launch a very niche tire for a very specific audience.
know our target demographic better than they know themselves.
Bringing the track record to the street via a full 360º campaign. Oh, and we built a car.
The ADVAN sub-brand has earned a lot of equity over the years. It all started on the track, where nobody wanted to race on Yokohamas, so they launched their own motorsports team and won. Well, they kept winning races, and that won them fans, leading to a diehard following. When Yokohama told us they were launching ADVAN Apex – a niche tire for a niche audience – we knew we had to tap into that heritage, put our audience first and go all in to deliver.
To bring the extensive winning legacy top-of-mind, we dove head-first into stacks-on-stacks of slides, vintage print ads and online race archives. After countless hours of digging for pivotal racing moments, we partnered with our friends at Tribe Federation to bring the stills to life. Through a six-part series, we told the legendary story of ADVAN, priming audiences for what was to come...
Short, stylized videos blasted through social channels, introducing fans to the newest member of the ADVAN family. Facebook canvas units connected the modern technology to decades of learnings, enticing audiences to check out our ADVAN Apex landing page. All pieces bridged the gap between winning heritage and new product, positioning Apex as the rightful heir to legendary performance.
We rallied the troops, partnering with influencers, journalists and native advertising platforms to get the right message in front of the right people. Through lifestyle, product comparison and heritage content pieces, our enthusiast audience heard the performance story from sources they trust. Each piece interested in-market shoppers, inspired on-site action and had 100% share of voice for Yokohama’s digital creative.
Now that ADVAN Apex tires were racin’ all over the digital landscape, it was time to put rubber to road and wow fans IRL... so, we built a car. Our network led us to the performance car most coveted by our audience: an A90 Toyota Supra. From there, we constructed a full, widebody custom model wrapped in iconic ADVAN livery and laced with a set of Apex tires.
Once a year, fans gather in Las Vegas to attend SEMA, the mecca for auto enthusiasts. As the show approached, we released a “Follow me… to SEMA” tease-and-reveal content series, drove our souped up Supra to Vegas, and parked it on the front steps of our fans’ holiest of holy sites. The reaction and earned media was priceless. To this day, fans are creating models.