ColemanMedia Report

Toyota announced early Tuesday that in light of its unprecedented recall of over 2.3 million vehicles due to accelerator pedal problems, the Torrance-based automaker has pulled its planned “Step on the Gas” campaign, and will replace it with their new “We Give Up” creative message.  The campaign, scheduled to launch during the Super Bowl this Sunday, and features actual Toyota employees throwing their hands in the air in defeat, more accurately reflects the company’s new philosophy of manufacturing and selling cars, according to COO Jim Lentz.  ”With a recall of this size, we knew it would be critical to come out with a believable, credible message,” said Lentz.  ”And the concept of ‘We Give Up’ most was frankly the most accurate.  The ‘Trust Us, We’re Toyota’ and ‘Oops! Sorry About That!’ concepts just didn’t seem like they would resonate.”  Toyota plans to follow up the new campaign with a “Please Buy Our Cars Again” message sometime in late Q2.

San Francisco-based retailer The Gap took out a brand equity loan last week in order to revive sagging sales and brand awareness numbers, according to sources close to the San Leandro branch of Union Bank of California.  The loan, cashing in on decades of brand equity built with highly-acclaimed ad campaigns, is aimed at making the specialty clothier more relevant to the lucrative 13-34 target market after a multi-year slide in popularity and awareness.  ”I think it’s a great move,” said Janette Greeley of Retail Roundup.  ”Our latest studies show that only 12% of females 13-17 plan to make a purchase at The Gap in the next 30 days, and over 72% of males 18-34 didn’t even know that The Gap still exists.  Leveraging decades of amazing advertising to remind people that The Gap offers safe, conservative, and uninspired clothes to go unnoticed in is a great idea.  Because let’s face it, who can tell me the last time they bought something – for themselves – at The Gap?”