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 announce the delayed launch date for the car, while managing the expectations of our passionate community of fans.

While other automotive brands were keeping delays under wraps, we switched the narrative by engaging the community, and 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.

Our PR strategy was crafted around the passionate local community of car enthusiasts, primarily centered on Instagram and other social channels. We decided to switch the PR narrative, by turning the delayed launch time 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