PUBLICIS MOJO SYDNEY’S CAMRY CAMPAIGN: IS EVERY BIT BRILLIANT?
Publicis Mojo Sydney has created a new campaign to reposition Camry, one of Toyota’s flagship brands.
The multi-channel campaign brings to life the inspiration and dedication that goes into every part of creating a Camry, and is headlined by a thoughtful 60 second spot, directed by Nick Gordon of Academy London.
The campaign is also supported by a series of 15 second spots that highlight the inspiration behind some of Camry’s features, along with print, outdoor and digital concepts, including the new camry.com.au site.
Says Publicis Mojo Creative Director Micah Walker: “I think we’ve helped tell an original story about a car most people think they know everything about and set up a long term strategy for Camry while doing so. We’ve had a lot of people working their tali off over the past seven months to make it happen, agency, client and production side, and I hope they’re all proud of it.”
Toyota’s Corporate Manager for National Advertising Scott Thompson said the intent behind the campaign is to get people to re-evaluate the Camry and see the strength in all of the thinking that’s gone into it: “We really felt we needed to find a new way to talk about Camry, and another ad full of cars shots and meandering voice overs just wasn’t going to reframe the conversation. The idea of ‘Every Bit Brilliant’ and Mojo’s execution of it, we believe sets us on the right path. It’s not like other car advertising and at the same time it just feels so right for our brand.”
The campaign goes to air tomorrow night (Saturday, August 23).
View the first spot
View the second spot
View the third spot
View the print ad
CLIENT: Toyota Motor Corporation Australia
Peter Webster, Scott Thompson, Loretta Law, Hannah Roy & Lisa Sutherland
AGENCY: Publicis Mojo Australia
Creative Director: Micah Walker
Creative Team: Paul Sharp, Jon Rosen, Mike Burdick
Account Management: Amanda Wheeler, Sara McConkey, Katrina Borghetti
Strategic Planning: Ian Cassidy
TV Production: Sacha Loverich
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Academy Films, London
Director: Nick Gordon
Producers: Sally Campbell, Laura Kanerick
DoP: Olivier Cariou
LINE PRODUCTION COMPANY: GoodOil, Sydney
ANIMATION & POST PRODUCTION: Fuel VFX, Sydney
PHOTOGRAPHER: Greg White, London
88 Comments
Sharpos! great stuff mate.
The lighting above the car is a touch of class.
such a short and sweet endline too.
Really nice. best work on this blog in awhile. well done to the peoples who made it.
I love the soundtrack. Any idea who did it?
Well done Mojo, well done!
Online shit is great. Just hope you can point people to it.
But fuck it. Still great.
Well done Mojo. Genuinely great stuff.
Looks Good…..lets just hope we don’t see it butchered by a voice over talking about car features by the time it gets to air
That is one seriously pretentious and boring campaign. Consumers will not think this is cool. Points for trying but it’s pretty lame.
Holy crap. I just went to the ‘brilliant’ website. I want to punch those geeks out. Nerds at Toyota talking about how brilliant they are. A good lesson on how to disconnect with your consumer at warp speed.
It’s very good stuff. I don’t know if it’s gonna set the world on fire, but as far as good ads go, this is one of them. Congrats.
6 positive comments to Mojo during the middle of the night. Looks like the uk production company knows how to keep sweet with the uk ecd to ensure more trips out to oz.
Very nice guys. Well done to all involved.
My only prob with it is that the idea is not the original ,,, the execution is what makes it.
And, from someone who has worked on the account … how the hell did you convince the client not to have the ‘oh what a feeling’ jump at the end? Is this the agency edit?
Nope. This is not the agency edit.
And for the pretentious comment above, what would you rather another car on a winding road or another gag in the same tone of voice as everything else on telly?
An awful lot of Mojo/Academy Film comments here… wonder what the punters will feel. Hmmmm. Yawn.
And where’s the “Oh what a feeling” jump???
To 5:29 with the question:
Q
“How the hell did you convince the client not to have the ‘oh what a feeling’ jump at the end?”
