I think this sentiment is well engrained in my age group. See, at 38, we all seem to think that we just got out of high school a couple days ago. But in fact, my 20 year reunion is coming up in a few weeks. Sure there's indications that I'm a bit out of touch with the younger crowd which I believe I still belong to. Like for instance, I was driving my wife's convertible sport car last week, when an 18 year old hung out of his car yelling, "You's a balla" while making on he was bouncing a ball in the air. I looked back through my front windshield as was like, "what the fuck is a balla??".
Ok, so maybe I'm not as young as I think I am, but here's the truth: Yes, I'm a little older; Yes, I have kids; and hell no, my wife and I will not drive a minivan. Heck, she told me I "gave up" when I bought a 4 door sedan a few years ago, so there's no chance you'll see her in a minivan. But why? Minivans are convenient and are more perfectly suited to a young family than any other automobile. But alas, they are a minivan. The minute you take the keys to one, you concede and give up a big piece of your youth, image and soul. I doubt that young dude at that light is yelling "balla" to any mom's and dad's anywhere in the world right now. Minivans have a stigma attached. Sure, we sometimes chose function over form and buy them. But begrudgingly.
Enter Toyota's newly redesigned Sienna which is actually pretty cool looking as far as vans go. Now, I get they have had their fair share of negative press lately, which is why I'm that much more impressed with this new campaign. They aptly named it the campaign, "the swagger wagon" and built a youtube channel for it. http://www.youtube.com/user/Sienna
To get right to the heart of the stereotype, they introduce the premise with a hilarious rap video. The cast is comprised of a couple average looking parents and children (well, I think the dad married up if you know what I'm saying). Everything is bang on as they replay the truths of our lives at this stage. They also have a bunch of other videos (that fall short of the rap video in my opinion), but the whole package does something miraculous: It is trying to redefine the image of a minivan. With almost a million visits and hundreds of comments to the site, it's also doing what most brands strive for today, which is interacting with their audience while influencing perceptions.
Isn't that the job of our trade in a nutshell today? Change perceptions and induce conversation? I say, "well done" Toyota. You may not ever see my wife in a car lot giving away a piece of her soul in exchange for a set of minivan keys, but I'm sure there's tons of other fence sitters that will.
