Expermenting With Advertising

You want to reach that allusive 18-25 demographic. You make cars. You think, "hey, they play immersive video games, what if we were to create an immersive video game that made owning one of our cars the goal of the game?"

If you're Toyota, you're big enough to experiment. Sometimes, the experiment doesn't quite work out. Take for example the latest campaign for Scion. Toyota's hoping to launch a new 'trendy' car model called the xD by using a surprisingly violent message.

Slate looks at the new campaign and game today, and nicely points out that while the overall strategy may be worthwhile, the execution of that strategy leaves mixed messages. The goal of the game associated with the new xD is to kill as many "Sheeples" as you can, ultimately using their blood to fuel your new car.

Toyota would hope that the viewer (or in this case, the player) is left thinking that by owning an xD they've destroyed the sheep-like conformity plaguing the car buying public. But the feeling most people get is that owning an xD makes you a bad person.

Experimentation is good. It helps you understand the boundaries of your marketing message and find new ways to connect with your target audiences. The key to any experiment is to find a way to evaluate the results. AdSymetrix has been created to make that kind of evaluation simple and easy. Just Tag Your Ad and watch as AdSymetrix tracks and monitors your responses. You'll know what ads are working and what ads are wasting your time.