A
There is currently a spot that’s dedicated to only the ‘oh what a feeling’ jump which is set in slow motion. If you want to keep it off your ad convince the client that they can have their jump in a ad all of its own. Don’t be too surprised when the new campaign goes to air tonight that the slow motion jump will run too.
On another note anyone else noticed the Bendigo Bank ads where we see the word ‘Community’ spelled out with people holding large foam letters at the end. The letters C.N.T are larger than all the other letters which catch the eye. The large C at the beginning with a gap of smaller letters then a large N and T. Then it cuts to the end with the floating letter ‘U’. Can’t help but think their taking the piss!
that is one seriously boring website.
Cynical fuckers take note. That means you “anony-mouse”.
I made a positive comment about this before. I had nothing to do with the campaign. In fact, making a positive comment is possibly detrimental to the new business I’ve set up with a few small clients.
But it’s seriously good. It works. And well done to everyone involved. It makes me want to forget about the 1.5 mill I’ve just popped for 3 people in a small shop (equal share each means 500k for 4 months work) and go work there.
But, money is money. Well done anyway.
newsflash 7:50……that was in the Herald week before last.. good pick up, hotshot
Average at best,despite the obviously biased Mojo PR in earlier comments.
7:50 (Mojo employee),
The slow motion jump was done by Toyota’s retail agency.
This was not part of Mojo’s clever sell to have an ad dedicated to the jump all on its own.
Like I said, i’ve worked on the account and I know how committed Peter Webster and Co. are to this wonderful jump.
Somehow you guys got away with it. Well done.
The test would be if you can do it again.
I like every ad from Toyota ending with a jump. What’s the big deal?
Brilliant? What a MOJO-ke.
reminds me of the Honda thought bubble ad.
Rare to see a car ad that isn’t packed full of crap – 30 different angles, 20 different features and a revved up VO to match. Nice.
And its got nothing to do with camry. Chuck any car there.
Toyota looks like a dull palce to work.
If the ad was a good original idea it may be worth discussing how they got the client to drop the jump scene. As it is not, who cares.
A car ad that doesn’t show the car cruising around to a shit music track.
What a great opportunity wasted.
Brilliant, love it!
Great strategy, simple execution….just an overall smart ad.
It’s not going to win Gold at Cannes but it will certainly sell more Camry’s for Toyota.
Well done Mojo best car ad I’ve seen in this country in a long long while.
i think the ad is cute, however, that is one of the worst websites i’ve seen in a while. it’s dull with no interesting content (having a talking guy does not make up for the fact that what you’re saying is crap).
I think the website does a great job of explaining the cars features and benefits..better online then in the ad don’t you think 6.43 but I guess you walk in to a dealer and let them tell you everything anyway…tool!
This ad breaks convention (no jump, no metal on winding road) but who cares. Its boring, it does not feel Camry (fun, dynamic, energetic etc), the branding is so minimal that nobody will know its for Toyota or Camry.
Its good evidence to suggest Mojo do not know how to build brands – but they can make a quicky tvc well (albeit in the same washed out style everyone else is currently doing).
Waste of opportunity.
I hope this make the cut for Award as I won’t hesitate to vote for it.
It’s a really nice ad, lots to be proud of congrats to the Mojo team. There’s simply not a car ad on tv in Australia that is anywhere near as endearing or differentiating for it’s product and client.
Deal with it people, If you don’t like this you’re simply out of touch.
PS: the 15s are great.
7.03…
Camry: fun, dynamic and energetic?
Wrong brief pal, I think your talking about Toyota Corolla but I guess you skip the brand values section in every brief you work on.
With regards to missing the branding Mojo should have done what everyone else does and have a big logo stamp down on screen with a giant thud sound effect and a voice over telling you what your already seeing.
Really hope your not a Creative Director as it would be very unfair on your teams.
As they say: “Consumers are never bored into buying anything.”
The Toyota jump on it’s own, is more interesting this.
Nescafe, now this. Dull must be the new Mojo house style
I’m not going to rant. Just agree with 7:03. Shite.
It’s nice. It’ll stand out amongst the heavy handed competition and it will appeal to the older dudes who go for that kind of car. Anyone who says it’s shite is talking it.
