Toyota has launched the microsite https://www.RAV4cube.com with HTML5 as the hub for the campaign. The campaign targets Hispanics and builds on a bigger digital push that Toyota has been using in its marketing this year.

?This is a way of people connecting with one another through the brand via social media,? said Javier Moreno, assistant manager of corporate communications at Toyota, Torrance, CA.

?The use of mobile devices far outnumbers desktop and laptop use when people engage on social media,? he said. ?This is particularly true of Latinos as 76 percent use mobile technology as their on-ramp to the Internet, and 41% spend at least three hours a day on mobile devices.?

When accessed via a mobile device, the link directs consumers to a landing page with a giant virtual Rubik?s Cube placed in the center of the screen. Via a desktop, the microsite links consumers to a Facebook app within the Toyota Latino Facebook page.  

Consumers are then challenged to flip around the pieces on the Rubik?s Cube to create a picture. When put together, images of cars or Toyota?s logo appear.

Users can also pick a photo from their Facebook account that completes one side of the puzzle.

If users cannot figure out the puzzle, there is a solve button in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

The RaV4 is a crossover SUV available in three models with a beginning retail price of $23,300 and goes up to $27,010.

Toyota's Rubik?s Cube game is part of a bigger campaign that launched earlier this year in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.

The campaign also included live events such as sporting games and let consumers create their own physical puzzles that were customized with their own photos.

Preliminary results from the campaign highlight that consumers are sharing the content that they create.

Roughly one-third of the virtual Rubik?s Cubes created so far have been shared via Facebook and Twitter.

 

Additionally, geo-targeted social media and onsite events have lead to a 98 percent increase in average Facebook app visits and resulted in a 58 percent jump in time spent with the game.

This is not the first time that Toyota has used an interactive mobile campaign to promote the Rav4.

In 2012, Toyota ran an interactive mobile advertising campaign that also incorporated rich media to let consumers complete a puzzle (see story). 

In this case, the campaign is geared at Hispanics, who traditionally overindex on mobile and social media, so it is no surprise that both media play a strong role in connecting Toyota with consumers.

?Although it wasn't designed to be a direct sales tool, it could be a fun way of interacting with customers on-site, particularly during the sales process,? Mr. Moreno said.