Toyota Partners with The&Partnership

Toyota Motor Europe has appointed The&Partnership to consolidate its creative, digital, content and media planning and buying business.

The&Partnership will set up a bespoke, integrated network of dedicated hubs for Toyota, supporting Toyota’s transition towards a new, more integrated, digital-first model, refocusing its brand strategy around how people across Europe consume media and buy cars today.

The ‘&TOYOTA’ network will be powered by a specialist data analytics unit, integrating data driven creative with smart, responsive media planning in order to grow the Toyota brand, drive sales and deliver creative consistency and share of voice across all channels and markets. 

The appointment follows the creation of a series of bespoke, integrated new agency models by The&Partnership over recent years, with specialists from multiple disciplines working together to one bottom line. These include Pulse Creative, the new, full-service agency for News UK; The Fuse for The Wall Street Journal / Dow Jones; and The&Partnership’s bespoke, multi-location operation for telecoms company TELUS in Canada; as well as the original Team TalkTalk in London.

Johnny Hornby, Founder of The&Partnership, said: “This signifies another great win for The&Partnership’s full-service, innovation-driven model – which has helped clients from TalkTalk to TELUS to News UK and The Wall Street Journal future-proof their businesses and brands. Toyota is a fantastic brand that deserves smart, best-in-class communications and we’re proud to be working with the Toyota brand again.”

The&Partnership’s creative agency CHI&Partners worked with Toyota for seven years, between 2003 and 2010. CHI&Partners has also enjoyed a long and rewarding relationship with Toyota’s luxury car brand Lexus – with recent creative highlights including the Lexus Hoverboard, which won the Gold Cyber Lion at Cannes in 2016. CHI&Partners was this year the UK’s most-awarded independent agency at Cannes Lions, as well as Digital Agency of the Year at the Campaign BIG Awards.

Karl Schlicht, Executive Vice President of Toyota Motor Europe, said: “Our ambition is to strengthen Toyota’s brand image in Europe by producing ever better cars, communicating a clear brand purpose and maximising the effectiveness of our media investments. We believe a new business model is required to achieve this – one that is more integrated and customer-centric – with digital transformation at its heart. We have therefore decided to appoint The&Partnership as our single, integrated agency partner for all marketing, digital and media activities across Europe.”