klerck
Advertising Manager – Astika Chetram

Creative Credits:
Creative agency: Draftfcb Johannesburg
Executive Business Director: Mike Di Terlizzi
Account Director: Jacqui Fontes Teixeira
Account Executive: Nicole Combrinck
Executive creative director: James Cloete
Deputy Creative Director: Tian Van den Heever
Copywriter: Candice Hellens
Art director: Moira-Gene Sephton
Strategic planner: Justin Cloete
TV production: Barbara Clarke
Media planners: Gwen Bezuidenhout
Production companies: Good Cop

  Advertising, Automobile, Cars, Creative, Draft FCB, South Africa, Toyota, TV, Yaris