Toyota Camry Campaign Targets African American Women
Problem: the Toyota Camry is being outsold almost 2-to-1 by Dodge's Avenger among black customers. "Here's this nameplate that's ubiquitous," said Monica Warden, account director for Burrell, Toyota's agency of record or African-American advertising. "But for an African-American woman, it's not even in her consideration set. Our preliminary testing found they think of it as suburban, not urban; as solid but boring. And for this woman, she doesn't see herself as boring." To raise sales of its best-selling dullard, Toyota hired the company responsible for the intriguing (at least to us fanboys) The Dark Knight (movie) viral ad campaign. The result this site: If Looks Could Kill. It features a subtle sales pitch, serial web movies and who knows what else. The Dark Knight campaign had fanboys running around the San Diego Convention Center in Joker facepaint; we'll see what curious activities will arise from ILCK.com.
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God do I hate chrome almost as much as I hate wheels that are worth more than the rest of the car........
It's still an incomplete picture. Is the Avenger outselling the Altima, Accord, or Sonata by the same margin? What about sales between the Camry and the rest of it's competition in this demographic. Is it really an issue of price, or are they the odd duck out because they have too much of a stodgy image? Too many assumptions are made based on the one tidbit of info you've been fed, don't you think?
Now I won't be the first say what African American women want, but if the women around my office offer any signs, most of them are geared towards the Charger and when they can't afford it, settle for the Avenger. Matter of fact, one of them was so gungho over the Charger that I asked her if she eventually got it, she said she wanted to, but the salesman offered her a great deal on an Avenger SXT. It's gotta be the looks.
Based on my casual observations, it is not only cheap Chrysler products African Americans buy, it is also Hyundais, Kias, Suzukis, and Mitsubishis (esp. Galants). These are all companies that are desperate for market share and would grant easier credit than Honda or Toyota. So a demographic group with relatively low incomes would naturally gravitate towards these makes. Of course, given these cars' shocking depreciation, one wonders about the total cost of ownership, but I suppose the initial purchasing price is lower than that for Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans and it is probably easier to get credit from also-ran companies in need of higher market share.