The Toyota GR86 has a huge cult following in the region, and the community is active and vocal on social media. The entire campaign was planned as a real-time response to the chip shortage crisis, and keeping this passionate online community engaged and excited in the run up to the delayed launch of their favourite donut machine.

Drifting, or “tafheet” has been a popular phenomenon in the Saudi car enthusiast community. Toyota’s 86 platform has a huge cult following in the region, due to its perfectly balanced rear-wheel drive chassis, which allows it to drift and make donuts effortlessly (a perfect circular drift is called a donut). The previous generation of the GR86 (GT86) has been a staple in drifting schools in KSA and across the region. Yes, drifting schools a thing, and they’re fairly popular in the region.

Toyota was bringing back the 86 after a decade. A cult-classic loved for its donut making abilities. (For the uninitiated, a donut is when a car drifts in a perfect circle). But the chip shortage crisis and global production delay meant Saudi fans would have to wait even longer. Our task was to respond in real-time and announce the delayed launch date for the car, while managing the expectations of our passionate community of fans during this crisis.

While other automotive brands were keeping delays under wraps, we responded in real-time to engage with the community, turning the wait into anticipation, by doing what the car does best – making donuts. The Donut Factory was a campaign that led with social, keeping the community engaged until the arrival of the GR86. A launch film unveiled the GR86, making the most epic donut ever – giving fans a launch date. The film got the attention of our community and they wanted more. So we dropped a virtual version of the GR86 to drive around town, and UGC covered Saudi in donuts. We still had a few days before launch, so we kept things calm with a tasty ASMR video. Hours of silky-smooth animations of the GR86 making donuts. Finally, on World Donut Day, fans were invited to the real Donut Factory, to learn how make donuts in a GR86.

The GR86 car has a passionate local community of fans, across our social channels, mainly Instagram. We decided to respond to the chip-shortage delays, and turn the waiting period of the delayed launch into a time of engagement. For a car that exists only to be fun to drive, the campaign needs to be equally fun. Our approach was to celebrate exactly what this car is iconic for – its ability to make donuts (a perfect circular drift is called a donut).

The campaign was implemented on our social channels leading with Instagram. The launch film the tone for the campaign, unveiling the GR86 at an imaginary pace called The Donut Factory, doing perfect drifts and making a delicious CGI donut. The fans now had a launch date to look forward. Until then, we kept them engaged by feeding them more donuts – as AR filters that allowed them to drive a virtual version of the car – even more donuts with a delicious ASMR video of the GR86 in donut land, and finally an invitation to the real donut factory to taste the real thing – and learn how to make donuts in the GR86.

- 1.2M+ minutes of content consumed.

- SAR 3.5M+ or media earned

- 20K+ UGC pieces created

- The current batch of Toyota GR86 SOLD OUT

- The community was well fed and happy