Modern Japan is a society awash with products and an increasingly diverse array of personal values. With a waning interest in cars, Japan’s auto market has long been slumped in stagnation.

On the other hand, there is a huge content market in Japan (such as animated films and video games). From this content market, TOYOTA selected as its partner for this project Mobile Suit Gundam, an animated series which appeared on television for the first time in 1973. The market for Mobile Suit Gundam, which appeals to all age groups, is worth 100 billion yen annually. A life-sized recreation of a Mobile Suit Gundam —a giant military robot which appears in this animated series—was built in Tokyo’s Odaiba in 2009, and since then it has been a tourist attraction for visitors from worldwide.

As described above, with its well-developed market for animation and other entertainment content, Japan provides an environment in which animation content is well received and supported by a wide range of people, not only animation fans. Even in such a market, Mobile Suit Gundam and “ CHAR AZNABLE,” one of the main characters, stands out.

This campaign fused the real and virtual to develop singular, combined content.

In the campaign, we collaborated with the popular animation “Mobile Suit Gundam”. To create a story regarding the development of a car for “CHAR”, and involved the general public in the story.

In reality, the virtual company recruited participants of the campaign as its employees and collected development ideas from them. The progress of the campaign serialised on Facebook as the back story of the animation, unfolded in parallel with the main story.

Participation in the project meant being in the same world as Char.

The enthusiasm of animation fans drew in many excited automobile fans, leading to a record-high number of parts sold. The number of Auris vehicles sold also increased.

-The day after August 26, the day of launch, “Char Auris” and “Zeonic Toyota” ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in the ranking of online search terms done in Japan (according to a survey by a TV station). This was also announced on many TV programs.

-Strategic PR exposure: Approximately ¥1.2 billion

-Auris sales: 60% more than the initial target in terms of the number of models sold

-Resonation with young people: Approximately 80% of project participants in their 20s indicated a desire to purchase the car “Share Dream”

The “dream” harbored by men and women of all ages 35 years ago has been shared as a new “story” here and now.

This established a promotion that has forged a new path for the branding of cars and other products in future.

The Char Auris is not simply a car—it has achieved a brand position as a “story” that will live on in people’s memories.