The Real “Swagger” Behind the “Swagger Wagon”

Toyota is making it cool to own a minivan—or at least “cooler” than it used to be. Toyota’s “Swagger Wagon” campaign not only features the brand’s signature minivan, the Sienna, but introduces us to the “Sienna Family”--a Gen X Mom and Dad who share the real reasons why parenthood is cool. While the campaign has been around for several months, the commercials—and the YouTube music video—are continuing to make the viral rounds with parents throughout the U.S. Why is this campaign resonating so well with today’s moms? Toyota has discovered the woman inside the mom—choosing to focus the campaign on what drives her as a woman, not just as a parent. “This is a common theme we hear during every M2Moms®,” says Liz Fongemie, SVP of Sales, PME® Enterprises and Project Manager, M2Moms®. “Marketers that attend our conferences have heard from numerous brands such as Suave, Curves and Destination Maternity…brands that have found marketing to mom success when they stopped just focusing on parenthood and started focusing on the woman inside each mom.”

“This is a nice departure from the stereotypical "soccer mom" that drives a minivan or SUV,” says Jody DeVere, CEO of AskPatty.com. I applaud Toyota for thinking outside of the box, utilizing YouTube and the viral effect of social media to leverage this campaign. Toyota really got it right with moms both in content, context and in the method of outreach.”

Anne Fleming, President and Car Buying Advocate for Women-Drivers.com, agrees and feels this is definitely a sign the automotive industry may be taking the Mom consumer seriously. “The minivan category, while plunging from its 2000 high of selling almost 1.4 million units, is on track to sell almost 600,000 units this year, or 11.5% more than last year,” says Fleming. “That is a huge erosion in the minivan category as Moms look to no longer be associated with the ‘soccer mom’ label. Now, marketers are looking to sell more than just the utilitarian factor—they are looking at how to sass up this category, and like Toyota, make it okay for Dad to drive, also.”

It is refreshing to see such creativity coming from the automotive industry—an industry that often fails when it comes to connecting with moms. “All mothers care about safety and most Moms care about price, but they still want to have a cool factor when driving,” says Fleming. “Auto companies need to stop creating ads with a singular focus and start creating campaigns, like Toyota has, that tell a larger story—those are the ads will resonate with consumers.”

But make sure your larger story is one that works. “VW Routan in late 2008 likened buying a minivan to having fertility treatments,” says DeVere. “That message not only fell flat for me, but was offensive to some segments of women. VW missed the mark and the Routan has not done very well so far at all with new buyers. Other VW models do well with Moms, but so far not the Routan minivan.”

See how other brands are connecting with the woman inside the mom during this year’s M2Moms®-The Marketing To Moms Conference.