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Toyota rolls out rich media ads to connect with car owners

Carmaker Toyota is gaining momentum for its RAV4 car model with a rich media advertising campaign that features a mobile game.

The Toyota mobile ads encourage users to learn more about the car model by playing a mobile game to see the car in action. The Toyota ads are running within the TV Guide iPhone application.

?By utilizing rich media mobile creative, we are able to offer users the opportunity to engage with the brand in a fun way to help generate higher message impact and interaction,? said Sona Iliffe-Moon, public relations manager for Toyota, Torrance, CA.

?Unlike static or animated banner advertisements, rich media enables users to interact with the banner without leaving the page on which it appears,? she said.

Short on time
The creative for the Toyota mobile ads read, ?Tap to play the fastest RAV4 game.?

The message behind the game is ?No time to waste? and features a simple game that users can win by swiping their finger once.

Users who tap on the ad are taken to a mobile landing page inside the app that features a picture of the car with a puzzle piece missing.

Consumers then slide the final piece of the puzzle into the car to complete the picture.

The page then reloads into another mobile landing page that promotes the RAV4 car as being reliable.

Users can then tap to be directed to a filtered landing page from Toyota?s mobile site to learn more about the car, including price and miles per gallon. Consumers can also view photos, videos and downloads of the car.

The landing page also lets users customize their own RAV4s with specific models, trims and colors.

Consumers can learn about the car via a mobile landing page

Mobile drive
The RAV4 mobile ad is a smart campaign because it takes advantage of mobile in an interactive way.

Instead of directing users directly to the company?s mobile site or a static landing page, the company leveraged mobile to give users an interactive experience.

In addition to this campaign, Toyota has been doing a lot in the mobile advertising space.

For example, Toyota also recently rolled out a large digital campaign for its Prius line that included media buys across mobile apps such as Words with Friends and Urbanspoon.

The creative for the campaign was based around a board game to walk young, tech-savvy consumers through the process of buying a car (see story).

?This campaign is aimed at a target that has little time to waste,? Ms. Iliffe-Moon said.

?Through quick, creative executions we are able to show off the RAV4 vehicle and its features while saving consumers time and ultimately helping them get off the Internet so they can get out and experience life,? she said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York