LOS ANGELES, June 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Before customers even step foot in a dealership, Toyota has partnered with Conill and 8th Wall to develop an interactive augmented reality (AR) mobile ad unit for the launch of the greater than ever 2020 Toyota Corolla sedan. The immersive web-based experience allows potential customers the ability to bring the car into their own environment, where they can explore the car’s features from the convenience of a mobile device.
“We always want to offer our guests a greater vehicle experience,” said Cynthia Tenhouse, vice president, Vehicle Marketing & Communications, Toyota Motor North America. “The new generation of Hispanic car buyers are an incredibly important audience for Toyota, so we’re excited to deliver an engaging digital experience that produces a unique opportunity for consumers to visualize and engage with the greater-than-ever Corolla at the touch of their fingertips.”
The Toyota Corolla Sedan web-based AR experience initially appears as a mobile banner ad. Once clicked, the user’s camera is accessed to enable the AR experience, and a Toyota Corolla sedan appears in the user’s environment. The Spanish-language mobile ad unit includes interactive hotspots that highlight three key features of the vehicle: its moonroof, LED headlights and 18-inch alloy wheels. The user is prompted to explore these features up close and can even go inside the car to view its interior in 360 degrees.
“We sought to help our young Latino audience experience the Corolla sedan where they spend most of their time: on their mobile phones,” said Veronica Elizondo, Vice President, Group Creative Director, Conill. “This type of execution, without the need to download apps, goes beyond traditional media channels and reinforces Toyota’s position as leader in innovation and technology.”
This Corolla Sedan interactive AR unit is a first for the brand, as it uses 8th Wall technology, meaning the 3D model is interactive, providing users the ability to tap and turn the headlights on, open the moonroof and tap to see the 18-inch wheels turning.
“Augmented reality provides a natural and intuitive way for people to consume digital content, and brands can leverage this to build a more authentic relationship with their customers,” said Erik Murphy-Chutorian, CEO of 8th Wall. “The web-based AR experience that Conill created for the Toyota Corolla sedan using 8th Wall technology is an example of an interactive, immersive advertisement that can be experienced within the mobile browser, allowing the customer to virtually bring the product into their own environment. This not only provides important context and visualization for technical features to the user, but it helps to qualify customers before they arrive at the dealership.”
The ad unit will be served to customers in the United States with Android devices, with plans to include iOS customers later this year. The experience can be viewed HERE.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands. Over the past 60 years, we’ve built more than 38 million cars and trucks in North America, where we have 14 manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold 2.8 million cars and trucks (2.4 million in the U.S.) in 2018.
About Conill
Founded in 1968 as the nation’s first Latino marketing agency, Conill is currently among the most highly awarded multicultural agencies in the U.S. It has been recognized in Advertising Age’s annual Agency A-List Report in seven of the past nine years, including Multicultural Agency of the Year honors in 2011 and 2007. The agency’s roster of clients includes Audible, Denny’s, Lowe’s, Procter & Gamble, T-Mobile and Toyota.
About 8th Wall, Inc.
Founded in 2016, 8th Wall, Inc. is an augmented reality development platform for building interactive AR experiences that run on all mobile devices. 8th Wall is breaking down walls between the digital and physical worlds, allowing creators and brands to develop immersive content that can be instantly published to the mobile web. 8th Wall has powered AR content for brands including Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Miller Lite, British Gas, Heineken, Swiss Airlines, Toyota and Lego. 8th Wall is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif. For more information, please visit: www.8thwall.com. Follow 8th Wall on Twitter @the8thWall.
Media Contacts:
Delia López, Conill (for Toyota)
424.239.4078
delia.lopez@conill.com
Jennifer DeFalco
(650) 485-3679
jen@8thwall.com
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b0d191e7-3415-4de2-92fc-6180ef880db9
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7fa79ba6-5e60-4139-90ca-416fb7ad25ee