Toyota will "appear in the Super Bowl for the second straight year," and the company is giving the assignment to Burrell Communications, Chicago, according to E.J. Schultz of AD AGE. The ad will be for the '19 Toyota RAV4 "compact crossover." Saatchi & Saatchi, London, "normally takes the creative lead" on Toyota's big marketing campaigns, "including previous Super Bowl ads." Toyota "sat out" Super Bowl LI, but came back in '18 "in a big way with three ads: two 60-second spots and one 30-second ad." Super Bowl LII "represented Toyota's biggest Super Bowl ad buy ever." A Toyota spokesperson "declined to reveal the length or creative details" for the new ad. Toyota is the "fourth automaker to confirm a Super Bowl ad buy, following Mercedes-Benz, Kia and Hyundai." During Super Bowl LII, 11 auto commercials "ran featuring six brands" (ADAGE.com, 12/3).
GUESS WHO'S BACK: AUTOMOTIVE NEWS' Vince Bond Jr. reported Hyundai's Super Bowl return will mark the "eleventh time in the past 12 years that the brand has advertised during the game." The NFL's official automotive sponsor will "run a 60-second spot in the first quarter" of Super Bowl LIII in addition to a "30-second pregame commercial." Hyundai also will "engage fans with Super Bowl experiential marketing activities in Atlanta" (AUTONEWS.com, 12/3). ADWEEK's Doug Zanger noted Hyundai's in-house ad agency, Innocean, California, is "in the process of developing the campaign." In the past three Super Bowls, Hyundai has "made its marks with compelling, ambitious creativity and effectiveness." The brand last year "featured its non-profit Hyundai Hope on Wheels (which benefits pediatric cancer) in an ad that surprised its customers." Using metal detectors as "hope detectors" at Hyundai's NFL Super Bowl Experience, those who passed through "not only saw a version of the ad but also met some of the pediatric cancer survivors and family members their Hyundai purchase have helped" (ADWEEK.com, 12/3). AD AGE's Schultz noted Hyundai "did not release any creative details" about the campaign. However, the ad's first-quarter placement "suggests a different strategy than what Hyundai pursued the past two years when it attempted to film its ads in real-time during the game." The last time Hyundai took a "more traditional approach with pre-filmed ads" was in '16 when it ran "two in-game ads and one spot that aired between the coin toss and kickoff." The pre-game ad "starred Kevin Hart and went on [to] win USA Today's Super Bowl Ad Meter contest" (ADAGE.com, 12/3).
