With business comes competition. Every company that is trying to sell a product of some sort has to compete with other companies that are selling a similar product; one of the two companies usually comes out on top. One of the most influential ways that the companies present their products to the world is through advertisements. One such pair of competitors are Toyota and Lexus. As we all know, these two companies are two very popular car brands and in this essay I will examine how each of the two advertise their cars, specifically their recent SUVs. Furthermore, I will investigate each company separately, the different tactics each of them use, and how effective their advertisements really are.
Toyota is one of the most widely known car brands in the whole world. Before talking about how they promote their brand, it is important to know the history of the brand. It was founded by the Toyoda family, mainly by the head of the family named Klichiro Toyoda. But if their name was Toyoda, why did they name the company Toyota one may wonder? Well the answer to that is quite simple. It took eight strokes of a pen to write the name “Toyota” in Japanese and the number eight is considered to bring luck and prosperity. Their first product, made in 1934, was actually not a car, but an engine of some sort; they made their first car in 1936 which was named ‘Toyota AA’. Since then they classify their vehicles into three categories: hybrid vehicles, conventional engine vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles. Starting in the 1990s,
Prajapati 2
Toyota began to make more spacious and luxurious cars which gave it even more popularity. They are now the world’s largest automobile maker with a net worth of 236 billion dollars and a fifteen percent market share. It wasn’t easy getting to this point, however.
They put a great deal of effort into promoting their designs and they still do. They make both print and commercial advertisements. Let’s talk about their print ads first. Toyota’s brand color is known to be red which is why in every one of their ads there is always something red in them whether it be the color of the car being used, the words, or something in the background. But it isn’t just red, there are many other colors; their ads are very colorful and eye catching. Another important detail is that ninety nine percent of the time it is a picture of the car that they are advertising in a very scenic area such as a sunset, a mountainous area, or in a desert; the other one percent the car is shown in a local area like in front of a coffee shop or a theatre to probably show the normality of their cars. There isn’t much writing on them and if there is, it is just a few words in a brief sentence and/or the name of the car; whatever writing they do have is written in simple yet elegant fonts, perhaps to replicate the style of their car models. Two ads that demonstrate these descriptions include the ‘2018 Toyota RAV4 adventure’ ad and the ‘Toyota Rush’ ad. Their commercials convey a lot more about the product they’re trying to sell than the print ads. The first commercial I will analyze is the ‘Toyota SUV, because the time is now (2017)’. This commercial shows the car driving in many different scenic locations similar to the ones described in the print ads with an voiceover saying inspiring quotes about the brief history of Toyota and what you can achieve with the car. It doesn’t really show the interior of the car much; it just very briefly shows the seats and radio system. What was influential about this
Prajapati 3
commercial was that it had an immense amount of imagery which really attracts the audience and makes them love the car. The second commercial is called ‘Toyota C-HR crossover SUV’ which presents the car in a slightly different manner. Theres a storyline in this commercial; there is a man who works at a coffeeshop (who owns a Toyota) with two customers. The two customers leave to go somewhere and after a while the man working there leaves as well which is when the car is shown. The man in the Toyota is able to get to the destination faster than the other two men and is able to navigate through big and small spaces easily. With this commercial, the features that Toyota highlights are the speed, the compact yet spacious size of the car, the bumper feature, and sleek outer design. There is no way any company can reach out to everyone in the world at the same time because everyone likes and wants different things, so every company usually only targets a certain audience to appeal to. Toyota’s target audience I feel are young and adventurous adults; they are people who aren’t afraid to take risks with this fabulous car.
From Toyota to a small division of Toyota Motors now known famously as Lexus. Lexus is the luxury division of the Toyota brand and the largest selling brand of premium cars. It originated in 1983, but did not get named as ‘Lexus’ until 2005. Their sales have largely increased since the 2000s and operate in more than ninety countries over six continents. Being a luxury car brand, their 2017 revenue was around 305 billion dollars with a 15.05 percent market share which is slightly higher than Toyota’s. Similar to Toyota, they too produce both print and commercial ads. In their print ads, the color scheme is mostly just black, white, and grayish; it isn’t very colorful. The car they choose to portray is often a very dark color. The car is isolated in
Prajapati 4
the midst of either an empty road or just a black or white background; they keep their print ads very simplistic, but they have a very technological and futuristic vibe to them. There isnt much to look at but the car, however they do have a lot of writing on them with simple fonts. Also, if seen very closely one can see that the tires are running but the background seems very still which may be to show how smoothly the car drive is. Going onto the commercials with the first one being for the ‘2018 Lexus RX 350L’. This commercial is presented from the perspective of a child; the story is basically that the little girl is saying that her parents got a car but they don’t know that the car is really for her. It shows that car with many children, toys, and a pregnant lady getting on the car which gives it a familial feel. The main feature highlighted in the commercial is the third row of seats so it is able to fit not five but up to eight people now. Another popular commercial is the ‘2017 Lexus RX’ commercial. Just like the other one this one did not have a distinct story to it, but that doesn’t mean it was less effective. This ad showed different people making routine mistakes to convey the saying that “to err is human”. But then comes a Lexus and they say that with this car there is no chance for error; it will anticipate a mistake before it even happens with its many technology features. Features that are highlighted in the ad are the pedestrian detector, auto braking in car of danger, lane departure alert, and the cool outer design. Just like the Toyota ads, it doesn’t show the interior design much. Even though its a luxury car, they try to show that anyone can use it in their daily life; they appeal to families and they show the space and comfort for kids in their SUV. They show that luxury cars aren’t just for young adults.
Even though Toyota and Lexus are both advertising SUVs, their methods are quite different. Toyota ads have more vibrant and bright colors whereas Lexus uses more of a black
Prajapati 5
and white scheme. Because of this difference, some may see Lexus as a more gloomy company and Toyota as the more optimistic one. Another difference is the background in each— however, the scenic backgrounds in Toyota ads may distract audiences from the look of the actual car, but in Lexus there is no chance of that since the car is the almost the only thing on the ads. Lexus doesn’t have distracting images, but their ads do have a lot more writing, and that too in very small font, which can be far more repelling for some people. One last key difference between the two is that Toyota doesn’t appeal to families as they do young adults, but it reduces their audience which can lead to fewer purchases; Lexus appeals to a broader audience. With the evidence above, it is clear that Lexus’ ads are more effective; this is why Lexus has a higher revenue and a higher market share even though Lexus is a much more expensive car. The entirety of Toyota Motors sold a total of 42,000 cars in the past month and 28,000 of those cars were sold just by Lexus; this goes to show how popular Lexus is.
Lexus and Toyota are kind of like Apple and Samsung; there will always be people that strongly prefer one brand over the other. I for one, am a Toyota fan because growing up we have owned a verity of them and I currently drive a Toyota RAV4 and it is a wonderful car. When it comes to the ads however, I do believe that Lexus ads are more influential due to their styling and execution. Because of personal taste, some say that Lexus is a better and a more comfortable drive while others say that Lexus cars are just Toyota cars with fancy seats. This dispute may never completely be solved, but as Nancy Pearcey once said “competition is a good thing; it forces us to do our best”.