The family man living in the burbs won’t give a fuck about this ad. Its full of ad wank.
I’m surprised Toyota’s marketing team bought it. Seems like Mojo managed to talk them into this and talk them out of the toyota jump.
Very nice stuff. Good to see great work on a real client.
The ad was as boring as a Camry, so it’s a perfect fit.
Sorry 9:07 but I disagree. In my humble opinion its yet another campaign that is just too cool for the brand. They’ve taken three steps forward creatively but the car looks like its the same old Camry. So we’ll end up with a campaign that maybe a lot of people remember but very few if any will link to Camry. In other words, the campaign raises expectations far beyond what the car [in its current shape and for] can deliver and therefore will ultimately disappoint.
Well done guys.
Best Australian car ad I’ve seen in a long, long time.
I can’t believe the anonymous’s are bagging it.
Silly me, it’s the blog after all.
Reminds me of Droga5… talks like a Ferrari but drives like a Camry.
Getting people to feel good about a car right now would be very difficult and these guys have done it. Nice stuff.
10:34 That comment just shows how out of touch you and everyone you work with probably is. What is there is to feel good about this car apart from the fact it’s made by librarians.
I don’t love the 30 sec- a bit boring- but I think the 15s are really nice.
Does it really get people to feel good about the car 10:34? Or does it make Toyota people feel good about being themselves? I suspect the latter. It is a nice looking ad, but as my wife said when it came on over the weekend, “what a load of toss”. Points for not showing winding roads etc, but unless this Camry has somehow reinvented the wheel, it feels like a bit of an over-promise.
An ordinary ad for an ordinary car,at least the advertising doesn’t over promise…..unlike the press release.
Feels like someone’s said ‘I know, let’s do one of those honda style ads’ .
So it’s not surprising and in fact, when analysed, it’s a very linear expression of the brief.
In my, admittedly antediluvian, day, this would have been regarded as somewhat first thought stuff, clunky and lacking observation. But I find this quite often nowadays. Adding a plaintive sound track always makes things seem ‘deep’ though.
Mojo have nailed that ‘international style’ which was looking fresh like five years ago.
Man I hate when people say stuff like “they could have done anything.Missed opportunity” What condescending bullshit. There would have been all the typical problems anyone faces on any brief, the same as the the brief you’re doing now.
Ain’t goin to Cannes on that.
They made a good ad. Good for them. Bad for you. Unless you’re one of them.
Really nice.
Congrats chaps.
Good stuff guys. Keep up the good work.
I like it. It’s cute and makes me feel a bit more positive about a car I felt kind of apathetic about before I saw these spots.
One question though. Will the people who worked really hard on this (‘agency, client and production side’) be able to get their talis back again?
Spot on 10:05
I’m sure the art director and writer would love to drive a Camry.
Honda ‘Thought Bubbles’ ad.
What frustrates me most is not the ads themselves but the fact that so many people on this blog cannot judge them adequately.
It tells me a lot about the state of this industry.
Anything has to be an improvement on the Toyota Kluger spot where the porsche driver’s house gets demolished by a meteor.
Fricken horrific.
People here are wondering how a Toyota ad gets approved without a jump at the end? Ask yourself how a whole ad that has bad performances, bad post effects and such a weak script even gets up to start with.
Selling Camrys is a tough gig. As good as you could hope for really.
Kinda nice. Reminds me of Honda without the subtle humour. Actually like the 15’s more for that reason.
Prob not award winning but that’s not the only reason we make ads, despite what you hear on this blog.
Self-indulgent crap. Looks like every other international ad out there, and it’s an idea that’s been done to death.
Well done for Mojo on making a flash video website that doesn’t jitter and stall on Australia’s shitty bandwidth connection. Although the scripts for the scientist guys could have been better. I tuned out after 8 seconds, logged off after 15.
Well, it’s better than Nissan. Subaru stuff and that Ford walking fingers stuff is nice and emotional. The Honda Flying ad was kind of nice as well. But, better than Nissan, better than Hilux and… better than kia / skoda. Nicer than Holden. Better than Mazda.
