Toyota, MindArrow Develop Interactive Brochures

Toyota Motor Sales USA and MindArrow Systems on Thursday said they had together developed rich media e-mail brochures to promote two new cars introduced by the automotive maker.

The interactive marketing campaign involved building multimedia brochures for Toyota's environmentally-friendly Prius sedan and the redesigned Celica coupe. These presentations were sent out to consumers who had opted-in to receiving information about these vehicles.

The effort for the Prius, the company's mass-produced gasoline/electric hybrid car, involved the distribution of a brochure to 45,000 people before the Prius' national TV campaign. The e-mail features a 17-second video clip from the TV spot, plus hyperlinks to the Prius Web site. The e-mail used viral marketing techniques, allowing recipients to forward it to others.

MindArrow says 46 percent of those who viewed the brochure clicked through to the Web site, and 36 percent clicked on a link to request more information.

The Celica campaign, aimed at raising interest in the re-launch of the model, featured a 15-second clip from the TV spot. It was delivered to more than 36,000 people. That e-mail just went out yesterday, so data on click-through and response rates were not available.