2013 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

Al-Futtaim Motors Toyota being one of the chief sponsors of the 2012 Gulf News Fun Drive event, wanted to advertise their exclusive price promotional offers, on their 4x4 range at the event itself, to the participants of the event.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

It’s not easy creating an instant sales conversation on prices for an action hungry audience. Inspired by every Fun Driver’s love for trekking through 200 kilometres of sand, we created special invisible sticker leaflets that would appeal to their love of ‘sand adventure’. The invisible leaflets were then distributed at the Fun Drive event to appeal to the DIY spirit of every participant. Every participant was invited to peel away the cover of the sticker leaflet and pour desert sand over it to uncover the special 4x4 prices that Toyota had in store purely for them.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

Out of 1,000 4x4s that showed up at the event, an impressive 40% of the participants immediately signed up for a Toyota 4x4 test-drive at the event, expressing their interest in the special prices and the vehicles. No exact figures on sales conversion at the showroom were available, but footfall for Toyota 4x4s during this period, were impressively high.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

The toughest challenge was to sell a passive special price offer to an active audience whose only need of the hour is 4x4 adventure. At best, any sales leaflet would stand the risk of being an interruption. We simply redefined our sales leaflet handout and turned it into a ‘sand out’ – one that would reflect the adventurous nature of the event while invoking intrigue in the Toyota 4x4 price range and invite audience participation. The sands of the Emirates has always had an emotional connection with the people of the UAE and our sand leaflet tapped into that spirit.