FCB Joburg decided to leverage Toyota’s Dakar equity – which features unbelievable driving and the inquisitive meerkat family and their ‘nod’ – across TV and cinema, radio, Out-of-Home, brochures, print, point-of-sale and digital (including a website) for the new limited edition Toyota Hilux GR-Sport.
The Hilux GR-Sport has bold and expressive styling. Its features include a black honeycomb grille, red or white outline on the LED fog lights and a special serial number plate. Toyota Gazoo Racing lettering also features on the sides and tailgate, while inside, Gazoo Racing red accents match the black interior and Gazoo Racing branding adorns the headrests, floor mats, and start button.
Toyota Marketing Manager, Lensha Dlamini said, ‘The Hilux GR-Sport is designed to appeal to the ‘dashing expressives’, people who want a vehicle that delivers performance and off-road capability, as well as styling. They believe their Hilux is an extension of their lifestyle and enjoy motor sports, outdoor activities and off-roading. Our brief to FCB Joburg was to – quite simply – put the Hilux GR-Sport well and truly out there.’
The ad was shot over two days in Cape Town with assistance from The Redhead Studio and Bird on a Wire. FCB Joburg’s Creative Director, Tian van den Heever, explained, ‘Every time a rally driver and his navigator traverse an obstacle – a dune, an anthill, a ‘donga’ – they respond physically. First, there’s the widening of the eyes. Then, their heads tilt back, before they wobble around uncontrollably as they land. We claimed this as the #TEAMHILUX nod in our 2018 ad as a mechanism to include all Toyota Hilux drivers in #TEAMHILUX as part of the family, so to speak.’
‘The #TEAMHILUX nod was quickly adopted by many South Africans and used as a mark of acknowledgment from one to the other. For Dakar 2019, we brought in a family to help us up the appeal. Today, they’re no strangers to South Africa’s and the world’s screens, and – as desert icons themselves – were ideal to give the new Hilux GR-Sport the ‘nod’,’ van den Heever concluded.
