2022 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Social & Influencer?

The word ‘influencer’ was officially added to the English Dictionary only a few years ago but influencer marketing has already reached a ‘plug and play’ state. So, when the Toyota Land Cruiser wanted to influence a new generation of 4x4 off-road driving community, it wasn’t enough to do a typical influencer partnership. In the face of competition like Nissan's Patrol, which was a crowd favourite, Toyota UAE dune-bashed all modus operandi and teamed up with the most unlikely person – a Nissan Patrol fan - to create its most effective influencer campaign ever.

Background

For decades, off-roading enthusiasts have debated who the king of the desert is: Toyota Land Cruiser (LC) or the Nissan Patrol. In the past years, LC has maintained its foothold amongst older drivers, but faced a declining popularity amongst young 4x4 drivers. In pursuit of connecting with the young 4x4 driving community, we were asked to engage with them where the community was most active - Instagram.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

During social listening, we discovered Nissan Patrol’s biggest fan, @TheBlackPatrol, posting his disappointment in @Nissandxb failing to acknowledge their love and enthusiasm for their cars. We saw this as an opportunity to turn our competitor’s most undervalued advocate, into Land Cruiser’s most effective influencer. We slid into his DM and invited him to test drive the Land Cruiser, but on one condition: if he likes the drive, he has to change his name to @TheWhiteCruiser for a day.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Young 4x4 drivers use Instagram to hype each other’s car beauty shots, document adventures, and interact with their favourite 4x4 brands, usually by tagging them in pictures and commenting on the brand’s posts. Many even go the extra mile of dedicating their social profiles after their favourite car. These individuals are unofficial spokespeople for their 4x4 brand and have a strong influence within the car communities. However, regional 4x4 brands had failed to realise the potential of these fans and instead focused on influencers with millions of followers. @TheBlackPatrol was one such neglected fan. With 1,800+ content pieces covering his Nissan Patrol and 21,000 followers, he established great credibility and love amongst off-roading fans. When we saw him sharing his disappointment over Nissan’s social media approach, we knew this was an opportunity for Toyota to connect with our competitor’s fans and become more socially relevant.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

Young 4x4 drivers love banter and making fun of everyday situations. So, when @TheBlackPatrol posted a scenic picture saying he’ll reveal the location to the highest bidder, we were in on the joke. We commented “3999 and a free oil change?”. This simple comment led to direct messages where the banter continued and he suggested we throw in a test drive too. We agreed on one condition: he changes his name to @TheWhiteCruiser for a day. To persuade him, we delivered an influencer kit, comprising of a customized hand sanitizer “to wash the Patrol smell off his hands”, and keys to the LC. These authentic actions, and the LC drive around the city led him to not just change his name to @TheWhiteCruiser, but also voluntarily create over 87 pieces of content. His actions provoked 4x4 drivers across different communities to join in on the banter and engage with @ToyotaUAE.

List the results (30% of vote)

With zero spend, Toyota turned Nissan’s most undervalued advocate on Instagram into Land Cruiser’s most effective influencer. The buzz around this stunt reached 480K Instagram users organically as social conversations around the Land Cruiser increased three-fold. @TheBlackPatrol (aka @TheWhiteCruiser) voluntarily created over 87 content pieces (reels, stories, posts), and increased our young followers base (17-35 year-olds) on Instagram by 61%. This in turn also led to 136 people signing up for test-drives, making it Toyota UAE’s highest ever from an organic social campaign.