I think this is at the mid-top end of the great bell curve of shit car advertising is in Australia. And really, you can only judge this against the local category because clients and suits write the ads here.
The website ain’t that good, if you’re using Firefox 3.0 and have adblock, all you get is a white page! Don’t people test this shit out before it goes live?
Sorry to change the subject but if an Aussie agency kept on screwing up as much as Commbanks American agency they would’ve been sacked by now. For instance, the print ad with the headline ‘Determined to offer strength in uncertain times’. This implies that strength, a key brand equity for CommBank for nearly 100 years, is now presented as an option, or is only rolled out when times are tough. Surely those Bozos who act as the Comm Bank Marketing Dept. in their commercials must be thinking of reviewing their agency by now.
Who cares…apparently Todd Sampson is the 3rd most f—able person on television.
From SMH by David Dale
August 25, 2008
THREE WEEKS ago, inspired by a claim allegedly made by Channel Nine’s news director, John Westacott, that “to make it in this industry, you gotta have f—ability”, this column sought readers’ help in developing a Desirability Index for television personalities.
Miraculously, 151 readers responded. Here, in order of public preference, are the personalities who received more than three votes.
The most f—able people on Australian television this year are:
1 Rupert Penry-Jones (Spooks);
2 Jennifer Hawkins (Make Me A Supermodel);
3 Todd Sampson (The Gruen Transfer);
pretty classy work.
Better than anything else I’ve seen.
How anyone can say it’s shit is just pure negativity. Seriously.
Why is this blog like this, so negative?
Is it reflective of the industry?
8:33 I hear you that the blog is pretty negative. Unfortunately, most people are saying the ads and the campaign are boring, because they are.
Who are they talking to? It’s Toyota talking to themselves. Tell me how in any way there is a connection with the consumer. It’s an honest critique, not a unfounded slag. If I was watching TV I wouldn’t give a toss about this campaign.
totally agree with 8.33pm. this is really nice work, particularly for this market and anyone bagging it is probably just pissed that they are currently in a shit fight selling another ‘car on winding road’ spot. why can’t this industry support each other when nice work is done. tall poppy anyone????
6:19 are you kidding, at least the hilux ad was funny. the honda flying ad was ok, but not terribly original.
Every Bit VW Obsession out of BMP/DDB London, god knows how many years ago. Same brief – to make fleet car buyers think they’re individuals.
watching these spots was the first time i’ve ever felt any sort of fondness for a camry… well done guys
and no I dont work for Mojo. Or Academy
8:33, Like it or not this is how the blog works. Judging by these comments you’d think the Australian Ad Industry would be in much better shape than what it is. The fact is most people leaving these comments don’t have any pedigree.
In saying that, I’m sure the guys at Mojo have said negative comments about other ads in the past. It’s just how this blog works ………
I get bored with crap work too, but that’s no reason to support something just because its different. It’s like setting up a gay bar in Lakemba. Different – yeah!
Good – idea no! The car hasn’t changed in appearance one little bit and now I’m expected to believe there’s been some brilliant break-through that’s turned it into the future of motoring. I don’t think so. Different stuff,the same old stuff – sometimes they’re as bad as each other.
beautifully crafted site. nice work.
The agency that did the slow motion jump was also Mojo. Brilliant strategy.
quality.
Lovely.
Camry never stood for anything. Now it does. Good job.
Micah’s old agency, Fallon, did a campaign for Sony Cybershot just before he left. Anyone else think it bears a striking resemblance to his new Camry campaign?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TTbN9-4Rpw
Woa…that’s a stretch. Regardless of how you feel about the Camry ad, what’s the point of placing a post like that?
brilliant
Ludicrous Ad with silly things dangling over people’s heads and very irritating ‘music’. These kinds of ads are torture for viewers. I have to reach for the remote mute button twenty of thirty times each evening. I wish I could record a loud raspberry that played loudly in the homes of Mojo staff every times this ad plays on TV.
Hey people, when you are referring to the slow motion advert of the guy jumping, are you meaning the one where the camera starts at his feet and moves up his body cutting till the last shot is him mid air?
Anyone know where I might be able to view this online or see it somehow?