I often say that a great idea does not have language barriers. Because deep down there is a universal truth that can always be translated in any culture.

I also often advocate that when localizing a global idea or creative platform, think beyond language. Because language though is important, is not the defining factor.

The recent stunt turned video content for Toyota Yaris Hybrid car is a perfect example.

Conceived by the Saatchi & Saatchi Europe team, the campaign was designed to launch the new Toyota Yaris Hybrid, riding on the existing creative platform of “Fall in love with driving again”. In one day, they turned the centre of Prague into “The Musical City”. The street signs were changed to read cheesy pop songs titles that anyone would sing along to. Activated by the GPS-connected stereo, the car played out the backing track of the relevant song, as the participants driving through the city – literally loving every minute of the driving experience.

Staged? May be. But certainly a great video that gets the brand message across.

There are a few brilliant things about this video:

1. The film featured great shots of the city. This is essential to gain support of the local authority while adding distinctive local flavours to the film.

2. The act of removing original street signs gave the film added credibility. It was staged and controlled but executed in an authentic way – with a touch of humour.

3. The very essential, and relevant, beautiful car shots were done in a seamless way. I am sure anyone who has involved in car commercials will know how important that is!

4. The product feature was so naturally incorporated in the film. The hard sell element was done in a non-contrived way so that people won’t feel hesitant in sharing the content. Sharing, ultimately, is what we want!

5. The universally appeal sing-a-long, with fun choice of cheesy pop song titles makes the idea and execution easy to travel beyond one territory. Not only does the film sit well in social media platforms (which is inherently global), it can easily be localized with a local touch in other cities. Japan? Brilliant. China? Absolutely. France? … Let’s check with ARPP.

6. It works perfectly with the existing creative platform “fall in love with driving again”. The creative execution was not done in isolation and detached from the other parts of the brand message. Think “multi-channel” is important.

 

Now take a look at the film:

Let’s also take a look at other previous executions of the same platform for other markets, and see how they differ:

UK:

Italy: