It's the dread of every young person, the moment you have to buy a minivan and turn in your "cool" card. I know my family has grown up enough that I don't need to drive my minivan any more, but both my young adult children want no part of getting that thing as their hand me down vehicle. My 19-year-old daughter would rather get her mother's mid-90's model Sable station wagon than my newer, nicer minivan.
Toyota's newest campaign for their Sienna minivan doesn't run from that perception; it embraces it. It features a young family that has two young kids and has reached the age in their family life where they need a minivan. The original TV ads in the campaign show the young-ish mom and dad talking about how they hated the idea until they got their Sienna, which totally changed their perceptions of minivans. The ads invite you to go online to "meet the family" on the YouTube channel dedicated to fun web videos featuring the family and their different interactions with the Sienna.
My favorite video and this week's "ad of the week" is the one called "swagger wagon" which is a spoof of a rap video. The mom and dad rap about their family life, where it's taken them and, of course, their Sienna "swagger wagon." When Satch the Sr. Art Director sent this to me as a suggestion for ad of the week, I thought "oh-oh" because at the weekly tweetup I attend (shout out to Detroit Tweetea peeps), some of my friends who are tapped into the Detroit rap scene were deriding McDonalds for their rap commercial. But, this is so obviously a spoof and it's well done, I think even they would be okay with it. Toyota takes rap video features like shaking the bling and does it with baby toys. They have the dad smash the tea party set off the kid's table. They even stop the video in the middle because one of the kids has to take a bathroom break. All in all, pretty funny stuff.
Toyota Sienna "Swagger Wagon"
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I love this ad. The obvious spoofness of this gets a pass and a thumbs up from me. Plus, it does a great job of promoting the big idea of the van as a bridge between cool and practical. Excellent pick, Mike!
Thanks, Therran.
Yes, the fact that it’s a good spoof is what makes it work. And like you said, it doesn’t do it for purely “creative” reasons alone, it does sell the product proposition well.
I don’t know how old this commercial is, but it’s still like a step behind as the term “swagger” has been buried by the majority of the urban community. While I do find it quite funny, I know it is not targeted at someone like myself, which is sad since my wife reminds me of my impending doom on a regular basis.
As a trend-savvy marketer, I have to take myself out of the equation and give credit where it’s due. Props to the agency that created the Toyota ad. It was quite clever; even though, such a commercial should have came about 6 months ago though.
The dancing toddler was my favorite part of the commercial.
Hubert:
Thanks for the trend-savvy insights. I do like the ad because it’s just fun. I wonder if they knew it was just slightly behind the trends and if so, if that’s part of it’s charm. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the core of their target market is more than 6 months behind the times, but thinks they’re up on the trends.
I have managed to avoid the dreaded minivan fate so far, but who knows what the future has in store.
This spot is clever and well-executed. Makes the vehicle seem almost (dare I say it?) cool.
Props to the team behind it.