South Africa’s most favourite canine spokesperson, Toyota SA’s Buddy the boxer, stars in a new TV ad for the company’s certified used vehicle brand, Automark.
Created by Draftfcb Johannesburg’s creative team of Group Executive Creative Officer Brett Morris, James Cloete and Ivor Forrester, the ad was directed by Bouffant Productions and post-produced by Sinister Studio. Comedian Chris Forest is the voice behind the in-your-face Buddy.
The ad shows Buddy butting in on his owner’s Internet surfing. He – the owner – is exploring Automark’s highly-functional website (www.automark.co.za) to search for a used car. Intrigued by all the vehicles on display, Buddy paws at the keyboard to learn more.
Morris points out that this ad is much shorter (10 seconds) than Buddy’s previous appearances but, thanks to his celebrity status, the South African public immediately connect him to the Toyota brand, giving the creative and strategic teams the flexibility to achieve more using less resources.
“The fact that Buddy has featured in all Toyota SA’s marketing communication for the past six months has reaped rewards for the client,’ he said. “Buddy is instantly recognisable and readily linked by viewers to the Toyota brand and therefore easily breaks through the current advertising clutter to extend reach and influence recall.’
Len von Graevenitz, Vice President: Vehicle Sales & Dealer Network adds: Having an “icon in the making’ like Buddy allowed us to cross over to the certified used vehicle portion of the business and to create synergies in the mind of the consumer. It provides a platform for instant recognition by the public of the fact that Automark vehicles are backed by Toyota and therefore, come with all the trustworthiness of a new car.’
The website is populated by the used vehicles available at Automark dealers, after they have been thoroughly checked and certified by Toyota. Visitors to the site can search for the car they want by make and model, price, type of vehicle or key word.
