Our idea was to show them you can have cool and tough, all in one. First we identified two legends who would appeal to the new target market of urban males: Matt Watson - Extreme Fisherman, and Willie Apiata - Legendary Hunter. Then we got New Zealand to help them each build their own ultimate Hilux. They could use anything they liked from Toyota’s massive accessories catalogue, or use Toyota engineers to make bespoke parts. People could watch the build videos, come up with ideas for what to add, and enter a competition to go on each truck’s maiden journey.

People were literally begging us to go, But there could only be two lucky winners. We re-engaged the New Zealand public with Hilux, receiving thousands of entries. Two Kiwis got to go on the ride of their lives, Hilux fended off the pretty boys, and– most importantly – had the best sales year ever, and held onto its top spot as New Zealand’s number 1 4X4 truck.

The Toyota Hilux is legendary among farmers and working men. It’s been the Number One 4x4 truck in New Zealand for 32 years. Our job was to keep it there until the 2015 model came out. There’s no doubt farmers love Hilux. But urban males are the new market and Hilux wasn’t on their radar. They were after new cool. Not hard-working heritage. And the latest model Hilux was six years old. That’s ancient in car years – especially with pretty newcomers in the market like Ranger and Colorado. So how do you make the nation’s workhorse relevant to urban types?