When you have Toyota’s legendary reputation for quality, dependability, and reliability, your carline basically sells itself, so no pressure on your ad agency, right? Wrong. Intermark is responsible for driving sales and market share for the world’s second largest franchised distributor of Toyota vehicles. Serving 150 dealers across the five states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas, GST accounts for approximately 13% of Toyota sales in the U.S. Those are the kind of stats that would keep your average advertising agency up nights. Good thing we’re not your average agency. 

CHALLENGE:

With consumer confidence and spending at record low levels, 2009 proved to be a challenge for the entire automotive industry. Toyota was no exception. Our challenge was to maintain year over year sales and grow Toyota market share in a down industry. Easier said than done, right?

ACTION:

While other groups cut back on their advertising, we took advantage of a soft media market with aggressive rates and premium positions. Our creative philosophy was to convince consumers that it was okay to buy a new Toyota vehicle. In an unstable economy, the most important thing for the consumer to know is that they’re getting “value” for their money.

Which is why we developed our fully integrated marketing campaign for GST’s summer sales event: “Buy Toyota! Buy Now!” This campaign reinforced the core brand attributes of Toyota vehicles: Quality, Dependability, and Reliability. We found actual Toyota customers who had recently bought Toyotas and let them tell their own stories, and why they felt confident in buying a Toyota when the economy was as uncertain as it was. These customer testimonials made for a powerful and convincing message.

Supported by a secondary message “we have money to lend”, and current Toyota incentives, the campaign provided an overall “value” story to would-be car shoppers.

RESULTS:

For the month ending June 2009, the Gulf States Toyota region increased their share of national Toyota sales to 13.1%, or .07ppts. from their previous month CYTD figure.

Through November 2009, GST has maintained their overall light vehicle Market Share and is the industry leader on passenger cars at 18.5% of market share (up .08ppts) compared to the national Toyota figure of 18.6% (down .05ppts).