A Cultural Sci-con
September 30, 2009Rather than build a community like Ford did for their yet-to-be-released Fiesta (See my post on Ford’s Fiesta Movement), Toyota decided to take advantage of an existing community. Toyota, producer of the new Scion market, took a different approach than Ford. Toyota developed Scion to be marketed toward the “Generation-Y” or “Generation Next” consumers. Scion even developed their cars using Generation-Y testers. These cars, known for their funky and customizable nature, are a hot commodity among Generation-Y’s. To narrow in on Scions demographic, most young Scion customers are “car-people” (opposed to Ford’s everyday “Agents“) who not only use their car for transportation, but more-so as a hobby. These Scion “car-people” make up a community of Scion fans, which is exactly what Toyota and Scion aim to take advantage of.
On Scion’s website, Scion offers a list of “Scion Enthusiast Sites.” This list includes both a list and map view. The map view allows you to find Scion enthusiasts in your area, while the list view allows you to view online communities that are solely dedicated to Scion users. However, Scion still takes this a step further. Rather than organize large number of small groups around the nation, Scion developed a master of all Scion enthusiast sites with their “Scion Speak.“
Scion Speak is a social networking site that allows fellow Scion owners to communicate in the cyber world, and meet in the real world. The idea of Scion Speak, according to marketing developer Scott Good of StrawberryFrog, the idea of Scion Speak was to create pride in the Scion community and allow this passionate community to spread the word. Their goal was for the passion within the Scion community to drive itself.
As seen in the video below, Scionspeak allows users to be a part of a community, yet express their own individually, which is a strong part of the Scion culture. Users are able to express themselves with customizable design symbols, which are similar to a coat of arms. Only a few of the unlimited possibilities are seen in the video. These symbols elaborate on more than the user’s style. Certain symbols aspects can represent favorite music, geographical demographics, relationship status, alternative hobbies and more. I know Yahoo! allows customizable icons as well, so what makes these symbols different from everyday avatars? Well, many users can link their icon to other social networking sites. Similar to Ford’s “Fiesta Movement,” this integrates Scion into cyber areas that their target consumers already are. To further the use of ScionSpeak, many users paint or stick their “coat of arms” directly on their Scion to embrace their community as well as express individuality.
Not only is it effective – it’s fun. Check out Scionspeak to either “make” your own crest, or “look” to view thousands of users’ crests. With multiple options and customizable combinations, the possibilities are virtually endless. I went ahead and made my own crest for your amusement:
(Unfortunately, I don’t think that this would look as cool on my Nissan SUV.)
Scions approach to its target market (which, according to the project creator is young, creative customizers) seems to fit perfectly. So does Scionspeak work? According to USA Today Article, “Outside-the-Box Scion Scores with Young Drivers,” ScionSpeak.com attracts 170,000 visitors a day. Not only does such a community environment spread the word on Scion, it builds brand-loyalty, which could go a long way when targeting such a specific audience.
Scion Speak seems like a great way to use social media. Social media, as we know, is about conversations- this is a perfect way to have an ongoing one. I also loved that scion targeted a specific audience- it was definately smart of them and I’m sure it will pay dividends.
Scionspeak seems like a great idea. Given the demographic that you mentioned about (young, creative customers) being able to create your own crest seems like it could go along way with brand loyalty. I like the crest you made above! Also, I wrote a post on Toyota and how interactive their online newsroom is. They really know how to target each specific audience, promote their brand, and get the news out!
Thanks for your comments guys, I agree! The crest idea is a great way to express individuality, which is something that Scion fans are known for. I think that ScionSpeak is perfect for Scion’s target market, especially the conversation aspect like Frank said.
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