The Whole Of New Zealand Becomes Toyota Commercial

Toyota and Saatchi & Saatchi NZ, with Spark Foundry NZ and Digitas NZ, have launched the next chapter of Toyota’s brand platform ‘Let’s Go Places’.

The new campaign was inspired by the fact that one in four vehicles on New Zealand roads is a Toyota -- meaning any intersection across the country could be a real-life ad for Toyota.

In the commercial, people waiting at an intersection spot so many Toyotas that they begin to wonder if they’re unwittingly starring in a commercial. These characters include cameos from Black Ferns, All Blacks and other Kiwi personalities, all of whom are featured in a range of Toyota vehicles, including hybrid models, the electric bZ4X and legacy Land Cruiser LC70. The advert also unlocks the vast range of Toyota’s mobility services in market, including Cityhop car-sharing, Ezi Car Rental, the hydrogen-powered Mirai, Toyota used cars and the Toyota aftersales network.

First introduced three years ago, Toyota’s original ‘Let’s Go Places’ brand platform envisioned the future of mobility. This follow-on campaign highlights the progress they’ve made with New Zealanders on their mobility solution journey.

Susanne Hardy, Toyota New Zealand assistant vice president, said, “Mobility is changing, as is the way people can access it. That’s why we are evolving from a car company into a mobility company for the future. We’re providing access to vehicles from various power-trains, in a number of ways. From hard working four-wheel drives to all electric cars, whether a customer is buying, leasing, renting or hiring by the week or the hour. ‘Let’s Go Places 2.0’ is about showcasing some of the many solutions we’re offering our customers and the role Toyota plays in connecting New Zealanders.”

Steve Cochran, CCO at Saatchi & Saatchi NZ, said, “Showcasing every Toyota proof point in a single commercial could have easily turned into a manifesto-style ad, and we wanted to avoid this. Striking upon the idea of instead having all these proof points coincidently at an intersection provided a far more engaging concept to explore. From there we embraced a playful approach that lets the full range of Toyota’s innovations -- from hybrid models to mobility services -- shine through.”

Spark Foundry NZ led media planning, with OOH ads showcasing the film’s characters and cars. From October, they'll track Toyota plate data at 11 key intersections to power live billboard counts as vehicles pass through, and drive user-generated content that invites Kiwis to share real moments with their own Toyota vehicles.

Digitas NZ led customer experience and content design, creating a unified website hub for the campaign's audience that spotlights Toyota's full range of mobility services -- all while reinforcing its ‘Let’s Go Places’ brand message.

Tim Bullock at Scoundrel directed the film commercial, and said, “When people ask where we filmed, the answer surprises them. Most of it was shot at an inconspicuous intersection just off the main road of Paeroa. This allowed us the freedom to lock things down for three days, leaving everything in place overnight.

"It was almost like being on a Hollywood lot and the whole town embraced us being there, they were fantastic. We then embellished the scenes in post with some footage shot in Auckland by adding buildings, traffic lights, the billboard and stuff to make it feel bigger, like it could be on the fringe of any New Zealand city.”

The campaign will roll out across a range of media channels over the next few months.