In early 2008 the association of Quebec Toyota dealers, like the rest of the auto industry, had big challenges to tackle. By turning Toyota’s environmental leadership into tangible sales pitches that could be used for their entire line of vehicles, we showed that consumers could be greener and save money, and didn’t have to choose between the environment and affordability.
While the competition’s message was all about low prices, Toyota created green rates and messages from January to March: low prices on energy efficient vehicles. Toyota introduced this concept by turning its traditional “red sticker” sales into “green sticker” campaigns, telling consumers that with Toyota they didn’t have to choose between saving money and helping the environment. That put Toyota in a position to take advantage of steadily increasing gas prices to tell consumers that they could save at the pump while cutting emissions. Knowing that consumers were becoming increasingly aware of their environmental impact, Toyota was able to sell cars by telling people to drive less. The key was that the first step was getting the right car, then reconsidering how you drive.
