Camry - The New Spy Vehicle

Toyota’s Camry has been the best-selling vehicle in America in nine of the past ten years. With US sales of Toyotas dropping by 8% year-on-year, the Japanese automaker seem willing to connect with every single previously ignored demographic in their attempt to revive sliding sales.

Professional African-American women have never been drawn to Camry’s. A recent study found that black women do buy mid-price sedans, but they just tend to buy into other brands. The Camry was being outsold almost 2-to-1 by Dodge's Avenger among black customers - a car that suffered from less horsepower and lower fuel mileage than just about every six-cylinder competitor, including the Camry.

To shift the car's perception and increase purchase consideration, Toyota have turned to 42 Entertainment, a company that specialises in creating alternate-reality games - including a recent innovative viral campaign for Warner Bros.' forthcoming "Batman: The Dark Knight" – for a piece of branded entertainment in order to connect with professional Africa-American women.

In the game, Bianca, an assistant designer at an urban fashion house, finds herself and her new 2009 Camry entangled in a world of espionage.Bianca's unwitting involvement in espionage will be assisted by Camry's various gadgets – including the on-board Bluetooth, navigation and push-button ignition system - all features that will be "seamlessly integrated" into the content.

The campaign is supported by a $5 million print, radio and online campaign that will run in media primarily consumed by African-American women and aims to drive the target demographic to iflookscouldkill.com, a site where "fashion and espionage collide”, says Toyota.

via:Advertising Age