Campaign: Toyota Free Ride

Agency: Venture Communications
Role: Creative Director

Boosting Toyota Sales with Experiential Marketing

How do you get potential customers excited about test-driving a Toyota? You make it unforgettable. Free Ride was a bold experiential and social media campaign designed to reshape perceptions and drive engagement for the Prairie Toyota Dealers.

We teamed up with Canadian celebrities to create unexpected moments of delight. Passengers waiting at local hotspots were surprised by their favorite stars pulling up in Toyota vehicles. Each car was equipped with cameras and microphones to capture unscripted, authentic content. The footage was edited and shared across pre-roll and social platforms, turning real-life experiences into shareable, engaging stories.

To keep the tone light and authentic, we steered clear of hard-sell tactics, focusing instead on the unique joy of the experience. Dealer incentives were seamlessly included at the end of ads to nudge viewers toward their local dealerships.

The Results
The impact was undeniable. Toyota sales in the Prairie zone surged 10.8% since the campaign launch in September 2016, far outpacing the 7% growth of the rest of the auto industry in the region. Even within Toyota, the results stood out—the zone’s growth more than doubled the 4.2% seen in the rest of Canada during the same period.

Over two years, the campaign evolved, honing its strategy and execution to amplify engagement and results. The Free Ride campaign wasn’t just an experience—it was a movement that redefined how Prairie Toyota Dealers connected with their audience, proving the power of experiential marketing to drive brand love and measurable growth.