Image edges Ace off Toyota brands

<p>MANILA: Ace/Saatchi & Saatchi has lost the Toyota Corolla branding </p><p>business to Dentsu associate Image Dimensions as the automaker attempts </p><p>to freshen up its staid image to take on market leader Honda Motors. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Image Dimensions first snatched pieces of the account off Ace/Saatchi </p><p>last year, taking the briefs for the Tamaraw and FX Revo, Toyota's </p><p>mid-range and upper-end Asian utility vehicle brands. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The loss of the passenger car brand is a new blow for Ace/Saatchi, which </p><p>has handled the Toyota account since the '80s. It now leaves the agency </p><p>with Toyota's corporate business and the Hilux pick-up and Prado sports </p><p>utility brands. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The agency switch was made just as Toyota began rolling out a new </p><p>campaign for its Corolla Altis brand, fronted by American actor Brad </p><p>Pitt, and developed by Dentsu Japan. The Philippines is the third </p><p>Southeast Asian country to air the Pitt campaign after Taiwan and </p><p>Thailand. Toyota will be spending US$500,000 initially to promote </p><p>the re-modelled Corolla in the Philippines. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Toyota marketing and PR manager, Ariel de Jesus, said: "There's a good </p><p>possibility that we may hire Saatchi again but at the moment, we're </p><p>content with Image Dimensions." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Toyota is having a hard time breaking Honda's hold as top passenger car </p><p>seller in the country and it is hoping that the Pitt campaign will </p><p>spruce up its conservative image as "the car for dad". De Jesus said </p><p>Corolla's image as a practical choice had worked against it. "What we </p><p>want now is to reinforce the image that Toyota is a stylish car," he </p><p>said, adding that the younger consumer segment was growing, but the </p><p>Corolla was not an obvious first choice. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Toyota Philippines president Takeshi Fukuda said the car maker was </p><p>looking to knock Honda from its pole position in the passenger car </p><p>segment. But he acknowledged that this would be a difficult task with </p><p>the economy slowing down, the weak peso and high interest rates </p><p>discouraging purchase of big ticket items. For the first half of the </p><p>year, Toyota sold less than 2,000 passenger cars, compared with the </p><p>2,300 Accord and Civic models sold by Honda. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>