The Toyota Camry has been the best-selling non-pickup truck brand in the United States for several years. Nonetheless, the brand’s image has been been rather “vanilla.” It’s trying now to change that.
“Toyota pulled the wraps off the all-new 2018 Toyota Camry at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show. Though sedan sales have lost ground to crossovers in recent years, any manufacturer would be thrilled to offer a vehicle in its lineup that could emulate the Camry’s perennially robust sales performance. So, yes, the debut of new Camry is a big deal.”
“With that said, the Camry has a reputation of being plain vanilla (we’ll only point out that vanilla is far and away the most popular flavor of ice cream). The 2018 model apparently aims to reverse that perception. The SE and XSE trim levels represent what is easily the boldest Camry yet, with a hint of rear fender bulge, well-considered proportions, and a confident face. Entry-level LE and XLE models are more subdued, save for an imposing grille. Sure, the new Camry’s various creases on the hood and the flanks are a bit fussy, but the new car’s attitude is undeniable.”
“Beyond the striking new styling, Toyota promises that the new car is significantly more driver-focused, offering superior driving dynamics. Engineers point to its lower roof and seating position, both of which drop an inch compared to the current model to help lower its center of gravity. A 1.5-inch-lower hoodline is said to improve outward visibility in the bargain, so it won’t feel as if you’re sitting in bathtub.”
In addition to revamping the Camry for 2018, Toyota is updating its advertising strategy on social media and for TV — including the use of emojis.
Acording to E.J. Schultz, writing for Advertising Age:
“Twitter introduced emoji targeting last year, allowing advertisers to steer ads to people that have recently tweeted emojis or engaged with other emoji-laden tweets to determine a person’s interests and mood. Toyota’s campaign shows a huge array of videos featuring Camry drivers with emojis as heads. For instance, a person who recently tweeted a smiley face icon could be targeted with a promoted tweet. The campaign also includes more traditional elements, like TV ads. The spots pair music with music-like sounds coming from the Camry, such as an engine revving.”
In my opinion, I feel like the reason the Camry has been so successful over the years is because of its simplicity and reliability. I have always thought that the Camry was a car for an older person, or the type of car that a parent would buy their teenager as a first car. I am not sure if Toyota is where people would turn when they want something a bit more flashy. I feel like they should have stuck to what has been working for so long, which is the vanilla simplicity of the Camry. Only time will tell if this change will work for the better.
It would appear that the already successful Camry is trying to make a new name, and face, for itself. Their ads cater to the everyday consumer who wants a quiet, comfortable reliable car. Which, in my opinion was what the old Camry was. A non exciting appliance used to get you from A-B without a moment of uncertainty. However with the use of fast cuts of an actor shifting an automatic and the sound and sight of exhaust notes leads us to think this Camry is now a fire breathing 300 horsepower (available) grocery-getter. Well I don’t buy it. Or at least will not buy it. Even though this car may hit the bill on everything that makes a car exceptionable I can not get past the stigma of driving a mundane Camry. It will be interesting to see if young up coming buyers are sucked into the gimmicks of emoji headed drivers and action shots of a strong willed business women adjusting the AC.
This is a step in the right direction for the Camry. Just as Honda did with the Accord a few years ago, they’ve given it more aggressive styling and made it much more appealing to younger buyers. Traditionally, both the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry have been cars that have appealed to middle-aged consumers looking for a safe and reliable car. Moving forward, it appears as if both cars will be targeting younger consumers as well. Just how the average person 20 years ago wanted a more conservative and reserved car, the average person in 2017 wants a car with modern, aggressive styling. Toyota made the right move with this redesign, it will be interesting to see if it competes with the Accord as well as it has in the past.
As a loyal driver of a Toyota Camry, this article really captured my attention. Although I know the reliability of this car is impeccable, I’ve always felt that its physical appearance could improve. Fortunately, now it is being done with the new 2018 model being released shortly and it will no longer look like a vanilla sedan on the road.
As a Camry owner myself, I think that they do a good job of advertising their products. They offer many options at many different price points, and no matter how advanced the functions are, they are always very simple to use. Being user friendly is an extremely important part of the buying process, because the real way to know if you want to buy a car is how it feels, and Toyota does an amazing job at that. Once they get people through the door, they know that they will have a loyal customer.
The Toyota Carmy is probably the most popular car and the number one reason is because people trust it and view it as reliable and inexpensive. This new model may still be reliable and inexpensive, but I don’t think that it will be viewed as a “vanilla” car anymore. That was the goal of this new Camry and hopefully it will help their car to appeal to a broader audience. They also seem to want to target a younger market of drivers since they are using emojis in their advertisements now. We will see if this was an effective strategy throughout the upcoming year.
As a sophomore student, I just got my driving license done and recently, I am considering to buy my first car. This post is definitely helpful to me cause it introduce so much about Toyota Camry which will be considerable when I thinking about the brand of my new car.
Previously, the primary goal of the Toyota Camry was to simply allow drivers to move from one place to another without any inconvenience as a measure of maintenance. This allowed customers to be satisfied as much as the standards of a vanilla car when compared to that of a crossover SUV. However, with these new developments in styling and the engineering behind the car, there can be no doubt that Toyota is seeking to attract younger customers which is truly fine, as long the car is measured highly to the already set standards.
If you were to go out onto any major highway, you would most likely see camrys in high majority amidst the sea of sedans. While there are other competitors such as the Ford Focus and Honda Civic, I believe that the Toyota Camry and its new changes will change the game. Despite the fact that other car manufactures are redesigning their flagship models in hopes to make them more attractive, the Camry’s new details and design are something special.
Toyota’s Camry new marketing strategy is comparable to when Apple released its iPhone 5c. They have both introduced the Camry and iPhone respectively as mainly plain, simple, and “vanilla” products. This has gained them a reliable, yet predictable reputation. Both companies tried a new strategy rather than sticking to traditional product design. Both companies decided to target a younger and popular demographic by releasing edgy and seemingly powerful Camry models and iPhones available in an array of different eye popping colors. For Apple, this phase of testing a new strategy did not prove to be a reliable tactic for they returned to the same monochromatic color schemes for their later models. The same may result for the Toyota Camry.
The camry is known as a very reliable car but was never known for having flashy looks. Toyota is taking the next step in revolutionizing the camry and making it more appealing to the eye. They are hoping that this new style will attract a new audience of customers.